PITTSBURGH— Jim Tracy slumped over his desk, head in his hands, moments after the Pirates ended their 2007 season Sunday at PNC Park.

"That 16-game stretch right after the all-star break — losing 14 of those — I would love to have that back,"the Pirates manager said.

But time only moves forward — and Tracy hopes he has the opportunity to go in that direction with his team.

General manager Neal Huntington would not commit one way or the other Sunday, saying only that "we won't be rushed into any decisions. We'll continue to have meetings and discuss where we are and how to get to where we need to be.

"There are some critical decisions that must be made. We'll take our time in making the right choices."

Tracy's players are hopeful the skipper returns for the third and final year of his contract.

The Pirates finished 68-94 this season — the franchise's 15th consecutive losing campaign — and can break a dubious baseball record with a 16th straight next year. Pittsburgh finished 67-95 under Lloyd McClendon in 2005 and under Tracy in 2006.

"We've finished with pretty much the same record since I've been here," outfielder Jason Bay said. "We do need a different atmosphere around here, some sort of different look.

"I think (Tracy) should be back. It's tough, only giving a guy two years. There's nothing he's done that would be a reason why he shouldn't be back."

Bay hit only .248 this season with 21 homers and 84 RBI, all career-low numbers since he came to the Pirates three years ago.

Outfielder Nate McLouth described Tracy as a player's manager.

"He's a great baseball guy and he has the players' respect,"McLouth said.

The players have Tracy's respect as well.

"Everybody in that locker room, no matter what, never quit giving me everything he had,"the manager said. "I respect every single one of them for that."

The 2007 season did have its bright spots. On the mound, Tom Gorzelanny won 14 games, Matt Capps converted 18 of 20 save opportunities and Damaso Marte limited left-handed batters to an .094 average (6-for-64).

At the plate, Freddy Sanchez hit .304, eight players hit more than 10 home runs and the club set a franchise record with 322 doubles.

In the field, the Bucs finished second to Colorado in fewest errors committed (83) and led the major leagues with 190 double plays.

"There are some positive pieces in place here,"Tracy said. "That guy pitching the ninth inning (Capps), the kid in center field (Nyjer Morgan), our second baseman (Sanchez) and shortstop (Jack Wilson) combination, the starting rotation showed some definite growth this year.

"Keeping those elements in place would make sense. But there are still some things here that need fixed. There are things here that don't work. If we stay that way next year, they still won't work."

Bay was benched for ineffective play late in the season and may be a candidate to be traded with the emergence of McLouth, Morgan and Steve Pearce as potential regulars in the outfield. Morgan stole seven bases and hit .300 as a September call-up.

"I'm anxious to find out what's going to happen with me and what direction we're going to move in,"Bay said.

McLouth hit 13 homers and stole 22 bases in 328 at-bats while Pearce hit .294 for the Pirates in September. Pearce was named the Pirates' Minor League Player of the Year, batting .333 with 31 homers and 113 RBIin 134 combined minor league games at Class A Lynchburg, Class AAAltoona and Class AAAIndianapolis.

"This organization needs depth throughout and we just need to acquire players, be it through the draft, Central America, Latin America, Japan, Taiwan, Korea, the Rule Vdraft, minor league free agents, major league free agents — it doesn't matter,"Huntington said.

"When you build numbers, you increase your chances of finding players,"he added.

Tracy said he did the best job he could of showing the new management team what the Pirates have at the big league level.

"Winning — that doesn't just magically happen,"he said. "You have to build and develop toward that. Once we get more talent to complement what's already here, then we can start talking."

• The Pirates lost 14 of 16 games after the all-star break and 13 of their final 15 games.• The Pirates hit a club-record 45 home runs in August. The previous mark was 43 in August 1947.•The Pirates were 57-35 when scoring four or more runs, 11-59 when scoring fewer than four.• Three Pirates, Jason Bay, Adam LaRoche and Xavier Nady, hit 20 or more home runs for the first time since 2000 (Brian Giles, John Vander Wal and Kevin Young).• The Pirates were 37-44 at PNC Park, 31-50 on the road.• Shortstop Jack Wilson led the major leagues with a .409 batting average (54-for-132) since Aug. 1.• The Pirates turned 190 double plays this year, the most in the major leagues, and set a club record with 98 errorless games.• The Pirates hit a team-record 322 doubles. Freddy Sanchez and Adam LaRoche hit 42 each.• Jose Bautista had the Pirates' longest hitting streak at 12 games. Nyjer Morgan closed the season with an 11-game streak.• Ian Snell and Tom Gorzelanny both pitched more than 200 innings this year. The last time two Pirate pitchers logged 200 innings was 2001 (Todd Ritchie and Jimmy Anderson).