Pirates' Season Preview
Spring Expectations
By John E. Sacco

Of all the off-season moves made by the Pirates, perhaps the most significant was the hiring of manager Jim Tracy.

The former Los Angeles Dodgers' manager did not come to Pittsburgh to simply end the Pirates' 13-season losing streak. He came here to win championships.

While that may seem just a bit overzealous right now, Tracy has sold his players that the necessary tools are essentially in place to make a marked turn this season toward contention.

He doesn't talk of .500 or respectability. Tracy talks about winning big.

"The ability is here to win," Tracy said. "The ability is here to be successful."

Tracy will stress fundamentals, an area of the game that the Pirates have been ridiculously weak at for quite some time now. He is asking his hitters to get on base at a better rate.

He wants them to play like winners, act like winners and feel like winners.

Nothing else will do.

"It's kind of like we've been given a clean slate," said closer Mike Gonzalez. "It's good to start fresh with him and the coaching staff. This is a different group of players now. I think we're really talented with a good mix of guys who have been in the big leagues for awhile, and some who have been here just a short time."

The Pirates of 2006 will be a mix of veterans and younger players. The starting lineup figures to include veterans Sean Casey at first, shortstop Jack Wilson, third baseman Joe Randa, left fielder Jason Bay and right fielder Jeromy Burnitz.

It also will include emerging talents like Jose Castillo, who if healthy might be ready to transform from starter to standout at second base, center fielder Chris Duffy, and catcher Ryan Doumit.

The bench also should be a mix of young and old. That group will almost certainly include infielder Freddy Sanchez, catcher Humberto Cota, outfielder Jody Gerut and first baseman-outfielder Craig Wilson.

"We have a much stronger club offensively, defensively and pitching," General Manager Dave Littlefield said. "We think we're a much improved club."

Some others think so, too.

One national writer described the team as the "up and coming" Pirates. Much of that is based on the team's pitching staff.

Second-year lefty Zach Duke, who was outstanding last year posting an 8-2 record and 1.81 earned run average, is the cornerstone of the staff. Duke, who will turn 23-years-old just after the start of the season, is considered one of the top young pitchers in the game.

He will be joined by lefty Paul Maholm, who went 3-1 with a 2.18 ERA in six starts for the Pirates in 2005, and the enigmatic Oliver Perez.

With Kip Wells out for an undetermined amount of time as he recuperates from surgery to repair a blood clot in his pitching arm, the fifth spot will be a competition between veterans Victor Santos, picked up in the Rule 5 draft, Ryan Vogelsong, who never quite seemed to be one of the former coaching staff's favorites, lefty Sean Burnett, who missed all of 2005 after having Tommy John surgery, and emerging Ian Snell, a righty.

If Burnett is healthy, he easily could clamp down the final spot in the rotation. But the Pirates might bring him along a bit more slowly and bring him back to the majors after a couple months in the minors.

"Our starting pitchers feel like they rule the world," Gonzalez said. "Forget about the ages. Those guys feel they will get the job done.

"Talk to Zach Duke. He feels every time he pitches he is going to win and he'll get his wins. Sean Burnett goes to the mound figuring on getting the win. These guys are beyond their years and their experience."

Gonzalez will be counted on to anchor what should be a much-improved bullpen.

The Pirates think they fortified the unit by adding veteran free agent right-hander Roberto Hernandez, who has closing experience, and lefty Damaso Marte, acquired from the World Series Champion Chicago White Sox for Rob Mackowiak.

Hernandez and Marte join right-handed set-up man Solomon Torres and left-handed set-up man John Grabow.

"You know if you have a chance or not," said Casey, who returns to his roots after being acquired from Cincinnati for left-handed starting pitcher Dave Williams. "We have a chance to be pretty good."

Tracy said the ability of Littlefield to accomplish everything the team's brass talked about in October, was "pretty remarkable." And that has set a positive tone for the season.

"What's been done is that the character of the people we brought in is superb and we brought in some very successful, professional players," Tracy said.

"To have success at any level of major sports, certain elements must be in place. The Steelers are a perfect example. There are a number of intangibles. I'm extremely excited."

The other element that seems sure to help improve the team is the coaching staff Tracy put together, which includes highly-regarded pitching coach Jim Colborn, bench coach Jim Lett, along with base coaches Jeff Cox and John Shelby, hitting coach Jeff Manto and bullpen coach Bobby Cuellar.

"I've been here two seasons and they both were losing seasons," Gonzalez said. "I really don't care what happened here before that. I don't like to lose. Our young guys don't like to lose and I know the veterans coming in here expect to win. We're going to turn this around and win. We're going to surprise a lot of people."

John E. Sacco has covered the Pirates and major league baseball for PSR since 1988. Previously, he covered the team and the game from 1986 to 1992. He is a former member of the Baseball Writer's of America Association, Pittsburgh chapter.

MLB News & Notes
By Jim Lachimia

The best story I've heard about new Pirates' manager Jim Tracy involves pitcher Eric Gagne, whose career was going nowhere before Tracy gave him a chance to be the Dodgers' closer. Gagne's vast assortment of pitches made him worthy of starting, but he had difficulty maintaining focus over the course of six or seven innings. "I've noticed you have trouble concentrating for two and a half hours," Tracy reportedly told Gagne. "Can you do it for eight minutes?" With that, Gagne became one of baseball's dominant closers.

If Ben Roethlisberger hadn't tackled Nick Harper of the Colts in that epic Steelers' playoff game, Jerome Bettis and Barry Bonds would forever have been linked as sure-fire Hall of Famers whose final deed in a Pittsburgh uniform would long be remembered for a very bad reason. People around here have never forgiven Bonds for failing to nail Sid Bream at home plate in the Pirates' last playoff game back in 1992. But even if Big Ben hadn't saved the day after the Bettis fumble, Pittsburghers still would have allowed the likeable Bettis to wriggle off the hook more easily.

Scouts and coaches say Pitt second baseman Jim Negrych will be selected in baseball's June draft this year - probably in the third round. They love his aggressiveness, and he has excellent power for his size (5'10" 180 pounds) as demonstrated by the fact he led the Panthers with 16 homers last season. They also say what will hurt him as a pro is that he doesn't have the range or athleticism to be more than adequate defensively. So he's not big or fast, but he's off the charts in terms of offensive production and mental make-up. Sounds like someone Oakland A's GM Billy Beane would love.

You won't see Leo Mazzone rocking back in forth in the dugout on those TBS telecasts anymore. The Braves' long-time pitching coach left to join manager Sam Perlozzo's staff in Baltimore because the two have been best friends since childhood. Atlanta's incredible streak of 14 straight division titles began in 1991 - Mazzone's first full season there. Under his direction, the Braves finished either first or second in the majors in ERA 12 times. Friendship means a lot, but Baltimore doubling Mazzone's salary - to about $500,000 - didn't hurt either.