- Our pitching and defense carried the Pirates through most of the season in 2012, and we should be stronger in 2013.
- Rotation - Burnett continues as our No. 1; Wandy Rodriguez is our No. 2 SP replacing Eric Bedard. I expect this to be a major improvement. JMAC returns with another year of experience behind him and should be a solid No. 3. Francisco Liriano, who not long ago was a No. 1 SP, joins the Rotation and will be taking the spot of Correia/Karstens at No. 4; I expect that Jeff Locke will be our No. 5, and he will be an improvement.
- Bullpen - Missing from 2012 will be Hanrahan, Cruz, Meek, and Resop. Back will be Jason Grilli and Jared Hughes, two of our best relievers in 2012. Replacing Hanrahan will be Mark Melancon, replacing Cruz and Resop as the 7th inning guy should be Jared Hughes which is a very large improvement. Evan Meek was not very good in 2012 and Bryan Morris had a very solid year at AAA last year - Very large improvement. Tony Watson returns as our Lefty Specialist entering his 2nd full year. I am hoping that we promote Justin Wilson another Lefty into the bullpen, and in the last spot will be either Chris Leroux or Jeff Karstens. I favor Leroux.
- Batting Order - Last year we struggled with Presley and Tabata at leadoff. This year will see Starling Marte and this will be a major step forward for the Pirates. McGehee started at 1B and in the middle of the order and I see Garrett Jones at 1B, and Gaby Sanchez also being a lot better than McGehee. Rod Barajas started at C an was in the middle of the order; Russell Martin will be a major improvement in all aspects of the game. 'Cutch and Alvarez had big years in 2012, and we need them to repeat. Need Alvarez to add about 20 more walks and about 30 less K's. Two wild cards will be Snider and Barmes. We need to see a solid bat with pop from Travis Snider, and Barmes, IMO, had his worst year in baseball with the bat in his hands - I think we can expect a lot more in 2013.
- Defense - Marte an upgrade, middle infield should be a lot stronger with Walker playing full time, and Catching will be a major improvement. The Pirates gave up around 150 SB's while only throwing out around 20 - pitiful. Martin has a better arm and mechanics, and Rodriguez, JMAC, Liriano, and Locke hold runners well; in the bullpen, Resop and Meek were two of the slowest to the plate, and have been replaced. Better pitching and better catching tends to reduce the running game of opponents.
- So, improvements all the way around to a very solid core of young players building the future. I like the Bucs to break the curse and finish with around an 84 - 78 record.
Getting ready with 2013 Spring Training just around the corner, and early reports of pitchers and catchers in about 15-20 days. And, I would not be surprised if a number of new faces show up as early as possible to get a head start with the new team. The Pirates have gained 22 games since 2010's bottom of 57-105, finishing 2012 at 79-83. What are we looking at: