White and Creech

Kovacevic's report on the state of the Pirates' drafting more or less confirms what we've all figured out on our own: Littlefield fired an outstanding director when he took over the job. And the guy he hired, Ed Creech, has not done as well.

The surprising news here - good news - is the consensus that the Pirates have not underfunded their drafts. McClatchy was even singled out by MLB for signing "too large" checks for low-round draft picks like Zach Duke, Nate McLouth, and Chris Young. Ownership does not look like the cause for the poor drafts that characterized Littlefield's first few years.

The loss of Mickey White figures large in the more compelling arguments I read for the dismissal of David Littlefield or the replacement of ownership. My guess is that Ed Creech will have his day and, if Littlefield made that poor decision from some wrong principle, Littlefield has probably learned his lesson.

What's more, should the ownership turn over or should we get a new GM, I would expect the new person to more or less make the same mistake: clean house, bring in people that are known, and then as fans we'd be stuck watching another group of people set the team back as they learned the ropes.

Before Wilbur jumps in, one could also argue that there's no reason to think Littlefield or Creech are learning from their mistakes.

Me, I think it's more likely a new regime would blunder from the start, than it is likely that the current regime will not get better with time. I look at the Steelers as the model of the patient franchise. I see the Browns as the model of the franchise with too much scapegoating-driven turnover.

You see it how you like. But read this first, and get up on your facts.