They could try to extend him.

No big-picture motive? Seems to me everything they've done since they drafted Pedro is to put a competitive team on the field for 2014 and beyond. Spending more on the draft than any other team, being extremely active in the International market and resigning a superstar for the first time in God-knows how long. With the big picture focused on 2014/2015, they continue to bring in mid-to-slightly-below-mid-level free agents to make the team as competitive as they can be right now, without risking any of the future. These include Burnett, Wandy, Martin, Gaby, etc. So unless I misunderstood (which could have happened, I only skimmed the article), I just don't see where they are lacking in big-picture strategics.

As a long suffering Pirates fan, I have seen option 1 way too many times. No way can they trade McCuthen until they reach 82 wins.

The biggest issue is that ownership won't commit to spending on the major league roster until more fans show up at the park. That would be like General Motors saying that their vehicles are below average but if you buy one now they will improve the quality in the future.

Is close-to-.500 really that bad of a spot for the Pirates to be in right now? I mean, just putting in a winning season would be huge at this point.

Why spend on the big league roster yet? I don't see a reason to until some of the investments start paying off that they've made via the draft. I don't think we'll be as hesitant to bring in a decent FA or make a trade deadline acquisition once Cole, Taillon, Polanco, Hansen, Bell, Heredia, etc start making an impact in the big leagues. Or at least the first two I mentioned. Attendance has been tremendous for a team that has only spent $40-50M on it's entire roster. I think the fact that they've gone from $40 to $70M in a 2-3 year span proves that we're willing to spend once the investments pay off. Do you really think we'd have gone after Wandy, Martin, etc in 2002? No, we would have signed Matt Lawton or Kenny Lofton. We certainly wouldn't have extended McCutchen through his prime. I think it's a great time to a Bucco fan, and if our fanbase would take a second to realize the difference between right now and when Littlefield was here - they might not be such pessimistic complainers.

Seems to me that teams that trade away quality for future do quite poorly with only a few exceptions. Has BP ever looked at that. It might make sense to a businessman to trade his best player for a bunch of prospects, but it angers the fans and often fails. Before free agency, good players often stayed on bad teams and garnered the affection of the fan base even as the team lost. Those days are gone, but if a player is performing, is a model citizen and the fans like him, why not keep him instead of betting on the flavor of the month?

"Closer void"? Grilli will have them saying "Hanra-who?"

Dave - look at the deal Texas got for Teixiera. It'll boggle your mind, lol. Obviously betting on prospects is a gamble, but the team gets the immediate benefit of salary relief. Also, a lot of those types of deals are done just prior to the player leaving town without the team getting a thing in return. So while 3 or 4 prospects is a gamble, it's often better than losing the player and having nothing to show for it. With that said, the Buccos are not in a position to benefit even in the slightest by trading McCutchen now that he's locked up through his prime. I'm just talking more in general than anything the Buccos should consider.

I do think a trade of AJ to a contender at the deadline would make sure if we were clearly out of wildcard contention. I don't think we will be, but it's definitely something we should consider should we find ourselves in the position.

Why comment on an article you admittedly stated you didnt read?