※ 引述《jayin07 (Hal YeahHhhHhhh!!)》之铭言：
: http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/article/five-questions-pittsburgh-pirates5/
: Five questions: Pittsburgh Pirates
: by Charlie Wilmoth
We're here to discuss five questions, but there's no question that the 2009
Pirates will set a dubious record by posting their 17th losing season in a
row, the longest such skid in the history of American professional sports.
: 虽然我们在这探讨五个问题，但还是会创下连17季进不了季后赛的纪录。
losing season是指败多胜少的球季，相对的，winning season则是胜多败少。
The good news is that this long period of futility is largely the fault of
front office figures who have long since departed,
: 不过好消息是FO以前弄出来的烂摊子过去了
应该是说，这个烂摊子是那些早已离开的FO成员搞出来的。
The Pirates dealt Jason Bay and Xavier Nady near the trading deadline last
year, and their outfield has been in flux ever since.
: 海盗去年在交易截止之前就将Bay和Nady送走，而他们的外野阵容就从那个时候起瓦解
应该只是说外野阵容一直在变动，没有瓦解的意思。
(although he probably isn't as bad as most statistics indicate, either)
: (虽然他在数据上也没这么差)
这句话是说，他可能也没有大部分数据显示出来的那么差。
McCutchen is the best prospect to come through the Pirates' system in several
years. That says as much about the Pirates' farm system as it says about
McCutchen,
: McCutchen是近年海盗农场最好的新秀。他们谈到海到农场的时候，总会想到他
不是说谈到海盗农场总会想到他，而是说上一句话不只可以拿来说明McCutchen，
也是海盗农场的最佳写照。言外之意是说，McCutchen都可以说是数年来农场最好
的新秀，那这个农场的好坏也可想而知。
but McCutchen should still be a solid regular, at least. He brings
: 但是McCutchen至少要成为一个称职的先发球员。
但是再怎么说，McCutchen应该至少还会是可靠的先发。
Nyjer Morgan, a 28-year-old minor league vet with good speed but no power
or understanding of how to play the game
: Nyjer Morgan，一个28岁、有着优秀的速度但是没有power的小联盟球员，不过
: 他知道如何比赛中该做什么
应该是no "power" or "understanding of how to play the game"
也就是说他没有power也缺乏understanding of how to play the game
will prevent the Pirates from having to use the likes of Yoslan Herrera
or John Van Benschoten in their rotation or to allow a plainly-injured
Tom Gorzelanny to pitch 105 innings, as they did in 2008.
: 预期可以吃下Yoslan Herrera、John Van Benschoten的空缺，或是像去年接管
: Tom Gorzelanny受伤后的局数。
应该不只是吃下空缺，而是将会避免他们又把Herrera、Van Benschoten这一类的
球员放在先发轮值里面。
The other problems that appeared when he was with the Pirates, such as
poor defense and swinging at bad pitches may have arisen out of his
frustration with his sudden inability to hit the ball hard.
: 他的另一个问题是在他海盗发生的，守备表现不好、打击的时候去挥坏球，
: 可能会导致他有挫折感，让他没办法结实的咬中球。
这个因果关系可能搞错了，原文是说可能因为突然打不远所产生的挫折感，让他守
不好，又挥了一堆不该挥的球。
The Pirates' management has a lot riding on LaRoche's future and undoubtedly
hopes that his struggles with the Bucs were purely the result of injury and
not an early peak.
: 即使LaRoche因伤表现不如预期，海盗的教练团还是对LaRoche的潜力有极大的肯定。
对海盗的管理阶层来说，LaRoche 的未来关系甚大，而他们毫无疑问的希望他在海盗
的挣扎是因为受伤而不是因为peak比一般球员来得更早。
The Pirates' front office, headed by team president Frank Coonelly and
general manager Neal Huntington, appears to be pursuing the only plan that
will work for a low-payroll team.
: 海盗制服组的大头目Frank Coonelly、指挥官Neal Huntington，显然只有一个计画
: ，就是打造一个low-payroll的球队。
海盗的FO显然正遵循着对一支low-payroll的球队来说唯一可行的计画。
If the Pirates are to succeed, they must have a good core of young talent
they can control cheaply, and they finally appear to understand this.
