The Pittsburgh Pirates have made it clear that they are building their team around left-hander Paul Maholm, catcher Ryan Doumit and center fielder Nate McLouth. The trio has been signed to three-year contracts within the last two months along with club options that could keep Doumit with the club through 2013 and Maholm and McLouth through 2012.

Those three were clearly the bright spots in last year's 67-95 season. Maholm went 9-9 with a 3.71 ERA in 31 starts while Doumit hit .318 with 15 home runs and 69 RBIs in 116 games and McLouth made the All-Star team on his way to batting .276 with 26 homers, 94 RBIs and 23 stolen bases.

However, the Pirates are taking a bit of a gamble by committing to all three in the long term.

Maholm's lifetime record is 30-35 and his ERA is 4.30 after 96 starts. That isn't bad but it also isn't eye-popping.

Doumit had long been considered a talent but had never been able to stay healthy. He played in less than 100 games in three of the previous four seasons until last year.

McLouth had a wonderful year in 2008 but also struggled mightily once Jason Bay and Xavier Nady were traded in late July. McLouth hit just four home runs in 205 plate appearances, one every 51.3 PA, after Bay and Nady were dealt after going deep 22 times in 480 plate appearances, one every 21.8 PA, in the first four months of the season.

Thus, it will be interesting to see how committing to the threesome turns out for the Pirates.