It's the most wonderful time of the year!

Some people hear this classic song and they think of Christmas, but if you’re a baseball fan, you should instantly think of the four greatest words in the English language: pitchers and catchers report. There might be 4 inches of snow on the ground, but as of right now, spring is just around the corner. To a lot of people, there isn’t a lot to be optimistic about for Pirates fans, but right now is the best time to be optimistic. There’s just something about the start of Spring Training that just makes baseball fans feel good. Maybe it’s because it will soon be warm, and all that awful snow will be melted soon. All I know is, that soon the Pirates will be playing ball at PNC Park again really soon.

I tend to be very cynical when it comes to the Pirates, but even I get caught up in the optimism. Usually it leads to a massively disappointing crash by about June, but I am hoping this year that we see competitive baseball in Pittsburgh. There isn’t too much in the way of Pirates news as of right now, just because it’s the calm before the proverbial storm that is Spring Training begins. I am really looking forward to seeing how pitcher Ross Ohlendorf looks early in ST. He is probably the potential ace of the Pirates rotation, and many are optimistic about his potential.

Despite it being the official start of Spring Training, a lot of the Pittsburgh media are not discussing the Pirates. The big news is obviously the Olympics, but the Pittsburgh media is still discussing the Steelers. Don’t get me wrong, I love the Steelers, but I am tired of them. Football season is over; lets move on and talk about the more pressing issue, and that is the Pittsburgh Pirates. I understand, that they’ve had 17 straight losing seasons, but it is a pretty exciting time to be a Pirates fan. We have one of the most exciting young players in the National League in Andrew McCutchen and I feel like some of our other young players should continue to develop and do well. I can’t guarantee that we’re going to have a winning season in 2010, but some media outlets such as MLB Network actually believes the Pirates have a chance to do well this season. I am curious as to what you, my awesome readers think.

Deep Impact!

I am not talking about the absolutely fantastic movie staring, Morgan Freeman, no this deep impact is about which Pirates player is going to have the most positive impact in 2010? I am going to rule out two of the more obvious choices in Garrett Jones and Andrew McCutchen, since I am pretty sure most people would vote for them. So let’s take a look at the nominees:

3B – Andy LaRoche: After a very weak start to the 2009 season, Andy really came on strong towards the end of the season, and many people think he is finally clicking at the Major League level. It remains to be seen if he can sustain success for an entire season, but many are optimistic about Andy’s future.

LF – Lastings Milledge: A lot of fans were pretty upset when fan favorite Nyjer Morgan was traded and replaced by a guy many perceived as a “head case” but Lastings really did good work for the Pirates in his brief time in the city. There has also been a lot of talk that he’s finally grown up and is ready to be a mature ballplayer. There’s no questioning his talent, but can Lastings keep his head on straight for an entire season?

2B - Akinori Iwamura: Many fans are very excited about having Aki in the line-up for 2010 as he has shown to be a very good ballplayer. He did very good work during his time in Tampa Bay and many are hopeful that he’ll bring the same strong work ethic to the Pirates that he brought to the Rays.

1B – Jeff Clement: Clement is a big question mark entering 2010 and many fans do not know if he is going to be a solid 1B for the Pirates. He hasn’t had a lot of exposure to MLB pitching, but he’s looked okay in his brief runs in the Big Leagues before. He has potential, but right now that’s all he is.

SP - Ross Ohlendorf: The Pirates need their pitching staff to produce if they have any hope of winning in 2010, but other than Duke and Maholm, there aren’t any proven pitchers in the rotation. One that it seems many people are excited about is Ross Ohlendorf. He looked pretty solid in 2009 and right now, he’d be penciled in as the third starter.

Soup or Bowl? Psh! Give me a pitcher!!

“Manning back to pass and it’s intercepted!” Well, the Super Bowl has come and gone, which means that it is now officially baseball season. Super Bowl is okay and all, but we all know that Pitchers and Catchers is the real American National Holiday. This entry is going to be an overview of how I feel the Pirates stack up entering Spring Training compared to last season’s team.

C: Ryan Doumit – I say this is obviously a push, but the biggest question will be, can Ryan Doumit stay healthy and catch over 110 games?

1B: Adam LaRoche vs Jeff Clement – Jeff Clement hasn’t done a lot at the Major League level so until he does, I say advantage Adam LaRoche. However, many are hopeful the Clement can live up to his potential.

2B: Freddy Sanchez vs. Akinori Iwamura-- Freddy has the better bat, Iwamura has the better glove. Freddy was on the down side and starting to get injury prone. This is pretty close, but because of how weak Freddy’s arm was, I am going to give the slight edge to Iwamura

SS: Jack Wilson vs. Ronny Cedeno- Edge, Wilson. This one is pretty easy; Jack was established as one of the best defensive SS in the game of baseball, and even though he didn’t deliver with the bat, he always played a pretty solid game of baseball. Ronny is definitely an unknown, but we’ll see how he does in his first full season in Pittsburgh.

3B: Andy LaRoche – After a very rough start to the 2009 season, Andy really came on towards the end of last season. He showed a pretty decent amount of pop in his bat, and a lot more patience at the plate. So because of that I have to give the edge to 2010. I feel like Andy is going to surprise a lot of people this season.

