I know it’s only an article on SI.com, but there’s actually a positive look at the Pirates and their future. When an article starts off like this one does, you know that the author has either huffed the gold paint one too many times or actually believes what he’s typing.

I am ready to run through an outfield wall for Neal Huntington.

(A more cynical take might be that the writer’s simply trying to garner page views by something outlandish.)

John Donovan, the writer of the article, details the difficulties that anyone running the Pirates would encounter, not least of all is dealing with the almost two decades of futility. When Huntington says that the team has a rough time ahead and needs some work to be fixed, it’s easy to ignore him. The previous GM, Dave Littlefield, often said the right things, too, and that never got the team anywhere.

Like Donovan, I do feel something different with Huntington and the Pirates. Although I’m disappointed that the team wasn’t more active trading away players to reload their farm system, I can’t fault him. I don’t see any harm in waiting for players to improve their value. The Pirates have no big stars, and it would be a shame to trade Jason Bay when his value is so low.

Of all the teams in the Central, I want to see the Pirates win again, and I hope Huntington gets the time to let his actions match his words. Maybe if he has 6 years like Littlefield, we’ll actually see a competent Pirates team. At the very least, I expect we’ll see fewer trades like the one for Matt Morris.