2009 Pittsburgh Pirates Preview-the position players

This Pirate team looks to be perhaps the weakest team that we have seen yet,but it is understandable in that no major additions were brought in to augment a pretty bad team from last season.
That is not an entirely bad thing as the Huntington regime is attempting to build without spending money on other teams discards,but it does mean that the same players that brought you last years
67-95 record are back and without the departed players that played in the first half,helping to put up enough wins to avoid 100 losses.
I am not sure that avoiding that number happens this season......

The Pirates go around the horn in the infield with three players that have contracts that end this season and that could mean that some or all could be moved before the seasons end.
The enigmatic Adam LaRoche starts at first,he of the horrendous April,May and June and the tremendous second half of the season.
If LaRoche could get off to any kind of average start,he could be quite a valuable trade chip to a contender when teams consider his second half history.
Freddy Sanchez holds court at second after his worst season.
Sanchez,at his best,brings you a high average and little else,so without him hitting .290 or higher,he really is not a huge help.
Sanchez's deal expires at the end of the season,although the Pirates do have a eight million dollar option for 2010 that they will likely not exercise with Shelby Ford being the likely replacement..
Jack Wilson returns for the final year of his contract at shortstop.
Wilson has been the object of trade rumors in each of the last two seasons and the Pirates could move him at the deadline,despite an 8.4 million club option that the Pirates will not exercise for 2010.
Wilson has been making rumblings about considering an extension and realizes just how overpaid that he is,but the middle ground is still more than the Pirates will likely be willing to pay and less than Wilson will settle for.
Andy LaRoche gets a chance to establish himself at third base after looking totally lost in his Pirate bow after being obtained from Los Angeles.
LaRoche fanned a lot after being touted as a player with nice strike zone knowledge as he moved up as a Dodger prospect and was awful defensively.
It is difficult to say that a player that has been a Pirate for such little time is backed against the wall,but LaRoche is.
Neil Walker is at Indianapolis looking for an opportunity and Pedro Alvarez begins his climb through the system that should occur quickly,so LaRoche needs to establish himself quickly.
Veteran Ramon Vasquez was brought in to be the utility infielder that Chris Gomez was supposed to be last season,while Luis Cruz finishes the roster as the final infielder/pinch runner.

Ryan Doumit enters the year armed with a new long term contract and looks to finally play a full season after spending his first few season battling injuries ,being moved around to different positions and having to share time for the departed Ronny Paulino.
The power hitting backstop will have the latter two problems no more,so the health issue is the only one to worry about.
Jason Jaramillo was brought in from Philadelphia for Paulino and will be the backup for Doumit.
Jaramillo brings a history with manager John Russell and good skills behind the dish.
Jason is average at best with the stick,so his bat really isnt what you are looking for from a starter.

The outfield is possibly the leagues worst.
Nate McLouth is the center field anchor and McLouth (like Doumit and Paul Maholm) was also signed to a long term contract ( 3 years and a club option year) in the off season.
I have been pushing McLouth for playing time for quite a while,when the team seems uninterested in doing so and his fast start last season solidified his lineup position,but his second half struggles raises questions on the contract that he signed.
In any case,considering the outfield talent on this team,he is the top option and god forbid that the first half of 08 was the aberration.
Brandon Moss will likely get the nod in right field after struggling with injuries after being obtained from the Red Sox.
On a good team,Moss would fit best as a fourth outfielder,but on this one he not only has to start,he has to be a dependable option,when you consider that the Pirates odd insistence that Nyjer Morgan start in left.
The Neil Huntington administration is the second that seems to have a strange fixation on playing Morgan despite numbers that one has to stretch to find a minute' reason to do so.
Morgan strikes out a lot,struggles defensively,has next to no power and often misuses his only plus tool-speed.
Other than that,he's great! (sarcasm intended).
Even on a team this awful,Morgan should be the fifth outfielder at best and would be a better fit at Indianapolis.
Veterans Eric Hinske and Craig Monroe round out the flychasers.
Hinske was added from Tampa as a possible replacement in left,but also for his ability to fill in at first and third.
Hinske could be a stop gap replacement at either third or left,if the incumbents there stumble.
Monroe was the player that Dave Littlefield hungered for in the possible Jack Wilson to the Tigers trade in 2007 that could have landed Jair Jurrjens from the Tigers.
Monroe made the team as a non roster free agent,but appears to be on the downside of his career after 3 poor season in 3 years.
Look for Monroe to be the guy that eventually gets a quiet release later in the season when the injury bug bites...

This is a pretty weak lineup,folks.
We will be back either tomorrow or Monday with a look at the pitching staff.