Things will be very different from now on at Blair County Ballpark
Forget everything you’ve learned about the way the Pirates do things in the minor leagues
It’s all been scrapped

The former Bucco regime cared greatly about winning in the minors, and particularly in Double-A
That’s not the case anymore

The Bucs used to send the Curve a bunch of older free agents, like Brett Roneberg, Simon Pond and Kip Bouknight, to help the team win
That’s finished
From now on, the Curve will have a young team filled with the organization’s own players
The emphasis will be placed on developing the talent in-house rather than filling gaps with older guys who have limited chances of reaching Pittsburgh

‘‘My goal is to give our players every opportunity to maximize their potential’’ new Pirates farm director Kyle Stark said
"To do that, the younger players in the system can’t be blocked by 28-year-old career minor leaguers
We will definitely get away from that trend’’ Stark said

The Pirates’ old philosophy paid off nicely for the Curve
The franchise never longed for quality players and reached the postseason four straight years from 2003-06

In the bigger picture, however, the philosophy failed
The minor league prospects, by and large, haven’t been good enough once they’ve reached Pittsburgh, and the Pirates have continued to lose

‘‘Ultimately, we’re going to get measured on whether we win in Pittsburgh’’ Stark said
‘‘Anybody that works in this game is competitive and wants to win, and I’m no different
I’d love to see every affiliate win every single game
But it’s not going to be at the expense of a player’s development’’

So, it’s out with the old and in with the new

The Bucs have a new president, general manager and farm director, and the revamped front office is modeling the minor league system after Cleveland’s successful organization
The Curve have always won with older players, while their nemesis, Akron, has done so with almost entirely Indians prospects

Going forward, there won’t be much difference in the general makeup of the Curve and Aeros
‘‘In a perfect world, you want every player in the system to be your own guy’’ Stark said
That’s a terrific notion, and one that could help the Pirates finally end their misery
But it will take time
And patience
The Pirates do not have premier talent ready for Double-A, so they’ll fill this year’s Curve roster with what they’ve got
It will be mostly players coming up from Single-A Lynchburg, which went just 55-82 last season
There’s a good chance the Curve will struggle big time for a few years - until the Pirates’ new regime fills the system with its own type of players - which fans around here aren’t used to

Oh, and there won’t be any Adam Hyzdu type of signings, either, to save the day
In fact, had this new philosophy been in place in 1999, folks around never would have heard of Hyzdu because the Bucs wouldn’t have signed him as a midseason free agent

‘‘I want to win, but I want to do it because we sign the best players, we develop the best of any other organization and we’re just better than the team across the field’’ Stark said

We’ve all been spoiled by the Curve because we’ve seen good prospects year in and year out while also getting to watch a winning team
That type of consistent success is highly unusual in the minors, except for someplace like Akron
But the bottom line is the philosophy didn’t work because it didn’t improve the Pirates

Now it’s time to try something new, and Curve fans will have to adjust because the team that takes the field every night this season may not be very good
‘‘My guess is you don’t get amazing support in a city like Altoona just because they want to see the Curve win’’ Stark said
‘‘I think they want to see the Curve win, and then those Curve alums win in Pittsburgh’’

It’s been so long since the Pirates have won that any change in philosophy is welcomed
Just remember that when you’re watching the Curve lose much more frequently this season