The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported Saturday that the Pirates Scouting Director is expected to be replaced. Specifically:

"[T]he evaluations of Creech’s work from upper management — including ownership — are negative enough that he is a virtual lock to be replaced."

Everyone expects Huntington to install his own system, so that’s not really news. But the second part of the statement about Creech’s evaluation is.

The Pirates have 15 full-time scouts who cover the US, Canada, and Puerto Rico, 3 regional cross-checkers in James Merriweather (West Coast), John Green (Midwest), and Jimmy Lester (National). Assistant Scouting Director Joe Delli Carri makes the staff 19.

If we pick apart the Post-Gazette’s statement that "upper management" views Creech’s work as negative, the article must mean Dave Littlefield’s lieutenant’s, Brian Graham, and Larry Silverman. Perhaps Delli Carri could be deemed "upper management" but it isn’t likely he’s going to be talking against his own boss.

Therefore, the only possible way "upper management" could evaluate Creech and his team was after the fact because I assume none of Littlefield’s lieutenant’s scout amateur players, Graham doesn’t scout, and that leaves Silverman who has been the organization’s contract man.

And after the fact shows Creech has actually done a decent job. Certainly he could have done better on paper by going over slot over the years, but was that his self-imposed limitation or ownership’s imposed philosophy (I include Kevin McClatchy as ownership)? I mean, why wouldn’t Creech take best available unless he was restrained from doing so?

Plus, there is little doubt the returned value of Creech’s picks would be significantly better on paper had his many of his picks not been mauled in the system by the Pirates development teams.

If we assume Creech didn’t have any restraints, as the Post-Gazette’s article infers without saying, then the article clearly points blame on "upper management" as failing, not Creech, because they were in a superior position to influence Creech’s draft philosophy at/to some point in the chain of command.

So who is "upper management" that failed?

You can be sure none of Littlefield’s lieutenant’s are going to rag on the production of other scouts in the game, and Silverman might be outstanding at evaluating value after acquisition but I doubt seriously he understands how to evaluate tool talent in the field for the draft other than in makeup and health.

That only leaves Graham.

Mr. Brian "upper management" Graham.

And if we’re going to split hairs, you have to wonder how much Silverman himself was included in the draft on issues like health and future value because, for an example, the Pirates knew Brad Lincoln’s arm was toast in 2006 and he had been more than 100+ innings 2004 to 2005.

The other side to the hair split is that Brian Graham in player development also knew Lincoln was toast, but he kept running him out to the mound, especially after he had told them he was hurting after his start in Rome GA some have said.

At what point does the entire team take responsibility for the organization’s problems instead of finger pointing? TEAM doesn’t have an "i" in it.

Obviously "upper management" needs to be the first one thrown out the door if the Pirates culture is every going to change.

But that’s my opinion from what I’m reading.

Watching late money flowing in Vegas can be pretty entertaining and if you are savvy enough, you can make a bundle plucking down a few dollars late. Wednesday night’s games offered two such bets: the Cubs playing at Florida and the Diamondbacks facing Matt Morris at PNC.

The Marlins rack up runs on poor pitching like the Cubs are throwing at them, and Matt Morris hasn’t allowed more than two earned runs to the Diamondbacks but twice since 2002.

Sure enough, Matt Morris threw a six-hitter over seven frames while striking out seven(!) and allowing one run after posting an 11.48 ERA last three. Wow. The Pirates went on to win the game as the decided underdog.

And the Marlins feasted on Jason Marquis and loud Cubs fans who sang the Cubbies 7th inning stretch version that put the Marlins dugout over the top. The Marlins cruised to win their game as underdogs as well.

Easy money.

In Pittsburgh, the only hit that mattered was Adam LaRoche’s third inning double that Chris Young in center misplayed allowing two runs to score. Everything else like Nady’s blast in the 5th was gravy on top.

Playing under the full moon, the Pirates made some nice defense plays with contributions from Nate McLouth, who laid out for a catch in the fifth, and Nady, who made a nice shoestring catch off the turf in the ninth.

But the game belonged to Morris who had good command, despite being up in the zone with his hook, and kept Arizona’s hitters honest by changing speeds and locating well.

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Is Neal Huntington starting to make impact decisions, or were these already planned?

It was nice to hear Wednesday that Paul Maholm had been shut down and Freddy Sanchez was allowed to leave and have surgery on his shoulder that we had originally heard was planned for this winter.

It is thought Maholm has had lower back pain on and off since the first week of August but he continued to pitch. When he was brought back September 16th after David Littlefield was fired, we questioned the value of such a move and the rest is history.

Sanchez has been seen squinting at the plate occasionally for a good part of the year but we just thought that was Sanchez being Sanchez. Obviously it wasn’t.

Throw in Jason Bay being removed from active duty this week and these are good moves being made to protect assets. We continue to question why Tom Gorzelanny is in the rotation and why Xavier Nady is playing, however.

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tadau mentioned in yesterday’s comments:

"Elaborate on this paragraph and I might consider jumping on board.

"Nearly two hours later, I walked away knowing more about Neal Huntington than I ever wanted to know and thoroughly understanding how my writing had become as much a barrier to the Pirates success over the years as Dave Littlefield’s ‘fear factor’ had."’