LF: Nyjer Morgan vs. Lastings Milledge –Edge, Milledge. Nyjer was a very popular player in Pittsburgh and with good reason. He was scrappy and a very hard worker, but he was also 29-years-old and a very sloppy base runner. Lastings was very solid in his time in Pittsburgh last year, hitting .291. He has much more power than Nyjer, and is much younger.

CF: Nate McLouth vs. Andrew McCutchen- Cutch is more well-rounded player than Nate, with better plate discipline and much better outfield range. Nate was a popular player, but for the most part is a 4^th outfielder. Cutch is future all-star, and the cornerstone of the franchise.

RF: Brandon Moss vs. Garrett Jones- Huge Edge, Jones. There’s no question that Brandon Moss was one of the worst players on the team last season, and I am very grateful that he won’t be starting come 2010. Jones showed an insane amount of power last season, and while I doubt he hits 40 homeruns, I would not be surprised to see him hit maybe 25 or so in 2010.

Staring Pitching 2009 vs. 2010 – Our 2010 pitching staff has the edge here. I don’t think it’s going to be a dominant staff by any means, but I believe it will be much better than 2009. Zach Duke, Paul Maholm, Kevin Hart, Ross Ohlendorf, and Charlie Morton should be much better than the staff entering last season. I really am excited to see what Hart and Ohlendorf can do in 2010 as they showed a pretty fair amount of potential towards the end of 2009.

Bullpen – When Matt Capps was non-tendered it looked pretty bleak for this bullpen, but Neal Huntington has done a very good job of brining in some solid veteran arms. Octavio Dotel, Javier Lopez, and Brendan Donnelly should be much better than the arms we had last season, and I am excited about seeing Joel Hanrahan get a lot work in 2010, as he was brilliant towards the end of 2009.

Bench - The 2010 bench should be much improved over last year. Ryan Church is a very solid player and should do a lot of good work off the bench. Brandon Moss may be a pretty terrible everyday starter, but as a bench player and a spot-starter, he should be at least passable. Delwyn Young did not do a very good job at the starting 2B job last year, but he was very good when he was coming off the bench, so I am excited to see him back at the job he is best at.

A lot of people like to point out how poor the Pirates record was in the 2^nd half after the trades, but with young players playing together for the first time there are going to be growing pains. The young core gained a lot of much needed experience in 2009, and the fact that the team has been training together all offseason, and they will be entering Spring Training together should be very beneficial. Now, I don’t think this team is going to the playoffs, but they should be a much better baseball team in 2010.

Tweet, tweet!!

For all of you lovely young people that have a twitter. Some of your favorite Pittsburgh Pirates ball players are tweeting for your entertainment. Here's a list of some of the Pirates I have found on twitter:

Paul Maholm

Daniel McCutchen

Joel Hanrahan

These are so far the only three I have found. I think it's really cool to see these young players on twitter as it gives you some good insight on their lives outside of baseball and it gives them a good opportunity to interact with their fans. If any of you have a twitter, follow these guys, especially Hanrahan, his tweets have been pretty funny, and he seems to interact with fans the most. I hope these three lead to a trend of more Pirates using twitter as a means to communicate with the fans, because like it or not, it appears twitter is here to stay.

Frank Coonley: "The dawn is coming."

PiratesFest 2010 has come and gone, and overall there was something strange in the air this year: optimism. I have gone to PiratesFest every year since I was 7-years-old and I have to say I have never seen such optimism in the air. A lot of people seem to be pretty happy with the direction the Pirates are going in, and I to found myself caught up in the good feeling.

I am not sure why people were so optimistic this year compared to years past, but it’s very refreshing. As a Pirates fan I am used to negativity, and to see other fans actually feeling excited for baseball warms my heart. Some say PiratesFest is just for children and for the most part, they are right, but it can definitely be fun for adults. I always enjoy watching the Pirates interacting with fans, and I love being around people that love this team as much as I do.

The biggest story out of PiratesFest had almost nothing to do with the event. The rumored offer by The Penguins Ownership Group to buy the Pittsburgh Pirates from Robert Nutting. A lot of fans despite being happy with the job Neal Huntington and Frank Coonley are doing strongly dislike owner Bob Nutting. They feel he is cheap, and unwilling to spend the money necessary to field a consistent winning ball club. When I first heard the rumor that Mario and company were interested in the Pirates I was obviously intrigued, and my mind went a lot of different places thinking about what Mario would do as owner of the Pirates. I don’t like Bob Nutting, but I don’t really hate him either. I feel like he’s a good businessman, but whether that makes him a good owner is a matter of debate. I doubt we’ll ever see Bob Nutting sell the Pirates anytime soon. He seems convinced that winning baseball is on the horizon and as a fan; I hope he is correct, because I cannot handle too many more losing seasons. When this new management team took over in 2007, they said building a winning team was a process. Well it’s been 3 years and the tools are in place. It’s put up or shut up time for the Pirates. Let’s hope 2010 is the beginning of a new era of winning baseball in Pittsburgh.