Lil Red Machine

Some people don’t really like the “hey, it could be worse” scenarios, because it can glorify a current state of mediocrity, and doesn’t offer a solution to change the current problem..

With that said, hey, it could be worse.

As a transplanted Ohioan now living in the steel city, I partake in the occasional Pirates game. While one can never go wrong with Major League Baseball, outside of the fantastic park itself, there is nothing “Major League” about the team itself, or the environment. When you enter the iron wrought gates, there really isn’t any sort of buzz in the air. Half the crowd doesn’t wear anything Pirates-related. You are just as likely to see someone in a Steelers or Penguins jersey as you are a Pirates one. For those wanting to buy a piece of overpriced merchandise—who exactly do you get? The Pirates have no idea who they want to be apart of their “core.” Spend the $175-200 on a jersey, and that player is likely to be gone before the first run in the washing machine (unless that player is Jack Wilson, whom the Pirates can’t even GIVE away). At this point, one would have to be drunk off of those $8 beers to do that.

While the Reds have had their own extended run of futility, I think that there is a general sense that the organization is heading in the right direction. That can’t be said about the Pirates There is a young core of players in place in Cincinnati. Joey Votto, Jay Bruce, Edinson Volquez, and Johnny Cueto are some of the key members of that core. There have been severe growing pains at times (and still are), but the team is slowing getting better and gaining experience at the major league level. Surrounding them are productive vets such as Ramon Hernandez, Brandon Phillips, Aaron Harang, Bronson Arroyo, and a veteran led bullpen that ranks among the best in the business.

With all that said, the team still needs to make several moves before they can take the next step. That next step being October baseball. Production in left field and shortstop isn’t good enough, and in the absence of Joey Votto, there isn’t enough of a presence in the lineup to overcome that. However, if this once great rivalry is to ever resume again—at least the Reds are trying to do their part. Their young talent is learning on the fly right now as we speak. The Pirates? They are suffering now, and will continue to suffer as their new talent, guys such as Andrew McCutchen, Pedro Alvarez, Jose Tabata, etc make the adjustment to Major League Baseball. The Pirates are making repairs to a farm system badly abused by their previous administration, and I can’t blame them for that, but the Nate McClouth trade demonstrates that Pittsburgh has no idea whom they want to be part of the future. No one can say with any degree of confidence that the Pirates will allow this current young crop time to thrive before they trade them off for single A prospects.

I’m a realist. I know that years from now, the young players currently in place for Cincinnati may price themselves out of the market. After all, one of the sad realities of this game is that many of the teams in the smaller markets ultimately serve as farm clubs for the big, bad Yankees and Red Sox. However, teams like the Brewers and Twins don’t throw themselves pity parties for losing key guys to big time teams. They have future prospects ready to fill in. There’s no reason whatsoever the Reds can’t strive to be like them. If that were to happen, I think attendance in a baseball city such as Cincinnati would increase exponentially, and money could be spent at the trade deadline and what not. Something like that isn’t a pipe dream for the Reds anymore. As for the Pirates—their recent moves have shown that they are years off from even being relevant—let alone good.