Derek Bell.  Jeremy Burnitz.  Matt Lawton.  Pat Meares.  They’re the Pittsburgh Pirates own version of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.  Over the last few years, each was acquired by the Pirates in an effort to add a reliable veteran bat to the middle of the lineup.  As their short-lived tenure with the team suggests, none ever became that bat.  The lack of a dangerous hitter to protect Jason Bay or his predecessor Brian Giles has certainly been a key reason why the Pirates have not broken their streak of 14 straight losing seasons, the longest in all four major sports.

General Manager Dave Littlefield set out this offseason to change all that.  After weeks of trade discussions the Pirates finally landed the guy they believe will give them that second power bat in the middle of the lineup.  That guy is 27-year-old first basemen Adam LaRoche, who Littlefield pried away from the Braves in return for closer Mike Gonzalez and shortstop prospect Brent Lillibridge.  Last season, his third in the big leagues, LaRoche batted .285 with 32 homers, 38 doubles, and a .915 OPS.  Throw PNC Park’s short right field porch into the equation, and there’s a good chance LaRoche will improve on those numbers this season.

LaRoche’s arrival is welcome news for a Pirates lineup that had only one player hit more than 17 homers last year.  That player was Bay, who hit .286 with 35 home runs, and led the team in runs, RBI, walks, and OPS.  Even with LaRoche hitting behind him, the Pirates will still rely on Bay to be the main run producer in the lineup.

Chris Duffy, Jack Wilson, and Freddy Sanchez will be responsible for setting the table for Bay and LaRoche.  Duffy began last season as the Pirates starting centerfielder, but after he struggled during the first six weeks of the season, the team optioned him to the minors.  Duffy then shocked the team by returning home to Arizona instead of reporting to the minor leagues—reportedly because he no longer had the desire to continue playing baseball.  About a month later Duffy changed his mind and returned to his minor league team.  After a late season call up Duffy hit .336 in September, and he now enters the 2007 season penciled into the leadoff spot.

The Pirates will put shortstop Wilson in the two spot because they like his ability to bunt and put the ball in play.  Still, Wilson has a career on base percentage of .306, and he may need to improve on that to keep his place at the top of the order.  Sanchez, last season’s surprise NL batting champ, will hit third, and the entire Pirates organization will keep their fingers crossed that last season’s.344 batting average was no fluke.

Catcher Ronny Paulino, outfielder Xavier Nady, and either Jose Castillo or Jose Bautista will fill out the rest of the Pirates lineup.  Last season Paulino batted .310 after being called up, and Nady hit .300 after coming over in a mid-season trade from the Mets.  Castillo and Bautista are currently in a spring training competition for the Pirates final infield spot.  Depending on who wins the job and where the team decides to play Freddy Sanchez, it will either be second or third base.

The big X-factor for this Pirates lineup could be first baseman Brad Eldred.  From 2004-2005, Eldred clubbed 78 home runs, mostly in the minors, but including 12 in just 55 game for the big club.  Eldred missed most of last season with a wrist injury, but his power potential is so great that even Ryan Howard might want to consider shying away from him in a home run derby.  By showing better plate discipline and hitting .382 this spring, Eldred has forced to Pirates to begin taking a look at him in the outfield.  Should he make the team, it’s likely Eldred will play first base against some lefties and spell Bay and Nady on occasion in the outfield.  If Eldred goes on one of the home run binges that made him a superstar in the minor leagues, he could see a lot more playing time than that. 

The Pirates rotation is led by a quartet of youngsters, any or all of whom could develop into frontline starters this year.  Left-hander Zach Duke burst onto the scene two years ago, going 8-2 with a 1.81 ERA, but last year he struggled, finishing with a 10-15 record and a 4.47 ERA.  While it’s unlikely Duke will recreate the numbers of his rookie year, he did finish last season with a 2.30 ERA in September, and the Pirates expect him to rebound from his poor overall showing last season.

Duke will be joined in the rotation by diminutive right-hander Ian Snell, who led the Pirates with 14 wins last year.  Armed with a 95-mph fastball and a darting slider, Snell has the best stuff of anybody on the Pirates pitching staff.  The Achilles Heel for Snell has been the long ball—last year he surrendered 29 of them, 7th most in the National League.  If he can find a way to keep the ball in the park and cut down on his walks, Snell has the potential to win 20 games.

Paul Maholm and Tom Gorzelanny round out the team’s quartet of young starters.  While both were selected by the Pirates in the first two rounds of the 2003 draft, and both are big lefthanders, the similarities end there.  Maholm is a classic soft-tossing lefty who gets outs with excellent control and a deceptive changeup.  Gorzelanny is more of a classic power pitcher who attacks hitters with a live fastball and sharp slider.  Both of them have had success in the major leagues—Maholm had an ERA of 2.30 in six 2005 starts before struggling last season, and Gorzelanny posted a 3.80 ERA in 11 starts last year.  The Pirates will need both to live up to their potential if the team hopes to break its losing streak. 

Despite losing their closer Gonzalez, the Pirates have stockpiled enough young arms to put together an adequate bullpen—it’s one of the few benefits of trading away your best players at the trade deadline for 14 straight seasons.  Salomon Torres went 12-13 in save opportunities late last season when Gonzalez was sidelined, and he will take over that role full time this season.  Should he struggle, 23 year-old Matt Capps (3.89 ERA, 1.15 WHIP) will be there to step in.  John Grabow and Damaso Marte are two quality left-handers, and on the right-hand side the flurry of players competing for jobs includes Josh Sharpless, Jonah Blayliss, Shawn Chacon, Dan Kolb, Brian Rogers, and Kevin Gryboski.  Out of that bunch two or three quality setup men should emerge who can back up Capps.

Defensively, the Pirates should be one of the better teams in the National League.  Duffy, LaRoche and Wilson are all Gold Glove caliber defenders, and Bay, Paulino, Castillo, and Sanchez are all above-average for their position.  The team’s only weakness is in right field, where either Nady or Eldred will wish they could still be playing first base.

That last time the Pirates had a winning record Bill Clinton was running for president, Barry Bonds thought a steroid was something in outer space, and I was so young I had to be woken up by my father to watch Stan Belinda blow the 1992 NLCS because it was past my bedtime.  Fourteen years certainly is a long time, but this season the Pirates have everything they need to end the longest losing streak in baseball.  They have an experienced manager in Jim Tracy, a somewhat experienced team---of all the players expected to play key roles only Sharpless is a rookie—and most importantly, they play in the worst division in baseball.  Last year the Cardinals won the N.L Central with 83 wins, and the only team in the division that drastically improved itself from a year ago is the last-place Cubs.  The magic number this season for the Pirates is 82—as in 82 wins.  The number is certainly attainable and who knows, maybe even a division title is within reach.  After all, anything is possible, even the heavy-footed Sid Bream scoring from second base on a single.

2006: 67-95 (5th in NL Central)