The House Cleaning Continues

As Wall Street anxiously awaits third quarter employment figures, Metropolitan Pittsburgh just witnessed their jobless numbers sky rocket by another half dozen. In another move that pronounces the utter disgust with the Battlins' perennial calamity, manager Jim Tracy and a host of operations guys have been shown to the door today. Along with the skipper, the axe fell on Brian Graham (Director of Player Develop), Ed Creech (Scouting Director), and Jon Mercurio (Director of Baseball Operations). The cuts ran deep, and the street rumors were that even Silvia, Head of Administration/Office Skank, was getting the boot. These rumors were greatly over reported, however, and Silvia is safe for another year.

Silvia's improved work ethic and renewed enthusiasm saved her job, sources say

When you factor out summertime casualties Kevin McClatchy and David Littleclue, there are few remaining survivors from the brain trust that has (mis)guided our beloved club to the mecca that we like to call 6th Place. It sort of reminds me of that segment in Goodfellas when DeNiro is clipping all of his guys that were part of the big heist. (If you didn't see the movie, disregard the reference.)

ousted skipper Tracy and GM Littlefield discuss the carpool arrangements to the Unemployment Office

So where does this leave us? New GM Neal Huntington seems like the man with a plan, although that plan appears to be a complete purge. Numerous times in his short employment with the Pirates, he has used the phrase 'culture of winning'. For a team that is almost 300 games under .500 over the last 15 years, it's going to take a boat load of firings to get that culture. Insiders have overheard the young GM stating that even the PNC beer vendors aren't safe right now. One can only imagine that these cuts are eventually going to find their way to the locker room, as Jason Bay has already predicted.

Dylan wrote "These Times, They are a-changin' "...Ron Burgundy never heard that song...