Step right up! Young and old! Ladies and gentlemen! I have the cure-all that the Pirates have been looking for!
Sanchez on the DL. No worries!
Grabow on the DL. No worries!
Bautista at third. No worries!
More losing season in a row than you care to remember. No worries!
The magic elixir of Adam LaRoche is here!
It seems as if the Bucco players have bought into this. Every article you read on the outlook of the '07 Pirates inevitably has a player saying something like 'but this year we have Adam LaRoche'. I like LaRoche. I think he will be a good fit. However, one bat does not a division winner make.
It's spring training and hopes abounds, I understand, but LaRoche is not Barry Bonds in his prime. He is not Albert Pujols. Anyways, Pujols on your team only gets you 83 wins in the NL Central (I guess also a World Series, but still, 83 wins?).
For all the talk about depth in the Pirates system being built, I have this to say: We MUST HAVE Freddy Sanchez in the lineup. We MUST HAVE a consistent Salomon Torres. We MUST HAVE Chris Duffy get on base. We MUST HAVE a consistent Zach Duke and Paul Maholm. The '07 Pirates are not a team that can go without these things and expect to win over 80. Depth may be growing in the form of Andrew McCutcheon, Brad Eldred, Sean Burnett, Brian Bixler, Don Kelly, etc. But not this year. There are too many 'must haves'.
The '07 Bucs are pumped and hopeful, but let's hope that is their motivation is consistent. Let's hope they can improve this year... and compete in the near future. LaRoche will help, but he is not Superman.
