I bashed the pirates for the Jason Bay trade, and I bashed them for dumping McLouth so soon. And I'm sure everyone bashed them for the Aramis Ramirez trade. But that's nothing new. We've grown accustomed to poking fun at Pittsburgh's "vast" and "frequent" attempts to rebuild. They usually don't work out too well. I mean, briefly, the Brian Giles trade was a good trade- Jason Bay served them well and Ollie Perez had that impressive first season. That quickly faded since Ollie forgot how to throw strikes and Bay's "knee" scared off the organization.

So now with the aftermath of trading Nate McClouth for minor leaguers (who knows, maybe they'll pan out or maybe they'll just be traded again), comes the immediate call up of Andrew McCutchen. McCutchen was a 1st round pick back in 2005, so they paced themselves on this call up. Perhaps the shocking fact is, maybe a 1st rounder by the pirates... panned out? At least so far. Maybe the worst part of dealing guys like Bay and McClouth is that they came across as blue collar, hard working types that the fans easily grew to like and really like (in McClouth's case). So it was a good measure to give one of their top talents in the minors a go ahead in the bigs. And McCutchen has far from disappointed baseball fans with his freak speed and athleticism, his helmet flying off as he scorched around the bases for a triple (he has 5 in 87 at bats). He has so far provided the battered fans of a franchise far below the surface of respectability a glimpse of excitement and maybe even hope.

But how long does McCutchen last and what will he even be? So far, he's a freak swinger and maybe that's a good thing with his speed. Perhaps the Jose Reyes of the outfield? He exudes energy and enthusiasm. Will he be an effective hitter once pitchers catch on in the coming months? Despite the one homerun, he is slugging over .500. And he's yet to really show off the speed on the bases with just 3 steals. Untapped potential? You have to give the pirates credit for packing the lineup with him and Nyjer Morgan, to add a little spunk to the team (in 258 at bats, he has as many homeruns as McCutchen).