PITTSBURGH - When former Dodgers manager Jim Tracy saw the Pittsburgh Pirates during the next-to-last weekend of the regular season, he didn't see a team that hasn't had a winning record in 13 years.

Or one that hasn't had much money to spend on free agents. Or one that has averaged 92 losses the last six seasons, lurching from one failed rebuilding plan to another without finding one that works.

No, Tracy saw a team loaded with rookies, all of whom achieved some success in the majors this season. He saw one of the NL's best-around players in Jason Bay, whose first two seasons are comparable or better than those of the top players in club history. He saw a No. 1 starter in Zach Duke and a former No. 1 starter, Oliver Perez, who could be that again.

He saw a team that only needed someone to teach it how to win.

Now, he gets a chance to do exactly that.

"The youth of this ballclub and the potential of some of the players, not only currently on the major league roster but also some of the talent that is now beginning to blossom at the minor league level, is something that is really intriguing to me," said Tracy, who signed a three-year contract Tuesday to become the Pirates' fourth manager since they last had a winning season in 1992.

He is also the first in nearly 20 years, or since Jim Leyland left a coaching job with the Chicago White Sox in 1985, to be hired from outside the organization. Gene Lamont (1997-2000) had been Leyland's bench coach and Lloyd McClendon (2001-05) had been Lamont's batting coach.

Maybe coming from another team will give him a different viewpoint, a different way of doing things than the Pirates have done them for years.

Maybe even help them win a few games, too?

"I think the personnel is here to get that done," said Tracy, a former bench coach under managers Felipe Alou (Expos) and Davey Johnson (Dodgers) and the Dodgers' manager from 2001-05.

"I think a group of players has to understand the type of baseball you have to play to play winning baseball," Tracy said. "You have to realize the importance of the intangibles, the little things."

Some might view the Pirates' situation as hopeless following a 67-95 season, but Tracy sees players such as Bay, pitchers Duke, Perez and Paul Maholm, center fielder Chris Duffy and second baseman Jose Castillo as being ready to win.

"I'm looking forward to spearheading this ballclub to back to some of the days when the Pittsburgh Pirates were somebody you really had to deal with," said Tracy, who watched the Reds-Pirates rivalry while growing up near Cincinnati.

General manager Dave Littlefield worked with Tracy in the Expos organization, and said Tracy's ability to develop Dodgers players such as Adrian Beltre, Eric Gagne, Paul LoDuca and Cesar Izturis figured prominently in the decision to hire him. Tracy was considered the front runner from the start to succeed McClendon, who was fired Sept. 6 during his fifth consecutive losing season.

At the time of the McClendon firing, managing general partner Kevin McClatchy said the Pirates wanted a manager who had won in the majors.

"He's managed winning teams and winning teams in the playoffs," Littlefield said of Tracy. "There are a lot of ingredients I think will make him successful here."

Tracy was 427-383 and won the 2004 NL West title with the Dodgers despite a failed roster overhaul orchestrated by general manager Paul DePodesta that led to a 71-91 record this season. The two did not agree on numerous personnel decisions, including not bringing back Beltre after he hit 48 homers and had 121 RBI in 2004.

Tracy beat out the only other known candidates for the Pirates job, former Oakland Athletics manager Ken Macha and Atlanta Braves coach Fredi Gonzalez. Littlefield also wanted to interview Leyland, but he was hired by the Tigers last week before he could talk with the Pirates again.