LOS ANGELES -- Blow it up.
Seriously, just start all over. And over. Again. And again.
If there's one particularly awful aftertaste after the Pirates' nine-game trip that was put to rest Wednesday night at Dodger Stadium with a 6-4 loss and a three-game sweep in which they were outscored, 31-8, it's this: They're not going anywhere. Not this season. Not next season. Not any season as currently constituted.
And what's most awful of all: Even though blowing it up is the right thing to do, the real blowup needs to be of the people who'd be entrusted to do this blowing up.
Because this front office is currently in its 10th season in charge, and there really ought to be some kind of term limit related to rebuilds. Because this owner that oversees this front office will keep them in his employ for as long as they satisfy the only real requirement at hand, and that's to maintain the perennial profit level.
So, yeah. About actual baseball ...
"We’ve just got to keep working," Clint Hurdle was saying after another sacrificial kiddie was served up in Clay Holmes' 2 1/3-inning, four-run starting debut. "The game shows you where you need to be. It gives you immediate feedback. We got a lot of immediate feedback out here."
They sure did, but what's to dissect when the broader picture doesn't conveniently allow for it?
TAP ABOVE FOR BOXSCORE, STANDINGS, VIDEOThese Pirates were nine games over .500 in early May, having -- commendably -- taken care of business through a long stretch of lousy opponents. But since then, they're 14-29, the worst record in Major League Baseball in that span, and this loss, part of a 4-5 trip that opened with series victories in New York and San Diego, dropped them a season-low six games under .500 at 40-46.
That's not a slump. That's reality. That's a wakeup call.
It should be a wakeup call to Bob Nutting that, after a decade, Frank Coonelly and Neal Huntington have failed in every conceivable facet -- deficient local TV contract, lost public trust, the worst drafting in the majors and so, so much more -- but again, that's a non-starter.
So, coping with the unfortunate reality, there really is no longer a choice but to clear out veterans, payroll, the whole deal.
I know, I know. There aren't enough clothespins to cover all the noses. It stinks. It's vile, given the context.
But that doesn't make it wrong.
Being candid, this is what should -- arguably would -- have been done the moment Andrew McCutchen and Gerrit Cole were dumped. Everything that followed was a pretense, as anyone could plainly see. The notion of contending was laughed off by the fan base to the extent that, even when the team was faring well, no one bought it. I mean, literally, no one bought tickets.
I liked the offense from the outset, liked it all the more through two months of the season, though the pitching never had a prayer. But there's some young talent at hand.
As J-Hay was telling me Wednesday afternoon, "There are ballplayers here. There's talent."
There really is, even with some of the pitching, and that's worth supporting within their peer group, even if that means a step back in the moment.
Get another Joe Musgrove, another Colin Moran. Do it at better value than giving up an American League Cy Young candidate in his prime, but go ahead and get them. Move Francisco Cervelli, Josh Harrison, Jordy Mercer, Corey Dickerson, David Freese -- all the players I reported June 23 to already be on the block -- and maybe more. Get prospects at the Class AAA level because heaven knows these guys can't evaluate anyone below that level, much less properly develop them. Better to let the Astros do it right, then acquire. Get players who can grow with Josh Bell, Elias Diaz, Austin Meadows, Musgrove, Moran, and yes, Starling Marte and Gregory Polanco -- both under control for at least four more years -- to give that a shot.
And the part they won't tell you when they do get around to confessing that's the plan -- and has been the plan all along -- is that they must go to the outside to get those pieces because they sure as hell aren't in their own system.
So, yeah, with all of those qualifiers, it's the right thing to do.
In theory.
Or just never mind.
• To fortify the point about priorities, raise your right hand, look at the palm, close it, then reopen. That's the financial investment the Pirates made in pitching this past offseason.
They literally, demonstratively don't care.
• What'll be most painful about this particular rebuild is that Nutting, Coonelly and Huntington will be ecstatic about it. For Nutting, it's an even lower payroll, as they're now committed to only about $63 million toward 2019 and could slash that further. For Coonelly and Huntington, at least as they view it, it's kicking that can further down the road because of lowered expectations.
• In any business, any organization, accountability can only come from the very top. Even setting aside the payroll issue, this owner hasn't made a single meaningful change within the Pirates' front office since firing Dave Littlefield in 2007. Not one. Not one. And this will be the eighth losing season out of 11 since then.
• Holmes' first inning saw relentless nibbling -- 35 pitches, 20 balls -- as contrasted by his having made it through all of June with four walks for Class AAA Indianapolis. That he was down by just 1-0 was a minor miracle.
Nervous at all?
"I was a little amped, I'd say," he acknowledged. "Especially at the beginning."
