Mac too generous

Ed Eagle induced Mac to hand out some midseason grades. In Mac's defense, he doesn't appear to have given much thought to each subject.

That said, I take issue with the generous grades. If the goal is to win a world championship, you have to reserve the A marks for performance that gets you into the playoffs. The B marks should go to wild-card contention performance, the C marks for .500 play. The Bucs are too far below .500 to earn grades that average any better than D.

So I'll grade them like this. Hitting, C plus. Fielding, baserunning, other such things, F. Starting pitching, D minus. Bullpen, D.

If the players want better grades for what they've done so far, they can take that performance and go dominate some beer league. A C grade has to be more difficult to earn at this level, and the players should understand that the manager is not running them down or stunting their development when he tells it like it is. You are what you are, and this current crop of Pirates are pretty far below .500.

They've had some great games and they are great people, but you guys are losers until you win. And there's no excuse for not winning at least half your games. Overall I'm giving them a D for the first half. There are bright spots and I am optimistic about the possibility of much better performance in the second half. The Pirates do not "suck" and they are not "worthless" or "hopeless" or "going nowhere." There can be dignity in low grades for a team working hard to get better. But you are what you are and until they are .500, they can't expect "B" grades for much of anything.

...John Perrotto is also a bit too generous in my judgment. It's hard to decide if you grade a player relative to your expectations for him or relative to the demands of his role in the system. For example, Tony Alvarez and Jose Castillo get "C"s from Perrotto because, I think, his expectations are pretty low given that they are rookies. If the goal is winning a championship, grade by the demands of the role. Alvarez hasn't done much as a fourth outfielder, and since his playing time is limited, we'll pass on nailing him with any grade but incomplete. Castillo gets a D or an F, though. He hasn't played like a second baseman on a winning team. I don't disagree with the decision to keep him around and fast-track his development, but admit it, his play this year hasn't helped to get the team above .500. Redman has been an F, Wells has been an F, and Craig Wilson has been a C. The gaudy numbers are nice but he has to figure out how to distribute those numbers more consistently. Your clean-up guy can't slump like he has without seriously hurting the team's immediate chances.