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john/z28jdBeing a huge Pirates fan and someone who follows them closer than their owner does I can safely say that 2005 wont be the Pirates year but 2006 could be alot different for these reasons
2006 all-star game,you have to be a season ticket holder to see the all-star game,its a small stadium and season ticket holders get first shot at all-star tickets
revenue sharing will dump a ton of money into the Pirates laps this year thanks to teams like the Yankees and Red Sox spending a ton of money and teams like the Phillies and Padres getting new stadiums and drawing huge crowds and losing part of their revenue sharing
the Pirates didnt lose money this year,first time in a long time according to them and they will definitely make money next season due to the all-star game in 2006 and a low payroll due to the youngest team in baseball
The Pirates pitching depth in the minors is incredible for starting pitchers,most of them will be getting valuable experience next year.Their double-A rotation consisted of 5 legit prospects and 1 fringe prospect.They had 2 good young pitchers at AAA and one of the best unknown pitchers in baseball in Oliver Perez.Also another top prospect just had tommy john surgery in september and wont be fully back till 2006.
As long as the Bucs dont go out and make any stupid signings this offseason and let the young team play and stay together they should be fine in 2006 to sign at least one good free agent.Between Raul Mondesi,Chris Stynes and Randall Simon they spent almost 2mil and got nothing.I think they learned from that as the fans were brutal in the press/internet to them this year about that.They actually have a decent player at each position[and some have decent alternatives,3b,c,rf,2b] going into 2005
So in closing tbob,dont buy your Pirates hat just yet but wait till the 2006 season starts.Theres also some rumblings that the Bucs could be headed back to the NL east,which should be an easier division