He did have one really impressive pitch in that first inning, freezing Enrique Hernandez on a full-count hammer curve with the bases loaded.
"How 'bout that?" Hurdle marveled.
I asked Holmes about it:
Still, the 2 1/3-inning line still was clogged with four runs, five hits, three walks and a pitch count of 64, with his day done after this two-run double by Yasmani Grandal:
• Tyler Glasnow was outstanding in San Diego. Not so much here: He faced four batters, beaned Justin Turner (he amazingly bounced right up, then took second with a headfirst dive though it was later scored a balk), then walked two, then gave up a two-run roller up the middle to Chris Taylor before Hurdle's hook.
Pitchers can get rattled upon hitting a batter up high, and this one was outright frightening :
Hurdle openly suggested he felt Glasnow was affected by the beaning, saying after some hesitation, "It’s an experience he’ll need to work through. Hopefully he’ll handle it better next time. Because he’ll face it again."
For his part, Glasnow rejected any effect when I broached it:
• Glasnow might not be the answer. Holmes might not be the answer. Nick Kingham might not be the answer. There might not be one in-house, to repeat the refrain.
• On that note: Not liking any of what I heard here Wednesday related to Chad Kuhl. Anytime one set of doctors is recommending one thing related to a pitcher's elbow, and that pitcher then decides to go see another set of doctors ... show me where that ends well. And to reiterate from a column last week, when the Pirates say 'forearm,' they mean 'elbow.' It's just that the mere mention of the latter comes with such an ominous overtone that it's avoided.
• One big plus from the trip remained the hitting of Polanco, as he'd go 11 for 31 out here with nine RBIs and this wickedly loud two-run home run in the ninth Wednesday:
"I just missed it," he told me.
Say what?
He held his thumb and forefinger a millimeter apart.
"Did you see how high? I almost got more."
In his past 56 plate appearances, he's reached base safely 28 times for an obvious and absurd .500 OBP. Included in that are four home runs, three doubles and 11 walks.
• Never forget the walks. They matter. Way, way more than batting average. Get this: Polanco currently ranks fourth among all National League right fielders with 118 total bases, trailing Nick Markakis (155), Andrew McCutchen (130) and Bryce Harper (124).
"I'm feeling so good right now," he'd say. "I just can't wait to hit again."
• As for the Pirates, Polanco said, "We're going to be OK. We just need to get home. You saw the Dodgers. You saw the way they were swinging. Everything went right for them. I never saw a series like that."
• Marte's benching turned out to be anything but, which is what I'd expected. He sat Monday, pinch-hit Tuesday and was right back in the lineup -- and plenty productive -- Wednesday, with a two-run double, a rocketed single, another richly competitive at-bat and this laser to home plate in the fourth:
Sure, it was the pitcher Hill on the bases, but look how far the ball traveled. The throw's still got to be the throw.
• Best line I heard from anyone on the trip came from Dickerson when I asked if he shifts his approach to go oppo when he's trying to shake out of a power funk: "Not necessarily. When I'm in trouble, it's usually just mental. I can't manufacture power. But I can hit to all fields. That's when I'm at my best. That's when I'm trusting myself, trusting my instincts. I'm letting down my manhood a little bit and understanding that they're not just giving me cookies."
Wait, what?
"What, letting down my manhood?"
Right.
"It means I can't just go up there all macho and think I'm going to swing out of my shoes to hit a home run. I've just got to be myself."
OK, and the cookies?
"Pitchers are going to pitch me a little differently because I do a lot of changing, choking up. I know that. I've got to know that every pitch isn't hittable."
Hey, whatever the lingo, it's worked: After going without a home run since May 4, without an RBI since June 1, Dickerson had a 7-for-22 trip, including a home run in San Diego.
• Trevor Williams takes the ball Friday upon the Pirates' return to PNC Park. And if there's any broader positive to be culled from this season, I'll suggest that it'll almost have to be the solidifying of this young rotation. Because without that ...
• Give it up for the Dodgers and a classy Fourth of July presentation before and after the game, including this breathtaking flyover that felt like it was aligned precisely with home plate:
Quite a scene here right now for the anthem ... and a flyover! Well done, #Dodgers!
? Live file: https://t.co/zOIfxYnotE…
☕ Try us for 99¢: https://t.co/AMWKthAYGe…
? Free app: https://t.co/slPQv0Xy8Y#LetsGoBucs #PITvsLAD pic.twitter.com/JLRdnEQAM4
— Dejan Kovacevic (@Dejan_Kovacevic) July 5, 2018
I'm flying home, too. Thanks so much for reading all through this West Coast trip. Lance Lysowski has his beat back beginning Friday.