: 如果海盗的策略奏效的话，他们就能用低成本让农场长满漂亮的农作物。
: 显然，他们终于知道要这样做了。
如果海盗想要成功，他们必须要有一群能便宜控制的年轻核心球员，而他们好像总算
知道这一点了。
There are three potential problems that could befall the new administration
even if the prospects they're developing do pan out.
: 不过制服组的计画要是成功了，会有三个潜在问题降临。
不过就算这些新秀都真的长成了，海盗的新管理阶层还是要面对三个可能发生的问题
In defense of the Pirates' ownership, their willingness to spend on the draft
and the Dominican facility are great signs, and the Bucs' honchos have said,
very reasonably, that it doesn't make sense to raise payroll until there's a
competitive core in place.
: 他们把钱花在Dominican facility和选秀上是很好的补强，而海贼头子明确说了在他
: 们没有足够的竞争力之前，没有理由把pay-roll提高。
替海盗的老板说句话，他们愿意在选秀与多明尼加花钱是很好的迹象，而海盗老板说在
球队具有竞争力的核心球员到位之前没有道理提高薪资总额也非常合理。
It would, of course, be silly for the current Pirates to sign a bunch of
expensive veterans (few of whom would be willing to play for the Pirates
right now anyway), who would likely require long-term deals that would be
liabilities by the next time the Bucs could be competitive, and so the
ownership is right to avoid boosting the payroll just to prove they can.
: 没有足够的竞争力之前，没有理由把pay-roll提高。没错，把大把钞票拿去签昂贵
: 的资深球员很蠢，谁会拿长约去绑球员然后让自己负债到有竞争力的时候？所以海
: 盗头子去避免提高payroll，用农场的证明他们可以有竞争力。
当然，要是现在的海盗去签一堆昂贵的资深球员（其中还只有少数人愿意在这个时
候来海盗队打球）是很蠢的事情，他们显然都会要求一张到海盗可能有竞争力的时
候会成为负债的长约，所以海盗队没有为了证明他们能花钱就提高薪资总额是正确
的。
Another potential snag that could catch the Pirates' long-term plan might
come from those same fans, many of whom have already turned on Huntington and
Coonelly. As Wilbur Miller has pointed out, the more Huntington and Coonelly
distinguish themselves from Littlefield, the angrier the fans get, which is
ironic, since Littlefield is arguably the person most responsible for the
Pirates' current predicament. Littlefield left the organization in utter
disrepair, from the major league team all the way down to rookie ball.
另一个可能打击海盗长期计画的前在障碍也许是来自同样的这群球迷，他们其中的
许多人已经转而与Huntington和Coonelly敌对。就像 Wilbur Miller已经指出的，
Huntington与Coonelly越是将他们自己与 Littlefield区别开来，球迷们反而越生
气，这很讽刺，因为Littlefield 可以说是要为海盗目前窘境负上最大责任的人。
Littlefield 让这支球队完全荒废，从大联盟开始一路到新人联盟都一样。
It took Andrew Friedman two and a half years to fix the Rays, and Friedman
had the benefit of a very good farm system to work with. Huntington and
Coonelly inherited a Rays-like situation at the major league level and one
of the worst farm systems in baseball. Fans were furious with Huntington
and Coonelly after they'd been on the job less than a year, and it's going
to take at least a couple more before the Pirates show real progress in
the majors. These next two years will be very tough for the Pirates, and
the ownership needs to have the resolve to stick with the plan.
Andrew Friedman 花了两年半修补光芒队，而Friedman还得益于有一个优秀的农场
系统供他使用。Huntington和Coonelly则继承了一个在大联盟等级与光芒有类似处
境的球队，以及一个大联盟最糟糕的农场系统。在Huntington和Coonelly接手不到
一年后，球迷就开始对他们感到愤怒，而在海盗展现出真正的进展之前还需要至少
两年以上的时间。接下来的这两年对海盗来说将是非常困难的时期，球队老板必须
要有坚守计画的决心。
A third potential area of concern that might prevent the Pirates from
achieving their goals is that Huntington and Coonelly's skills as evaluators
of talent haven't yet been tested. The most important players they've
acquired so far