Re: [THT] 2009 Five questions: Pittsburgh Pirates

[Anakin (Anakin)]

※ 引述《jayin07 (Hal YeahHhhHhhh!!)》之銘言：
: http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/article/five-questions-pittsburgh-pirates5/
: Five questions: Pittsburgh Pirates
: by Charlie Wilmoth

We're here to discuss five questions, but there's no question that the 2009
Pirates will set a dubious record by posting their 17th losing season in a
row, the longest such skid in the history of American professional sports.

: 雖然我們在這探討五個問題，但還是會創下連17季進不了季後賽的紀錄。

losing season是指敗多勝少的球季，相對的，winning season則是勝多敗少。

The good news is that this long period of futility is largely the fault of
front office figures who have long since departed,

: 不過好消息是FO以前弄出來的爛攤子過去了

應該是說，這個爛攤子是那些早已離開的FO成員搞出來的。

The Pirates dealt Jason Bay and Xavier Nady near the trading deadline last
year, and their outfield has been in flux ever since.

: 海盜去年在交易截止之前就將Bay和Nady送走，而他們的外野陣容就從那個時候起瓦解

應該只是說外野陣容一直在變動，沒有瓦解的意思。

(although he probably isn't as bad as most statistics indicate, either)

: (雖然他在數據上也沒這麼差)

這句話是說，他可能也沒有大部分數據顯示出來的那麼差。

McCutchen is the best prospect to come through the Pirates' system in several
years. That says as much about the Pirates' farm system as it says about
McCutchen,

: McCutchen是近年海盜農場最好的新秀。他們談到海到農場的時候，總會想到他

不是說談到海盜農場總會想到他，而是說上一句話不只可以拿來說明McCutchen，
也是海盜農場的最佳寫照。言外之意是說，McCutchen都可以說是數年來農場最好
的新秀，那這個農場的好壞也可想而知。

but McCutchen should still be a solid regular, at least. He brings

: 但是McCutchen至少要成為一個稱職的先發球員。

但是再怎麼說，McCutchen應該至少還會是可靠的先發。

Nyjer Morgan, a 28-year-old minor league vet with good speed but no power
or understanding of how to play the game

: Nyjer Morgan，一個28歲、有著優秀的速度但是沒有power的小聯盟球員，不過
: 他知道如何比賽中該做什麼

應該是no "power" or "understanding of how to play the game"

也就是說他沒有power也缺乏understanding of how to play the game

will prevent the Pirates from having to use the likes of Yoslan Herrera
or John Van Benschoten in their rotation or to allow a plainly-injured
Tom Gorzelanny to pitch 105 innings, as they did in 2008.

: 預期可以吃下Yoslan Herrera、John Van Benschoten的空缺，或是像去年接管
: Tom Gorzelanny受傷後的局數。

應該不只是吃下空缺，而是將會避免他們又把Herrera、Van Benschoten這一類的
球員放在先發輪值裡面。

The other problems that appeared when he was with the Pirates, such as
poor defense and swinging at bad pitches may have arisen out of his
frustration with his sudden inability to hit the ball hard.

: 他的另一個問題是在他海盜發生的，守備表現不好、打擊的時候去揮壞球，
: 可能會導致他有挫折感，讓他沒辦法結實的咬中球。

這個因果關係可能搞錯了，原文是說可能因為突然打不遠所產生的挫折感，讓他守
不好，又揮了一堆不該揮的球。

The Pirates' management has a lot riding on LaRoche's future and undoubtedly
hopes that his struggles with the Bucs were purely the result of injury and
not an early peak.

: 即使LaRoche因傷表現不如預期，海盜的教練團還是對LaRoche的潛力有極大的肯定。

對海盜的管理階層來說，LaRoche 的未來關係甚大，而他們毫無疑問的希望他在海盜
的掙扎是因為受傷而不是因為peak比一般球員來得更早。


The Pirates' front office, headed by team president Frank Coonelly and
general manager Neal Huntington, appears to be pursuing the only plan that
will work for a low-payroll team.

: 海盜制服組的大頭目Frank Coonelly、指揮官Neal Huntington，顯然只有一個計畫
: ，就是打造一個low-payroll的球隊。

海盜的FO顯然正遵循著對一支low-payroll的球隊來說唯一可行的計畫。

If the Pirates are to succeed, they must have a good core of young talent
they can control cheaply, and they finally appear to understand this.

