PG Fossil Torches PBC Ownership

[evolver115]

Smizik has obviously reached legend status with his consistent scathing of the AAAA Pirates, this one is keeping up the grand tradition.

In the face of an avalanche of criticism against him and the constant demand that he sell the team, my stance on Bob Nutting and his ownership of the Pirates had been pretty simple: It's his team; he can do what he wants.

As much sense as that makes to me from a purely intellectual standpoint, from an emotional standpoint I am finally beginning to have other thoughts

Such as this: Isn’t it about time someone or somebody investigated how this team is operated?

Either Major League Baseball or the Pennsylvania Legislature or the Allegheny County Council or the Pittsburgh City Council needs to stand up and take action. Someone has got to put some pressure on this organization, which is playing in a taxpayer-funded stadium.

Enough is enough.

I have come to this stance over time and more specifically because of two quotes attributed to top Pirates executives this winter.

The first, by general manager Neal Huntington to Joe Lemire of SI.com:

"We have to develop our own core players. We can't spend the amount of money it takes to bring in a top-of-the-rotation starter or a middle-of-the-lineup bat. Or, really, a middle-of-the-rotation starter or just an everyday player. We have to develop those from within."

The second, by team president Frank Coonelly to the website piratesprospects.com in answer to a question if the franchise could raise payroll to help the current team:

``Today, no, but we will be able to support that payroll very soon if our fans believe that we now have a group of players in Pittsburgh and on its way here in the near future that is competitive. We need to take a meaningful step forward in terms of attendance to reach that payroll number while continuing to invest heavily in our future, but I am convinced that the attendance will move quickly once we convince our fans that we are on the right track.’’

Is this madness? More than a decade after fans were told a new stadium would enable the Pirates to play competitive baseball, we are told by executives of the team that if nothing changes the Pirates cannot play competitive baseball.

Coonelly’s comment is the most stunning and what is equally stunning is that it is being portrayed in some segments of the media as a perfectly reasonable response.

That kind of thinking isn’t reasonable, it’s insanity.

I am aware the current ownership group is not the one that made the promises. But they bought the team and with that purchase they inherit the spirit of the promise.

Since the Pirates have had 18 losing consecutive losing seasons, lost 105 games last year and are the laughing stock of not just baseball but all of sports, Connelly’s comments are roughly equivalent to these:

``Build me a restaurant. I will serve rotgut food and won’t improve on its quality until people flock to eat this garbage. When we have accumulated enough profit by serving the dreck, we will improve the product.''

Does that make sense?

Nor does the public declaration of poverty made by Huntington. It’s one thing not to be able to sign top-of-the-line free agents. But it’s quite another not be able to sign ``middle-of-the-rotation starters or just an everyday player.’’

The Nutting ownership group -- by the very words of its top two baseball executives -- cannot afford to be in the baseball business.

It cannot deliver, as promised, a competitive baseball team. This is true although revenue sharing is beyond the wildest dreams of what ownership might have expected when the competitive promise was made.

I am not advocating a boycott. That would hurt the little man more than it would hurt Nutting. I am pleading for someone with power -- MLB, a governmental body -- to put some pressure on this ownership group to either make a real attempt to put a competitive team on the field or sell to someone who can.

And those people are spelled Lemieux/Burkle.