Bob Smizik, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Sunday, October 14, 2007
In the midst of all the excitement about the Penguins and Steelers, what little attention that's being focused on the Pirates concerns the search for a manager, and with it the hope that a new man can invigorate this comatose franchise.
Will we never learn? It doesn't work that way, at least not with the Pirates.
The losing began with Jim Leyland, who was regarded as one of the best managers in baseball. He had previous success and would have even more after leaving the Pirates. But Leyland couldn't turn around this mess and had a losing record in each of his final four seasons.
Gene Lamont, who succeeded Leyland, was 46 games over .500 in three-plus seasons with the Chicago White Sox, where he was American League Manager of the Year in 1993 and where his teams twice finished first. Lamont was 57 games under .500 in four seasons with the Pirates.
The recently fired Jim Tracy was 44 games over .500 in five seasons with Los Angeles, including a division title. He was 54 games under .500 in two seasons with the Pirates.
Here's the message:
Good managers don't turn the Pirates into winners; the Pirates turn good managers into losers.
The answer for the Pirates is not a new manager and it's not the free-agent market where the best players want to sign with winners and the leftovers -- Derek Bell, Jeromy Burnitz, Joe Randa, Tony Armas -- choose teams like the Pirates.
There's only one answer to what ails the Pirates and it's right out there for everyone to see as the Arizona Diamondbacks and Colorado Rockies play for the championship of the National League. Those teams advanced to this stage with low payrolls and terrific young players.
Scouting and development are the keys for the Pirates and any examination of the team's 15 consecutive years of losing is proof of that. That's why the most important hires made by general manager Neal Huntington will be the people he puts in charge of scouting and development and the people those men hire -- minor-league managers, coaches, instructors and scouts.
The Pirates player development system has been nothing less than a massive train wreck for more than a decade. They could not have drafted and developed players more poorly if they had tried. Clearly, something is wrong with those systems. Whether the Pirates don't have enough scouts or enough good scouts is something Huntington must determine. Same with the minor league staffs. If the Pirates aren't drafting the best players, they need the best teachers to upgrade that talent. If they start scouting and drafting better, good minor-league staffs will only further increase their chances of success.
The problem is this:
There's no university in the country offering a course in Baseball Scouting 101. Nor is there a graduate school with a program in Advanced Baseball Studies.
In the past, ex-major-league players frequently held many of the minor league jobs. But with the lavish salaries, for even borderline players, not many are willing to take on a life in the minor leagues where the bus rides are long, the hotels crummy and the pay less than ordinary.
The problem also is this:
There's little or no reason for scouts or minor-league personnel to make lateral movements. Nor would the Pirates be wise to get in bidding wars for scouts and instructors because it's a war they would not win.
"You can't just let 40 people go,'' Huntington said. "We have some good people in place. We need to enhance their abilities.''
Huntington said the Pirates were probably in the bottom half of MLB in terms of amateur scouts, a sad commentary that must be changed. If the Pirates aren't going to make the commitment to a significant increase in their major-league payroll, they absolutely must do so in scouting and development.
In case Huntington doesn't realize the enormity of the problem, here's the best team of position players the Pirates have drafted and developed since 1995, based on major-league productivity:
C: Ronnie Paulino; 1B: Chris Shelton; 2B: Jose Castillo; SS: Jeff Keppinger; 3B: Jose Bautista; LF: Rob Mackowiak; CF: Nate McLouth; RF: Ryan Doumit.
Bench: Tike Redman, Steven Pearce, Nyjer Morgan, Chris Duffy, Humberto Cota.
Such a team couldn't win 50 games playing a major-league schedule.
Contrast that to the teams playing for the NL pennant.
Of the Rockies eight starting position players, six have been signed and developed by them since 1995.
Of the Diamondbacks eight starting position players, four have been signed and developed by them since 2002. The Diamondbacks have two players from the draft class of 2004 and one from 2005 in their starting lineup.
Sometimes, but not always, a smart organization can overcome massive spending with excellent player development.
It's the path the Pirates must follow. Too bad they're already so far behind most of the rest of baseball.
First published on October 14, 2007 at 12:00 am
Bob Smizik can be reached at bsmizik@post-gazette.com.
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