"Maybe it's the contact lenses. Nate McLouth sees things differently now.

Three-hundred fifty days after he happily signed a three-year contract and proudly talked about the future, the Pirates' preceding center fielder wondered Thursday about his former club's direction, the negativity that surrounds its 17 years of losing, even the eye exam that may have missed his near-sightedness.

"After watching what went on last summer ... I was kind of lucky to be the first one to get sent out," McLouth said from the Atlanta spring-training clubhouse underneath Champion Stadium in Disney World while his contending Braves beat the Pirates, 4-2."