After the parade of veterans the Pittsburgh Pirates have sent out over the last few forevers, it shouldn’t have been such a shock to see them ship Nate McLouth off to the Atlanta Braves for 3 prospects.

On the one hand, shouldn’t the Pirates eventually run out of best players? On the other, this is the exact thing that the team should be doing. They’re not going to have a winning season with McLouth this ear. He had a career year last season. Sure, it as his first real year in the majors, but he’s in his late 20s and likely to regress. Best to replenish the farm system while you can.

And GM Neal Huntington did. Charlie Morton, Gorkys Hernandez, and Jeff Locke all are coming into the Pirates system. Two starters and an outfielder, all young and with some decent upside, is quite a haul. It’s absolutely what the Pirates should be doing, and I’m enjoying watching Huntington move towards ending the Pirates losing.