: 如果海盜的策略奏效的話，他們就能用低成本讓農場長滿漂亮的農作物。
: 顯然，他們終於知道要這樣做了。

如果海盜想要成功，他們必須要有一群能便宜控制的年輕核心球員，而他們好像總算
知道這一點了。

There are three potential problems that could befall the new administration
even if the prospects they're developing do pan out.

: 不過制服組的計畫要是成功了，會有三個潛在問題降臨。

不過就算這些新秀都真的長成了，海盜的新管理階層還是要面對三個可能發生的問題

In defense of the Pirates' ownership, their willingness to spend on the draft
and the Dominican facility are great signs, and the Bucs' honchos have said,
very reasonably, that it doesn't make sense to raise payroll until there's a
competitive core in place.

: 他們把錢花在Dominican facility和選秀上是很好的補強，而海賊頭子明確說了在他
: 們沒有足夠的競爭力之前，沒有理由把pay-roll提高。

替海盜的老闆說句話，他們願意在選秀與多明尼加花錢是很好的跡象，而海盜老闆說在
球隊具有競爭力的核心球員到位之前沒有道理提高薪資總額也非常合理。

It would, of course, be silly for the current Pirates to sign a bunch of
expensive veterans (few of whom would be willing to play for the Pirates
right now anyway), who would likely require long-term deals that would be
liabilities by the next time the Bucs could be competitive, and so the
ownership is right to avoid boosting the payroll just to prove they can.

: 沒有足夠的競爭力之前，沒有理由把pay-roll提高。沒錯，把大把鈔票拿去簽昂貴
: 的資深球員很蠢，誰會拿長約去綁球員然後讓自己負債到有競爭力的時候？所以海
: 盜頭子去避免提高payroll，用農場的證明他們可以有競爭力。

當然，要是現在的海盜去簽一堆昂貴的資深球員（其中還只有少數人願意在這個時
候來海盜隊打球）是很蠢的事情，他們顯然都會要求一張到海盜可能有競爭力的時
候會成為負債的長約，所以海盜隊沒有為了證明他們能花錢就提高薪資總額是正確
的。

Another potential snag that could catch the Pirates' long-term plan might
come from those same fans, many of whom have already turned on Huntington and
Coonelly. As Wilbur Miller has pointed out, the more Huntington and Coonelly
distinguish themselves from Littlefield, the angrier the fans get, which is
ironic, since Littlefield is arguably the person most responsible for the
Pirates' current predicament. Littlefield left the organization in utter
disrepair, from the major league team all the way down to rookie ball.

另一個可能打擊海盜長期計畫的前在障礙也許是來自同樣的這群球迷，他們其中的
許多人已經轉而與Huntington和Coonelly敵對。就像 Wilbur Miller已經指出的，
Huntington與Coonelly越是將他們自己與 Littlefield區別開來，球迷們反而越生
氣，這很諷刺，因為Littlefield 可以說是要為海盜目前窘境負上最大責任的人。
Littlefield 讓這支球隊完全荒廢，從大聯盟開始一路到新人聯盟都一樣。

It took Andrew Friedman two and a half years to fix the Rays, and Friedman
had the benefit of a very good farm system to work with. Huntington and
Coonelly inherited a Rays-like situation at the major league level and one
of the worst farm systems in baseball. Fans were furious with Huntington
and Coonelly after they'd been on the job less than a year, and it's going
to take at least a couple more before the Pirates show real progress in
the majors. These next two years will be very tough for the Pirates, and
the ownership needs to have the resolve to stick with the plan.

Andrew Friedman 花了兩年半修補光芒隊，而Friedman還得益於有一個優秀的農場
系統供他使用。Huntington和Coonelly則繼承了一個在大聯盟等級與光芒有類似處
境的球隊，以及一個大聯盟最糟糕的農場系統。在Huntington和Coonelly接手不到
一年後，球迷就開始對他們感到憤怒，而在海盜展現出真正的進展之前還需要至少
兩年以上的時間。接下來的這兩年對海盜來說將是非常困難的時期，球隊老闆必須
要有堅守計畫的決心。

A third potential area of concern that might prevent the Pirates from
achieving their goals is that Huntington and Coonelly's skills as evaluators
of talent haven't yet been tested. The most important players they've
acquired so far--Alvarez, Grossman, Miller, Tabata, Morris--haven't yet
played much for the organization.

