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Pirates 2024

They're apparently going to try Oneil Cruz in center field. Should be interesting, to say the least.
 
Led 10-3 after 6 today, and lost. Shelton should have been fired post game.

Aaaand Bednar is done.
 
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Led 10-3 after 6 today, and lost. Shelton should have been fired post game.

Aaaand Bednar is done.

That series might have been the nail in Shelton's coffin.

They gave up 41 runs to the Cubs in three games in which Keller, Jones and Skenes started. Hard to believe.
 
That series might have been the nail in Shelton's coffin.

They gave up 41 runs to the Cubs in three games in which Keller, Jones and Skenes started. Hard to believe.
Not really, if you keep in mind that it’s the Pittsburgh Pirates. Makes a lot of things much easier to believe.
 
Not really, if you keep in mind that it’s the Pittsburgh Pirates. Makes a lot of things much easier to believe.
Not a truer word has ever been spoken on this message board.

I proclaim the 28th day of Augustine to be here forth named, Sarge's Day. To celebrate, we speak only the truth, drink whiskey, and lament the day that Sarge spoke of such truth, that it will never be any truer than this day my friends.
 
Not to take anything away from Sarge's point, but if someone were to invest in the Buccos, the town would have a blast supporting them. They couldn't fill TRS when they were good in the late 80s/early 90s but no doubt in hell PNC would be packed.

I just don't think it's possible for a small market team to make it in this day and age. We are essentially a farm club for the big market clubs and I don't see that changing until Athletes share the same salaries we all do
 
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I just don't think it's possible for a small market team to make it in this day and age. We are essentially a farm club for the big market clubs and I don't see that changing until Athletes share the same salaries we all do

Professional sports are quite different than the more conventional jobs in society, as the athletes themselves are the product.

Noone is paying to watch someone build a house or car, rather they're paying for the house or car itself.

Plus, it's a supply and demand thing in that only so many people can do what professional athletes do at the level they can do it.

As for the Pirates and the perceived small market barrier, it has not stopped other organizations with similar money as the Pirates from being competitive much for consistently.

It's not to say economic imbalances do not exist in baseball, but the Pirates are just an incompetent organization, and it starts at the very top.

Within whatever limited capacity Bob Nutting might actually care about winning, he clearly has no idea how to go about it.

He's hired numerous front offices and managerial staffs at this point with more or less the same results.

Ben Cherington and Derek Shelton have had their chance, as five years is ample time to prove your worth and the Pirates have gotten no better during that time.

In hindsight, the Pirates would have been better off sticking with Neil Huntington and Clint Hurdle. Despite the struggles they were having, they at least demonstrated they could win over a few year period.

Ultimately, nothing will change until ownership changes, but the Pirates somehow remain too profitable for Nutting to ever want to do that.
 
Cut Rowdy Tellez 4 AB short of a $200K incentive. That is why this franchise is a perennial loser.
Slimiest move this franchise has possibly ever made and that’s saying something. Why would any free agent ever consider signing with the Pirates after this? $200k? That’s a pittance in MLB. Really ****** move by a really ****** franchise.
 
Cut Rowdy Tellez 4 AB short of a $200K incentive. That is why this franchise is a perennial loser.
Just when us Pirates fans thought Bobby was a cheap piece of ****, he goes and does this to a player who was selfless enough to pitch against the Brewers when Shelton exhausted his bullpen. We all need to band together and boycott his games because nothing will change until he puts 100M payroll at the minimum on the team and fire Cherington. His decision to **** Rowdy and his family over like this is unsportsmanlike, and quite frankly, ungentlemanly.
 
Slimiest move this franchise has possibly ever made and that’s saying something. Why would any free agent ever consider signing with the Pirates after this? $200k? That’s a pittance in MLB. Really ****** move by a really ****** franchise.

Definitely not a good look, but it's not like the Pirates are ever very active in free agency anyway.

I'm not sure Nutting's reputation around baseball will be harmed much. It was already pretty bad.
 
Wouldn't be surprised if Nutting moves the team to greener pastures before this decade is out. He definitely isn't running the team with the idea of winning championships. The more he can alienate the fan base, the bigger argument he has that the city cannot support a MLB team.

Glad I was old enough to remember the 79 WS. Great memories. Came damn close in the early 90s and enjoyed the heck out of that 3 year stretch, pretty much zilch since then. Unbelievable.
 
I’m not sure why MLB hasn’t stepped in. I read that Nutting profits roughly $70 million a year. They have some nice pieces, especially the starting pitching. How can you fail to build around that? But they will, and guys like Jones, Skenes and Keller will move on first chance they get if they aren’t traded for low level prospects that never develop. Then the cycle starts again. It sucks and it’s bullshit.
 
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I’m not sure why MLB hasn’t stepped in. I read that Nutting profits roughly $70 million a year. They have some nice pieces, especially the starting pitching. How can you fail to build around that? But they will, and guys like Jones, Skenes and Keller will move on first chance they get if they aren’t traded for low level prospects that never develop. Then the cycle starts again. It sucks and it’s bullshit.
MLB is probably fine with it. He's basically running a farm team for the teams that rake in the big bucks. Quadruple A ball is alive and well in Pittsburgh.
 
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