On contracts

Two new items of interest for fans of the long-term roster planning: Brian O'Neill, as Stats Geek, figures the Jack Wilson contract was about right. Dejan Kovacevic reports the Pirates are considering an extension with Sean Casey. All this reminds me now of the Bonifay era. Once they got "the team" in place, and everyone was feeling good, the front office signed the key, "face" players to long-term deals. This was done with no regard to the success or failure of the team.

Jack Wilson and Sean Casey are A-OK with me, especially in the short term. But why can't the front office wait to see what this current collection of players is worth before signing some of them long-term?

Maybe to answer the perpetual whining about the Pirates not keeping players? (Is this "the curse of Bonds"?) One strain of "fan" whines, "They never keep their good players--why should I care the team? They will only break my heart by letting that heartthrob, Barry Bonds (insert name), go to the Yankees." Such people will cavil their way out of any expectation; they are too cowardly (!?) to admit they have abandoned their loyalty to a baseball team for, say, a video-game addiction or some other use of leisure hours. And they blame the Pirates for the feeling of guilt they experience when confronted with the fact that they no longer pay attention to the team. To them I say, look, it's baseball; fans should come and go as they please. There's no need to feel guilty about not devoting 100 of your summer hours to a team that wins 45% of their games. So don't make excuses and say stuff like, "If only they signed their best players to long-term deals."

All the serious fans, I think, know that the long-term is a phantom. Building a team now for 2008 or 2009 is building castles in the sky. Littlefield should worry and concentrate on 2006. This coming season is three times more important than 2007, and 2007 is three times more important than 2008. Any regular, experienced, long-term fan knows that.

To bring this story to an end, signing the "face guys" to inordinately long-term deals will do much more harm than good if those "face guys" are not the important parts of championship teams. Let's not trash our chances in 2009 for a sunny feeling in 2006. I like the David Littlefield that signs no one for more than the next two years. Who is this new goon, so willing to make impatient decisions about 2008 and 2009? Sean Casey is due for a good year. Let him have it. It's not mean-spirited or evil to see what he does in 2006 before thinking about signing him on for 2007.