PITTSBURGH -- When the Pirates' streak of 15 straight losing seasons began with a 75-87 season in 1993, Neal Huntington was in Montreal with only one year of professional baseball experience under himself, Frank Coonelly was working in a law firm and John Russell still was playing for the Rangers.

But what started then is being inherited now. And that wasn't about to be lost on all three of those additions to the organization.

All three men fielded questions from fans during a nearly one-hour Q&A session on the opening night of the organization's annual PirateFest on Friday. Yes, there were some light questions, but not many.

It only took two questions for the topic of payroll to surface, with numerous fans chiming in with opinions. Concerns were brought up about the ability of the Pirates to compete without a significant change in payroll, and there were questions as to why the Pirates hesitated to make a splash in the free-agent market this offseason.

Coonelly, the club president, was quick to promise an increase in spending in the coming years, and he criticized past frivolous spending that has cost the team the ability to have a payroll cushion that would allow it to spend more in other areas.

"We will be spending more at the Major League level than $51 million," the team president said. "I can rattle off the names of players that were signed [in the past] just to sign players. We've got the commitment from [chairman] Bob Nutting to spend that money, but we've got to build the foundation first."

Huntington also added that in addition to being intrigued by seeing the current group of players perform with another year of experience under their belts, he wasn't going to pull the trigger just because there was an expectation to do so.

"You don't want to spend $50,000 on a $20,000 used car," the Pittsburgh general manager said, referring to past examples of overspending. "You also don't want to spend a lot of money on what a player has done in the past. You want to spend on what he's going to do in the future."

And then came the most heated criticism of the evening -- the Pirates' recent selection in the First-Year Player Draft. Fans were quick to deride the organization's selection of relief pitcher Daniel Moskos in June. Some of those same fans questioned the organization's commitment to taking advantage of the No. 2 selection in the upcoming Draft as well.

After fielding the question, Coonelly offered another promise: "We are going to take the best player in the Draft," he said. "I don't think they've always been in position to do that in the past, which may have been the reason for some of the past decisions."

Fielding questions regarding the players and personnel, Huntington reiterated what he has said all offseason -- that though he never pulled the trigger to make a significant offseason acquisition, he doesn't believe the 2008 season is a lost one.

"The expected performance of our players is going to be better," Huntington said. "This team has a chance to have an interesting team this year. [Winning] could be sooner rather than later with this club."

In all, the biggest questions seemed to involve the word "when." When will that foundation be built? When can fans expect the culture to change? When will accountability for on-the-field performance be consistent? And then the most pointed inquiry: When will the Pirates be expected to compete?

It was evident that fans were hungry for a specific date to be given as to when the streak of losing seasons would stop. Obviously unable to do so, all three -- Russell, Huntington and Coonelly -- could only ask fans to see management's focus on development and scouting and eventual spending as proof that things are changing.

All three knew what they were inheriting when they signed on with the organization. And on Friday they were reminded of how long 15 years has felt for those who have been here for it all.

"I was on a talk show in Milwaukee about a week ago and they asked me if Pirates fans were apathetic," Huntington said. "I told them, 'Absolutely not.' These are passionate fans."