第三個可能阻止海盜達成目標的疑慮在於Huntington和Coonelly評估天分的能力還
未經過測試。他們到目前為止簽下最重要的幾名球員，包括Alvarez、Grossman、
Miller、Tabata和Morris，在這個球隊都還沒有太多表現。

We know a lot more about their less important acquisitions, and the results
so far have been uninspiring. Their strategy for acquiring relievers thus far
has largely consisted of grabbing the hardest throwers they can find,
regardless of their ability to find the plate. For example, last offseason
Huntington dealt Todd Redmond—now a decent starting pitching prospect—to
the Braves for Tyler Yates. Yates racked up walks for the Pirates in 2008 and
was completely untrustworthy in any situation that required him to keep
batters from reaching base. Many of Huntington's other acquisitions,
including Denny Bautista, Evan Meek, and Craig Hansen, were exactly the same
way.

我們對於他們其他比較不重要的收穫知道的比較多，而目前為止的結果並不能讓人
感到欣慰。他們獲取救援投手的策略目前主要是抓住他們所能找到投的最快的投手
，對於控球能力則是無視。舉例來說，上個休兵期把Todd Redmond--現在是不錯的
先發投手新秀--交易到勇士，換來 Tyler Yates。Yates 2008年在海盜投了一堆保
送，而且在任何需要他避免讓打者上壘的狀況下都絲毫不值得信賴。其他許多
Huntington交易來的球員，包括Denny Bautista、Evan Meek和Craig Hansen 都是
一模一樣的情況。

The Pirates' 2008 bench was also a mess. When shortstop Jack Wilson got hurt
early in the season, the Bucs turned to minor league free agent Luis Rivas, a
terrible hitter whom the Pirates' own statistical analyst, Dan Fox, had
earlier described as one of the worst defensive second basemen of the past 50
years. The results were predictable, and the performances the Pirates got
from fellow bench players like Jason Michaels and Luis Cruz weren't much
better. The only bench player who was worth the playing time he received was
Doug Mientkiewicz.

2008年的海盜板凳同樣是一團亂。當游擊手 Jack Wilson在球季初期受傷，海盜
找來小聯盟自由球員Luis Rivas，一個海盜自己的數據分析專家Dan Fox 早就形
容為過去50年來防守最差二壘手的糟糕打者。結果很容易預測，而海盜板凳上其
他球員如Jason Michaels與Luis Cruz 的表現也好不到哪去。唯一一個值得他上
場時間的板凳球員是Doug Mientkiewicz。

In fairness to Huntington and Coonelly, these were all low-risk, low-reward
acquisitions, and it ultimately doesn't matter much who pitches the sixth
inning or pinch hits for a 95-loss team. It also appears that they may have
learned their lesson, signing substantially better players in Hinske and
Vazquez for this year's bench. But when the Pirates pay a steep price for,
say, Andy LaRoche, only to have him crater spectacularly, it's possible for a
cynical observer to see a pattern, and worry that a dark future awaits the
more important group of players Huntington and Coonelly have acquired.

平心而論，這接都是低風險低報酬的投資，而且對一支95敗的球隊來說，誰投第六
局或是誰上來代打也不是那麼重要。而且Huntington和Coonelly似乎也學到了教訓
，簽下基本上比較好的球員如Hinske和Vazquez 作為今年的板凳。但是當海盜付出
極大的代價取得像Andy LaRoche這樣的球員，卻只看到他壯觀的炸裂，犬儒的觀察
者可能都看到了一個模式，同時擔憂黑暗的未來正等在其他Huntington和Coonelly
所簽下更重要的球員們面前。

Despite all that, though, Huntington and Coonelly have gotten the big things
right so far, and they deserve the benefit of the doubt. In 2009, many
serious Pirates fans will pay at least as much attention to the actions of
the front office as they do to the results on the field, hoping that
Huntington and Coonelly are capable of finally leading the franchise out of
the woods.

儘管如此，Huntington和Coonelly目前為止在大方向上是正確的，值得我們在懷疑
中稍微留情。在2009年，許多真正的海盜迷將會對制服組的動作投以與比賽結果同
樣的關注，希望Huntington和Coonelly有能力，最終能帶領球隊脫離危機。

: 後面有一大半不知該如何翻譯，前面那段不太懂，應該是指以前的FO和現在FO的差別。
: 在此之後那幾段大意是講他們FO對新秀的評估出了些問題，拿一些有用的
: 去換弄了一些沒用的東西，球員受傷找來替補的又鳥。
: 因為沒辦法一次翻出來，不想翻得零零碎碎的，所以後面那一大段還需請人幫助翻譯

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◆ From: 118.170.79.80
※ 編輯: Anakin          來自: 118.170.79.80        (03/30 22:41)
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