Black and Yellow? More Like Black and Blue

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania is a huge sports town when it comes to hockey and football. But where is the baseball in this town? Ever since the passing of the great Roberto Clemente the Pittsburgh Pirates have found themselves living at the bottom of N.L. Central standings. It's bad, in fact the Pirates have not had a winning season in 18 years. In those 18 years, the city has seen the Penguins win 3 Stanley Cups, and the Steelers win 2 Super Bowls. In the city of so much sports success, the Pirates just don't seem to belong.

Why have the Pirates been so bad for so long? They love to trade away their talent when they seem to be at the peak of their careers. Since 2001 the Pirates have traded away multiple stars who have found success in the MLB with other clubs. Some of these players include Jason Schmidt, Jason Kendall, Aramis Ramirez, Nate McClouth, Freddy Sanchez, Adam LaRouche, Xavier Nady, Ryan Doumit, Jose Batista, Jack Wilson, Ian Snell, and Jason Bay. Heard of any of them? If you pay any attention to baseball, you should have heard of at least five or more of these players. Getting rid of just one of these players would make any team lose a little something. But to lose all of these guys? I can see why they are close to losing 100 games a season.

Losing these players does have a positive in there too though. The Pirates have their share of prospects on the way, and in three to five years could be a major contender for the N.L. Central crown. But the major question is, will they keep their core young stars that include major talents including Andrew McCutchen, Pedro Alvarez, and Garret Jones? Or will the same cycle continue for the dreadful Pirates when the July 31 trade deadline comes along. The Pirates management needs to keep this young talent if they want to fit in, in "The Steel City."