Well the Pirates have done it again. Tacking on another losing season to their already record streak of 17, to 18. For almost two decades, Pirates baseball has been the laughingstock of Major League Baseball (MLB). Why should next year be any different?Being a huge Pirates fan, I always have to say, “Next year will be different”. How naive of me. Coming into this season I really thought the Pirates were heading in the right direction with their young players and the signing of some veterans in the offseason. Of course I saw this as an improvement, but it was the same old routine.The Pirates signed some veteran players in the offseason knowing they could be somewhat productive at the plate or on the mound or that they can trade them by the July 31 deadline. It has become an annual event saying goodbye to the vets and welcoming more and more prospects that we will never see in the big leagues.Our Bucs, however, have a nice, stable group of young talent, such as hometown boy Neil Walker, and his teammates Pedro Alvarez, Jose Tabata and Andrew McCutchen. But they cannot do it on their own. I am thinking that during this  year’s offseason Pirates break out the checkbook, and sign some actual major league talent.This offseason will make or break this management team for the Pirates. Surrounding these young players with real veteran talent is a must or they might as well trade them all to the Yankees, Red Sox, Mets or Dodgers now to make room for more prospects.            The first thing I would put on the Pirates checklist for this offseason is starting pitchers.  This pitching staff is awful and needs a total makeover. I am tired of seeing Paul Maholm and Zach Duke with double digit losses and ERAs over 4.50 every season. These guys are not kids anymore, they have been around long enough to know how to pitch at this level.  It’s time to show them the door.             As for starting staff, young talent includes Ross Ohlendorf, James McDonald and Brad Lincoln but they need veterans to learn from. They need to look to somebody for advice on how to win in this league because, as of now, they do not have this guidance or knowledge. The only starters they can learn from are Maholm and Duke, and they would only learn how to be terrible.They are going out with a lot of pressure to succeed. A veteran starter would help relieve that pressure because the veteran could take a lot of the anxiety to win and just let them the younger players relax and pitch. If they can bring in somebody with winning experience this could really turn around the starting staff. Next on the check list is bringing in a power right-handed bat to also play right field. So far, the Pirates have depended on Garrett Jones for the long ball, but he is batting .245 with only 19 homeruns. That is not going to get them into any kind race for October baseball. If they were able to bring someone in to bat inbetween both Alvarez and Jones in the lineup from the right side of the plate, it could bring some more power to a light hitting lineup. I am a big fan of the first three hitters for the Pirates lineup: McCutchen, Tabata and Walker.  They can all hit and they all have batting averages close to or above .300. The total opposite is true for the rest of the starting lineup. Jones and Alvarez have speed as well and can get on base, but they have no one to drive them in. That is a problem in when you cannot score runs. You do not win a lot of baseball games that way. Bringing in a strong, powerful right-handed bat could also help the starting pitching staff’s confidence because they would not feel the pressure to try to shut out the opposing team. They could just give the lineup a chance to win the game. The staff would know that if they struggle the game would not be a total loss. They could still battle back.I just want to see October baseball at PNC Park and there are times that the Pirates front office does not feel that same passion. It seems like they are fine with occasional strong crowds, giveaways and a mediocre, inexpensive team on the field. I am hoping 2011 bodes well for our young Bucs, but hopefully the front office is not afraid to break out the checkbook and do some shopping.Your time’s up in the penalty box, you can head back out there.