We have many great articles planned leading up to the 2010 Fantasy Baseball season including sleepers, busts, rookies, strategy, full player rankings and projections all wrapped up into a nifty draft kit to help you win your league next year. Stay tuned for more, but for now, here's a team preview for you.

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2009 RECORD: 62-100, 6th (last) in NL Central  (2nd-worst in baseball)

The Pirates had a awful year in 2009. How can you compete in the MLB these days with such a low payroll? The good news is that they actually have some decent young talent. Of course, we know they'll all be traded away eventually, but the Pirates should at least be a little better in 2010 -- maybe just the 3rd-worst team in baseball).

Stat table note: The better the ranking number, the better the stat, in all categories. For example, for the SO cat for hitting, a #2 ranking means that the team tallied the second fewest strikeouts. For the BB and SB cats for pitching, the #1 teams allowed the fewest bases on balls and steals.

Hitting	BA	R	HR	BB	SO	SB
Stats	252	636	125	499	1142	90
NL	14	16	14	14	7	8
MLB	28	30	28	25	18	15
Pitching	BAA	ERA	HR	BB	SO	SB
Stats	276	4.59	152	563	919	107
NL	15T	14	6	8	15	13T
MLB	27T	25	6	17	29	19T

LINE-UP

1. McCutchen, Andrew CF
2. Iwamura, Akinori 2B
3. Jones, Garrett RF
4. Doumit, Ryan C
5. LaRoche, Andy 3B
6. Milledge, Lastings LF
7. Clement, Jeff 1B
8. Crosby, Bobby SS

Well, they didn't strike out too much and they stole some bases. That's about the best we can say about this offense. I like McCutchen best for fantasy purposes. He should follow up his solid rookie year with another solid campaign in 2010. Iwamura is a nice hitter in the #2 slot but fairly useless in fantasy. Jones was awesome last year but has no track record to speak of, so be wary of his big 09 numbers. Doumit and Crosby tend to get dinged up easily. I'd take LaRoche cheap in NL-only leagues, as he really came on at the end of last season and actually does have a good minor league track record. Milledge could bust out, but he could also just bust. I'd take him at a discount. I'm not sold on Clement staying healthy or producing. The Pirates actually have a little depth, believe it or not. Don't be shocked to see LaRoche dealt away to make room for the very good prospect Pedro Alvarez at 3B. Ronny Cedeno and Ramon Vazquez are pretty good infield reserves, and Ryan Church, Delwyn Young, and prospect Jose Tabata provide good outfield depth. Should Clement fail, one of the aforementioned outfielders could push Jones to first, or perhaps failed prospect Steve Pearce could get one more shot. Look for the Bucs' offense to improve in 2010 if the youngsters continue to develop and can avoid injuries. 

STARTING ROTATION

1. Duke, Zach LHP
2. Maholm, Paul LHP
3. Ohlendorf, Ross RHP
4. McCutchen, Daniel RHP
5. Morton, Charlie RHP
6. Hart, Kevin RHP
7. Veal, Donnie LHP

This is not a good starting rotation. They didn't walk many batters or allow many home runs, but otherwise, there is not much they did well. Duke, Maholm, and Ohlendorf are nothing more than innings-eaters. They are not helpful fantasy options. McCutchen and Morton offer a little upside, but they're not likely to offer much consistency this season.

BULLPEN

1. Dotel, Octavio RHP
2. Hanrahan, Joel RHP
3. Lopez, Javier LHP
4. Donnelly, Brendan RHP
5. Taschner, Jack LHP
6. Jakubauskus, Chris RHP
7. Burres, Brian LHP
8. Hansen, Craig RHP (shoulder, should be ready for spring training)
9. Chulk, Vinnie RHP
10. Karstens, Jeff RHP
11. Carrasco, D.J. RHP
12. Ledezma, Wil LHP
13. Vazquez, Virgil RHP

The bullpen is one of the worst in the majors and can be virtually ignored in all fantasy leagues. Note that a bunch of these guys (Jakubauskus, Burres, Karstens, Ledezma, and Vazquez) are capable of joining the rotation if needed. If that happens, of all of them, Karstens is the one that might be worth using. Sure, draft Dotel for potential cheap saves and strikeouts late, and Hanrahan should provide NL-only leaguers with some nice set-up man numbers, but ignore the rest of this motley crew.

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