tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6207200414495313452.post2470829732878498282..comments2023-10-10T12:46:47.186-04:00Comments on The Green Weenie: The Saturday NewsUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6207200414495313452.post-8073817271428311602008-10-25T13:31:00.000-04:002008-10-25T13:31:00.000-04:00I agree, will, that the decision to dismantle the ...I agree, will, that the decision to dismantle the team wasn't the pitching as much as the gaping talent void in the minors.<BR/>And I think it's kinda interesting to see that the Bucs are going after some gray hairs for the coaching ranks. I thought they left Russell on an island as far as having someone whose been there, done that, in the dugout with him.<BR/>Sveum would be a great catch if they can land him.Ron Ieracihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08784507810080514099noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6207200414495313452.post-54110700132597697462008-10-25T13:20:00.000-04:002008-10-25T13:20:00.000-04:00Tabata and Diaz can help this team as soon as next...Tabata and Diaz can help this team as soon as next season. Diaz for sure, Tabata perhaps not until 2010. But I think both are very good prospects. For all the negativity around this team, I don't think there's any question that Neil Huntington and Frank Coonelly have the Pirates' farm system in significantly better shape than it was at any time during Littlefield's tenure. Mickey White did have one or two respectable drafts---not great, but respectable. The bulk of the players from that period are already with us, ie, McLouth, Doumit, Maholm, and Capps. Not a great harvest, some useful / better than average guys, with McLouth and Doumit perhaps able to reach star status. <BR/><BR/>Other than that brief exception, the Littlefield era was uniformly terrible. Huntington's farm system is definitely better overall, and there are a few prospects at the top and at the bottom of the minors who look like the real deal. If we continue to draft well and sign aggressively, in a couple of years things will look a lot different around here.WilliamJPellashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12774466220683142262noreply@blogger.com