Battling Bucs : 2013 Pirates Predictions

Over the course of the last two seasons the Pittsburgh Pirates have come a long way. From losing 100+ games in 2010 to flirting with a playoff spot deep into August in 2012. From looking like a franchise void of any direction to having a bright future just on the horizon. The future looks better than now than it did just two short years ago but right now isn't the time to worry about that. This is the time of year we ask ourselves not how future Pirates teams may look or perform but rather about how this year's version of the team will look and perform. The Pirates have a large group of players returning and have added a handful of players they hope will be able to compliment the returning group well. In addition to the players added this offseason the Pirates will be counting on full seasons of players added to the roster last year and improved performances by last year's regulars to improve the overall performance of the team.
.
The group of players the Pirates will be sending out on to the field Monday is most people's opinions the most talented group the Pirates have fielding in quite a few years. Still there is no mistaking this group for a complete team which should be able to easily handle all the obstacles thrown at them and glide into the playoffs. The Pirates are a work in progress and as such the roster will be yet again in a constant state of flux during the 2013 season. Just what the expectations are for this team is difficult to pin down. As an improved group over the 2012 version one would assume an improved record should be in the forthcoming but the 2012 group was probably a little lucky in some regards meaning they actually finished ahead of where they should have. Still one gets the sense that if improvement in terms of record is not achieved some major changes in terms of coaching staff and front office will likely be coming either during this season or after the year.
.
What does this Pirates team have to do to be a success? Does this group have to make the playoffs? Just make a serious run? Just finish above .500? Just show improvements in overall performance regardless of the record? That is really up tom personal opinion but in my mind it is the last one. The group the Pirates have assembled isn't a real contender and for that reason as long as they don't post an awful record whatever their record winds up being is less important than how they go about achieving that record. If the core of the team takes a step forward and veterans like Burnett, Martin and Barmes struggle which causes the team record to be less than ideal I can live with that but if it happens the other way around things will be a little less pretty. A disclaimer here though in terms of whether there will be changes I don't think how the Pirates go about achieving a substandard record will matter; if they post one changes will almost certainly be coming.
.
All of this still leaves me with the question of what am I expecting from this team this season. Above all else I am expecting growth. I'm expecting the team to find some young players to help compliment McCutchen. This would likely be players from the Alvarez, Marte, Snider and Tabata group. I'm expecting some youth to lay claim to rotation spots next season. This would be players from the Cole, McPherson, Locke and Irwin group. The Pirates have to be at a point at the end of this season in which they know what they have with this group. It is vital so they know how to proceed next offseason. Finding which players can truly help this team in 2014 and beyond is in my mind the most important thing that come out of 2013 however one can not completely ignore the overall performance. I still expect this team to play well.
.
When you slice right through it the talent on this team appears to have the talent of roughly a slightly below average team meaning somewhere in the neighborhood of 78 wins. However the range of possible outcomes for this team is huge. If things break relatively wrong for this team it could quite possibly lose 95 games but if things break relatively right for this team I could see it posting 90 wins. Either extreme though seems rather unlikely. Truth be told as it nearly always does the actual result will lie somewhere in the middle. This Pirates team will likely win somewhere between 75-85 games making them for all intents and purposes an average team. As for my actual prediction this year feels different but I have never actually predicted the Pirates to finish the season with a winning record. I don't like this team enough to break that trend but on the other hand there is a different feel about it so I have do something different. It pains me to do this as it is the ultimate cop-out by my prediction for the record of the 2013 Pittsburgh Pirates is: 81-81