A not-so-sweet 16 seasons in Pittsburgh

Optimism seems to always reign on Opening Day. That even includes the Pittsburgh Pirates, who are one more poor season from a dubious achievement.

The Pirates haven't had a winning season since 1992, when Barry Bonds and Bobby Bonilla were playing in Three Rivers Stadium and Jim Leyland managed the Pirates within an out of the World Series. Sixteen years would be a major-league record for consecutive losing seasons, and the Pirates haven't even won 75 games for eight seasons.

But with new general manager Neal Huntington, who came over after serving as Mark Shapiro's right-hand man in Cleveland, and field manager John Russell, there's some new energy in Pittsburgh.

But it's essentially the same players. That's good news with the starting rotation, which is young and has a lot of potential in Ian Snell, Tom Gorzelanny, Paul Maholm and Zach Duke. The oldest of that quartet is Snell at 26. For the rest of the club, it's not as promising. But it's a start.

"We're not professing that this is a championship-caliber club, but there is reason to believe it can do better," Huntington told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. "If it doesn't, and some individual players get back to their best levels, we still have a chance to bring valuable parts back in trades."

So look for the Pirates to be active at the trade deadline, and hope for the best to reverse a terrible trend.

Other Pirates storylines:

• Freddy Sanchez won the NL batting title in 2006, but is slow to come back from a shoulder injury this spring.
• Matt Morris was a curious pickup at the trade deadline in 2007. Why would the Pirates be interested in a struggling 30-something right-hander with a tough injury history making $9.5 million in 2008?
• You've got to feel for Sean Burnett, a right-handed reliever who has pitched well in spring training for the past two years. But because he had minor-league options left, he'll head back to Triple-A. And he's not happy about it.

Photo: Outfielder Jason Bay of the Pittsburgh Pirates is congratulated on his home run by third-base coach John Russell during a 2006 game. Russell is now the Pirates' manager. (Photo by Dilip Vishwanat/Getty Images)

Final installment of 30 teams in 30 days: Pittsburgh Pirates preview.