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The Pirates cut Andy Abad and kept Jose Castillo. That's too bad. With both, they would have had Abad and Castillo on their roster, although it would still be a mystery as to who's on first.

And so, it begins again. Welcome to Opening Day.

Without having felt the warmth of the spring sun on my head for even a day, I refuse to be negative, even if today brings with it the Pirates' best opportunity of being above .500 this season.

Of course, the Bucs' pitching could always live up to expectations, and then anything can happen. Let's start with their strength: the starting rotation.

Kip Wells will start today's opener. Last summer should have been a breakthrough season for wells. He won 10 games, but left seven others with a lead only to have the bullpen fail to hold it. With any luck, he could have won 14 or 15 games.

Josh Fogg worked on a slow curve over the winter, which hopefully will help lower his ERA. But he is more than a serviceable starter who has won 22 games the last two seasons for the Pirates.

Toss in a healthy Kris Benson, who is pitching for his next contract (which won't be with the Pirates). Still, that motivation can't be a bad thing for the Benson unless they trade him before Memorial Day. Let's assume the Pirates will wait until the trading deadline in August when the Pirates deal him to a contender for several young prospects.

Then, there are Oliver Perez and Ryan Vogelsong. Both have velocity we haven't seen regularly in Pittsburgh since the last time Gov. Rendell traveled on the parkway.

If Perez can iron out some mechanical quirks and Vogelsong's arm stays healthy, they will be part of a rotation many teams would like to have.

Now comes the hard part: How to put a positive spin on the bullpen. There is no reason to believe it will be any better than last year, and it could possibly be worse.

Let me refresh your memory about last year's bullpen. It had the worst ERA of any bullpen in the league, fourth worst in baseball. Only two teams in the National League had more blown

saves. The Pirates lost 11 games when they took a lead into the eighth inning. And, they allowed 91 runs in the ninth inning alone.

The Bucs added Jose Mesa, who came to camp without a major league contract. Mesa came to camp in great shape and with a chip on his shoulder, vowing to prove that he's not washed up.

In short, he appears to be the perfect candidate to squeeze one more year out of a prodcutive career. He had 24 saves in 28 chances for the Phillies last year and had 248 career saves. We'll forget his 6.52 ERA in 2003. The Pirates probably won't have many ninth-inning leads, and if he can't protect the ones they do have, it's going to be a long year.

How much support will this pitching staff get? That's the big question. Probably not a lot. The Pirates made offensive strides last year, but Brian Giles, Aramis Ramirez, Kenny Lofton and Reggie Sanders are gone.

Raul Mondesi should help replace a little of the lost power. Craig Wilson has pop when they can find room for him in the lineup. Jason Kendall finished sixth in the NL batting race last season. A healthy Jason Bay would help, and lets keep our fingers crossed about J.J. Davis.

The Pirates will have to play small ball, scratch out runs and hope the pitching holds up. If the Bucs were a strong defensive team, that wouldn't be an impossible task, but they don't.

Chris Stynes -- if he can hit enough to stay in the lineup -- will be better at third base than Ramirez. Mondesi is a two-time Gold Glove winner with a strong arm. Jack Wilson is slick at short, even if he did have a career high in errors last year.

So, the Pirates are below average in hitting, fielding and the bulllpen, and above average in starting pitching. It's easy to see why many writers have picked them to finish last in the NL Central, with some calling them the worst team in baseball.

But not me. The Pirates have improved a little each season with Lloyd McClendon managing, and I will hold out hope the trend will continue.

It's not who's on first that matters, but who's in first. Everybody is. It's Opening Day. I reserve the right to be critical later this season. Perhaps next Monday.

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