(Sports Network) - This is the time of year that Pittsburgh Pirate fans loathe the most. The period of the season when memorabilia such as jerseys, posters and bobbleheads become useless, when pre-bought tickets to August and September games just don't seem as appealing as they did just a few weeks earlier.

Yes, baseball's trade deadline has arrived in the Steel City. The latest deal on Wednesday saw the Pirates ship former All-Star shortstop Jack Wilson and pitcher Ian Snell to the Mariners for five players, only one -- Wilson's replacement at short, Ronny Cedeno -- who will immediately join the big-league Pirates.

With the roster turnover that Pirate fans must endure each year, it is a wonder that the club has any fans left. That Nate McLouth bobblehead given away back in May? Still good if you painted a Braves logo on it.

The Pirates have already traded away half of their positional players that were in the starting lineup on Opening Day, including McLouth, Nyjer Morgan, Adam LaRoche and the latest casualty, Wilson. Snell, meanwhile, was the club's Opening Day starter last year.

This is how it has been in Pittsburgh for some time now. Last year the Pirates dealt away Jason Bay, Xavier Nady and Damaso Marte. This is how it will be for the near future in Pittsburgh.

Sure, the Pirates continue to gather nice prospects in these deals. Jeff Clement, a catcher/first baseman acquired from the Mariners for Wilson and Snell, was the third overall pick in the 2005 draft and was rated the club's top prospect by Baseball America in both 2006 and '08. The Morgan deal with Washington netted Pittsburgh the talented-but-has-yet-to-put-it-together Lastings Milledge. McLouth to Atlanta saw the return of a talented outfield and pitching prospect.

But does it really matter? If Clement, Milledge or any of these players pan out, won't they just find themselves in the same position down the road as Wilson, Snell, McLouth and others?

Smart money says yes, as a club like the Pirates continue to operate on a broken system. For the most part, they haven't drafted well (do names like John Van Benschoten, Bryan Bullington and Neil Walker do anything for you?), won't spend money on free agents and whenever a good player does fall into their laps, like Bay, it is only a matter of time before said player ends up on the transaction list.

After all, the Pirates once nearly landed future Phillies MVP Ryan Howard back in 2004 for Kris Benson. And while Howard's 203 career homers have landed him record-breaking money in arbitration since then, the only thing it would have gotten him in Pittsburgh was a one-way ticket out of town.

This is the Pittsburgh Pirates, or as some call them, the Triple-A club for the rest of baseball.









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