Fans need stability

Shelley Anderson is right that the fans need (a) winning and (b) some stability in the lineup.

She calls for the team to find and hold onto some "character" that the fans can identify with. After the team-rarely-wins problem, the next big problem for the fans is that there's no one player to identify with this team or with the whole rebuilding effort. Practically speaking, when you go to buy your Pirates jersey, what name do you order? You could order "Wagner 33" but the MLB rules specifically prohibit retired player names on the team's jersey from which they retired.

The team is not lacking for characters. Here's a good quote:

Randall Simon has potential with his upbeat demeanor and free-swinging style at the plate, although he's iffy as a long-term member of the team or even as the everyday first baseman. McClendon sees one more drawback.

"Chulo's a character, but you can't understand a word he's saying," McClendon said of Simon, who is from Curacao.

"Iffy" is a kind word, I think, to use to describe Simon's future with the team. The team's well-publicized eagerness to move Jason Kendall makes his tenure here look shaky. Jack Wilson and Craig Wilson would be logical choices from the current lineup but both players could be red-hot trade bait. Who wants to buy a Craig Wilson jersey and then find out that he's been traded to a division rival at the deadline? (Note to front office: Try to not to make trades with division rivals. Who would care about Aramis Ramirez's departure if he was playing now for the Chicago White Sox? As much as I like Bobby Hill, every time we face the Cubs, Bob Smizik is going to bust out with another article calling that a terrible, terrible trade.)

To fully rebuild the fan base, the Pirates are going to have to win, and they are going to have to sign someone to a long-term contract. This is important, however: they can hold off on the latter until the accomplish the former. Don't throw a bunch of money at one of the Wilsons until we actually win something with him.

My great hope is that the next guy the Bucs sign long-term is a left-handed pitcher who helped the team win their first division title in so many years.