NOTEBOOK

Brave President Stan Kasten said he viewed the fate of the Pirates as a real “tragedy.” He wasn’t referring to their defeat in Game 7 but to their small-market attempt to survive in baseball’s economic environment.

Bobby Bonilla left as a free agent last winter, John Smiley was traded in the spring and Bill Landrum was released on the eve of the season in economic decisions. Now Barry Bonds and Doug Drabek are free agents.

“That’s a tragedy that illustrates the problems with the game,” Kasten said. “The Pirates have been a beautiful team, put together the right way.

“The scouts signed good players. The instructors did a good job training them. The manager led them to three straight division titles. The Pirates did everything you would want an organization to do, but they can’t keep the team together because of economics. It makes you ask, what are we in this for?”