I haven’t written in quite some time because the Pirates have done absolutely nothing interesting and I’ve had better things to do with my time than write about a team playing historically bad baseball.  I’ve been keeping my eye on the team, but when you can’t hit, pitch, or field at a consistent level, your going to lose alot of games, which is exactly what the Pirates have done in the last 2 months.  There’s only so many ways you can say that this team traded away most of their talented players at the deadline, got little back in terms of major league ready talent, and in general, the roster on the field right now isn’t very good.  I still believe that Huntington and crew have the organization headed in the right direction, and I have a few season wrap posts in the works, but at this point the 2009 season is a lost cause and I have no interest in writing about how bad they are.

However, it was just recently reported that Dominican super prospect Miguel Angel Sano is going to sign with the Twins for a $3.15 Million bonus.  Sano, you will recall, had been heavily pursued by the Pirates going back to the early summer and it was widely believed among people who know things like this that he would eventually sign with the Bucs.  Allegedly, Sano’s agent Rob Plummer had rejected the Pirates last offer of $2.6 Million but told them they would have a chance to counter another offer and they were not given that chance.  I’m not going to ridicule Plummer. For whatever reason, he feels signing with Minnesota is the best situation for his client, but the whole thing seems a bit shady to me.

As a fan though, it stinks.  The international free agent market is one of the few places where small market teams such as the Pirates can compete on a level playing field.  Say what you will about 16 year old players being very volatile assets, I agree with that whole-heartedly.  But if you aren’t at least a little dissapointed that the Pirates failed to sign Sano, I’m not sure what to say to convince you that you should be.  If this team wants to compete long term, they need to start procuring and developing young, high-end talent.  They have, in the last 2 years, done that in the draft with selections like Pedro Alvarez, Tony Sanchez, and Colton Cain.  But they have yet to do so in the Latin American free agent market.  Signing Sano would have been a huge step in the right direction, not to mention a bit of a silver lining to this awful, awful season.  Their ultimate failure to do so, no matter what the reason for it, is disheartening for me to see as a fan of this team who desperately wants to see them win again.