Part 1: Cosmetic Changes,Drafting Philosophy,

Thanks for coming.
It is an honor to be in charge of rehabilitating the Pittsburgh Pirates.
This will be a long term project, without disrespecting my predecessors, Cam Bonifay and Dave Littlefield, there is quite a job ahead here.
There may be some short term success in the next year or two, but we are looking to build a franchise where we can compete every year, not in a 2-year window every 15 years.

First, here are a few cosmetic changes that will affect things on the field a little, but are things that I want to address.

1)We are eliminating all alternate hats and jerseys.
We will wear "throwback" items on days that are appropriate, but the ugly 3rd jerseys that no one likes are history along with the hats.
The Pirates will continue to sell the "snarling Bucco" batting practice hat for those of you that prefer a logo hat to the block P.

2) I would like to announce that Greg Brown will not return for the 2008 season on radio and television.
I think we can improve our announcing team substantially with Greg and his pathetic and forced catchphrases in another city.

3) We will be taking some polls and taking a look at which logo from the past or the current one is most popular and will be using the winner as the primary logo in the future.
We want our fans to decide the logo, not a graphic designer that has no attachments to the Pirates.

4) After outlining our mantra, the marketing slogan "We Will" is history.
Not only is it dumb, but it is also far too easy to make fun of it.
This franchise has done enough things to be ridiculed for, we do not need to add to them.

Draft Philosophy

Ed Creech was fired,5 minutes after I agreed to take this job.
Look at the system, that says it all about Creech's performance.

The Pirates will begin to address the lack of impact bats and arms in the system.
The previous GM believed in the low ceiling, low-risk players in the draft, especially with pitchers.
The days of spending top picks on players that project as middle relievers and number 4 starters are in the past.

As of now, if this team misses in the draft, we will miss on players that project as impact players, not on those that we think will be average.
The Pittsburgh Pirates are committed to power bats and power arms and we are committed to
being open to both high school and college players in the draft.
The previous regime seemed to rarely look at high school players and almost ignored high school pitchers.
Let's be honest-we are based in Pittsburgh, we cannot compete for the top talent in the game on the open market, so we must develop them ourselves.
Taking the safe route has put this franchise in the spot that it is now.
We must be bold and aggressive and we will take risks.
For all the talk of college pitchers being the safer selection over high schoolers, we believe that the college pitcher has more mileage on them and as an organization, I would prefer that the Pittsburgh Pirates control the use of those arms rather than the University of Houston.

Power pitching and power hitting depth enable you to make trades from a position of strength and allows you to bring in legitimate prospects to help the organization where it needs it.
When you look at the current state of this system, we have two blue-chip prospects in Neil Walker and Andrew McCutchen, but neither will provide power upon arrival.
Steven Pearce could do that, but he is old for his current level, it remains to be seen if he is a power bat in Pittsburgh or another Brad Eldred.

We will not be afraid to take a pitcher that does not throw hard, but we will not make the mistake of taking them too early like Mr.Littlefield has done SO many times and did again this past draft.
I realize there is a place for the pitcher that makes the best of limited stuff, but he will now earn his way through the system, not pass the player through because he was a high pick due to signability.

Also, we are moving on from using picks in the first 5 rounds on "scrappy" light-hitting infielders with little upside.
We can sign those types of guys for the Pirates as free agents, we cannot afford the type of player that makes a difference in those spots.

Take a look at the State College, Hickory, and Lynchburg rosters and tell me how many real prospects that those teams have.
Not many and that is due to the past decisions in the draft.

The Pirates will begin to invest money in the Latin market, particularly the Dominican.
For years, the Pirates were the team in the area because the Pirates used to invest so much time, energy, and money there.
Those days have returned...

The Pirates will also be a player in the Japanese, Korean and Taiwanese markets on the minor league level and when prudent even at the major league level (more on this in later parts).
More scouts and more money will be allocated for this purpose.

And finally-the Pittsburgh Pirates will begin to take the best player in the draft regardless of their cost.
Mr.Littlefield passed on Matt Wieters because of his financial demands, which were less than what the Pirates are currently paying Tony Armas to linger in garbage time this year!
I would not have taken this job without this assurance.
Anytime you pass on the best player for any reason, it backfires on you-EVERY TIME!!

Tomorrow.
Part II-Player Development, Minor league staffing, and teaching the way that the Pirates want to play.