Pirates steaming into spring

It’s not even time to report to training camp, and Pirates players are already downtrodden,… It’s not even time to report to training camp, and Pirates players are already downtrodden, disappointed and disenfranchised.

The Associated Press and Pittsburgh Post-Gazette both reported Friday that left fielder Jason Bay, among others, expressed his discontent with Pirates management. The lack of any significant offseason, free-agent moves is the source of Bay’s unhappiness.

“I said I think it’s pretty obvious that this group of guys is not going to get it done,” Bay told the AP. “Some people think if we get to .500, that would be great and that would be a nice pat on the back. As a player, that’s not very comforting. Ultimately, your goal is to get to the playoffs and win a championship. If you look at the team right now, I don’t know if we’re set up to be a championship team.”

Could it be general manager Neil Huntington’s decision to keep the same starting rotation as last year without a single change? The same rotation that filled out after former general manager Dave Littlefield’s mind-boggling addition of the worst $9 million pitcher on the planet, Matt Morris. The same rotation that, combined, sported a 39-49 record with a 4.86 ERA.

Or maybe it’s what the Post-Gazette’s Dejan Kovacevic described as the “four uncertainties out of seven” in the Pirates bullpen.

Whatever it is, Pirates players aren’t happy. Neither are the fans. According to the AP, fans cornered Huntington at one of the team’s stops on its annual Pirates Caravan tour in Weirton, W. Va. They wanted to know why Huntington wasn’t making any moves in the offseason.

“It would have been easy to sign a free agent and make a splash to get a positive newspaper headline, but we’re not going to spend $50,000 for a used car that’s worth $20,000,” Huntington told the AP in response to the growing concern. “We’re also not going to make a trade just for the sake of making a trade.”

Huntington may have been speaking directly to Bay, who hit 34 points below his career batting average and 39 points below his career on-base percentage last season. Did I mention Bay hit the fewest home runs in his career since he became an everyday player?

Sounds like this is going to be a problem.

Veterans Bay and Xavier Nady are seemingly ready to write off the 2008 season already … in January.

“You talk to people at these [PirateFests] and everyone is in the best shape of their life. All that’s great, but it’s your job to be in the best shape of your life,” Bay told the AP in response to management’s assertion that one of the Pirates’ main problems was players reporting to spring training out of shape.

“I really don’t know if that carries a ton of weight. Ultimately, if a guy reports in the worst shape of his life and goes out and performs, nobody cares.”

“This is too good of a franchise … to go through this,” Nady told the AP. “It just gets old. It’s the same thing you tell all your buddies. We have a good group of guys, we play well at times, but when it comes down to it, we really struggle, and there need to be some changes.”

It’s good to see the Pirates veterans have bought into the new Pirates’ management’s attitude and game plan.

What’s the point of going to training camp if no one wants to?

Let’s get to the rapid fire:

– Does anyone else notice the baseball theme in the Romney family? Mitt, the dad, and Tagg, the son? All they need is a relative named Slide, and we can play some ball.

– Pittsburghers have done more driving in their driveways and more parking on the parkway lately. This city just cracks me up.

– TRIVIA: I’ll give you a hearty pat on the back, Roc, if you can tell me how many other women’s basketball teams had multiple players on the midseason Naismith Trophy watch list. Pitt was one of them.

– Nothing makes my roommate laugh more than when the main Spartan in “Meet the Spartans” pushes Britney Spears into the giant hole in the preview on TV.

– CNN reported that the movie “Cloverfield” was making viewers sick. I guess that’s enough of a review.

– Blowhard TV host Glenn Beck said on his show the other day that “no one cares that the TV writers are on strike.” Speak for yourself, Glenn. You don’t have to watch your show.

– Sylvester Stallone reportedly admitted to using human growth hormone to get ready for the new “Rambo.” My guess is that the movie’s box office numbers might need some kind of growth hormone, too.

TRIVIA ANSWER: There were three other teams, Roc. Along with Pitt, which had Marcedes Walker and Shavonte Zellous on the list, Connecticut, Maryland and Stanford had multiple representatives.