I’m guessing tadau wants to know more about Huntington. I’ll be honest, he wasn’t on my top ten list but Frank Coonelly and Robert Nutting made their decision and that’s that.

The Indians model Coonelly seemingly wants to follow requires that veterans be traded for younger talent and, after hearing from both sides of the coin, I’ve decided to have an open mind.

Coonelly is well known for being an articulate planner and organizer – both sides agree with that. Where the two sides fall apart is on his ability to manage and evaluate. But I’m hoping I don’t see Huntington out evaluating anybody but potential first round picks or his own farm system – his team should be doing his work.

And I’m also hoping he becomes more of a delegational manager than he has in the past using strong professional voices he surrounds himself with.

Those are the three keys to his success in Pittsburgh as far as I’m concerned: who he can get to join his team from the front office to the circuit to the GCL, and then how he revamps the outdated regional scouting and old school player development systems he inherited.

Of course, this assumes an ownership financial commitment along the way, especially in a few years when he’ll need the complimentary vets.

As for my writing becoming a barrier, let’s be honest, few were writing anything optimistic about the Pirates the last couple of years and all that negativity only fueled more negativity. We were all fed up – and still are. But I’m not going to continue tossing out pure negativity anymore because what I wanted to see has happened – a new team is in place.

They may not be my picks but I don’t pay the bills either.

I’m hoping the fans follow suit and commit their positive energy to the rebuilding process we all wanted to see done correctly years and years ago, but wasn’t. We’re smart enough now to not be bowled over with trinket PR statements so let’s give them a chance by getting on board.

Not three chances like Kevin McClatchy had, just one. As long as Coonelly and company continue to move forward at a reasonable pace, I’m dialed in and I hope you are too.

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A lot of people have asked this question of me:

"Define expected success."

Implementing a dramatic culture change throughout a large organization is not going to be an easy task. It’s going to take time. I mentioned three keys above I feel will immediately tell us if Huntington is on the right path or not:

1 — First and foremost, who he employs and the positions they are given. Until this is done, we can’t gauge anything but this is sure to be his first moves – restructuring the organization.

2 — Our regional scouting system revamped into an expanded national system so that higher productivity is achieved and fewer mistakes are made. Like many around the game, I believe this is a critical move Huntington has to make.

3 — Our old school player development system revamped into a progressive machine that spits culture of success at every level starting with area scouts. Huntington has to know he needs to rebuild our farm from the bottom up and that starts with putting new men in place in many positions. Who he hires will be critical and it has to be in place this winter for the most part.

Those three keys will be his phase one and we will be able to better evaluate him on these by March at the latest. That’s where I’m looking right now.

As you have probably noticed, there is only a couple of posts available on the main page and there’s a good reason for that – Bucco Blog is starting a new slate.

Why?

Because we believe that the road to respect for the Pittsburgh Pirates has to be first paved by us – the fans. Frank Coonelly and the owners, Neal Huntington and his team, and current and future players, will all finish sealing what we begin, but without our initial investment and hard work, their vision can never be realized.

It’s our responsibility as fans.

Call it leadership, call it values, call it an attitude – call it anything you want. But first of all, call it mutual accountability.

As fans, we have to get back to the days where we are sitting in the stands watching a game and believe our scream of "SWING" made the opposing batter swing through a pitch, that our standing and clapping made the difference when a Pirate batter singles home the winning run in the ninth, or that just showing up in the stands on the road cheering for our team made us believe we were the difference that day.

It’s the feeling of empowerment, which many of us haven’t embraced in quite some time.

What changed my mind so suddenly? While checking into the hotel to watch the Marlins/Cubs series, I had the great fortune to run into two Hall of Fame type writers and a national scout who were on their way to dinner and they invited me to sit with them.

Nearly two hours later, I walked away knowing more about Neal Huntington than I ever wanted to know and thoroughly understanding how my writing had become as much a barrier to the Pirates success over the years as Dave Littlefield’s ‘fear factor’ had.

Every dose of negativity, no matter what the source, ultimately fueled the Pirates self-destructive path on the field and in the front office.

Now it’s not that Bucco Blog can’t be critical because constructive criticism actually helps to solve problems and everybody, no matter how tuned in, has blinders on at times. The same is true when you place a comment into a post here that somebody in the Pirates front office reads and a light goes off. Believe it or not, it does happen.

Communication in all forms is very important especially during change, and change infers trust because if we didn’t trust those leading the change, we should all be off to greener pastures anyway.

Disbelievers, no matter where their lack of trust originates, are going to immediately shout that this is all a bunch of malarkey and the Nutting’s have simply put themselves into a stronger position to cash-in the next few years.

We very well might still think that could be possible, but we all need to refuse to allow it be in the forefront any longer. We have to trust everyone from Robert Nutting down that they will all work as a team to accomplish a culture of success and, until Nutting or Coonelly or Huntington prove to us via their own behavior they have no intent to foster the process, there is no reason to fight the positive harmony.

So count Bucco Blog as being on board the new ship and, when we see the first leak that isn’t plugged over time, we’ll be the first to let you know the ship is starting to sink. The ride might be longer than we wish for but the end result will be mutually satisfying.

Now it’s up to you – are you going to jump aboard or continue to stand as a barrier?