Wednesday, April 28, 2010

It's Bob Nutting's Turn

Even after last night's great win, the Pirates still need to make changes.  Most notably with manager John Russell.  He has to go.  Period.

Zach Duke has publicly criticized Russell and there have been rumblings that several players have also said they won't go out of the their way to please Russell.

Fact is, he doesn't have the respect of the players, if he ever had it.

Another fact is that John Russell has nothing to worry about.  His job is not at all in jeopardy.  Why, you ask?  Two words- Bob Nutting.

If he would fire Mr. Mumbles, the penny pinching Nutting would have to pay him and a new manager.  No way that would happen.  Nutting refuses to add to payroll until the ballpark packs and the team gets better.  He has no intention of doing so, because those are two things he knows will never happen.

I'm on record still of saying I have no problem with tearing the team apart and starting over.  I also have no problem with having the lowest payroll in the league this season.  This team wasn't going to win anyways.  I have a huge problem with Nutting keep stating that he will add payroll when the team gets good and when the fans show up.  Quit treating Pirates fans like fools Mr. Nutting.  They can only take so much of your BS.  If you want to continue to  ruin this once proud franchise, could you at least do it without being seen or heard.

So, where are we with this team.  Nutting is and always will be the owner.  He has three yes men that work for him in Frank Coonely, Neil Huntington and John Russell.  They, just like Nutting are going to be here for a while.  Enjoy.

I always enjoy when people email me some of their opinions and here is some from Bill Gorby- a very longtime and knowledgeable Pirates fan.  Feel free to email me your thoughts as well.  My email is somewhere on this page,

Bill's thoughts on Bob Nutting:

Bob Nutting has stated that he'll increase payroll only when the Pirates become competitive. He has made no public statement to the media or Pirate fans that he'll increase payroll under any other circumstances. In fact, it remains a wide-open issue as to what criteria he'll use to determine if he will ever spend more than the minimum to field a team.
Given the nature of such an "interpretable" promise we can expect nothing from this man. Here's why.
1. It is entirely up to him to decide when and if he's going to increase payroll --- which leaves Pirate "success" completely in question.
2. If he doesn't spend the money to make the Pirate team competitive in the first place, then he doesn't ever need to increase payroll because (duh) they WILL NEVER BE COMPETITIVE.
3.. This "double-speak" means he never has to break his promise to increase payroll, and at the same time he can continue to suck on the teats of other teams salary cap and revenue sharing money and put those proceeds in his pocket.
Lord knows what he does with the money. He "says" he puts it into scouting and the minor league system, but nobody really knows because his books are sealed. Moreover, it is certainly in his best interest to use the MLB "community money" to pay down the debts that he inherited while at the same time increasing the resale value of the the franchise.
And who really knows, some money could be going into Seven Springs. We really have no checks and balances to view.
The man has MLB and the media completely fooled while at the same time he snickers in his office chair about the idiots who don't understand his true intentions.
P.S. MLB really needs to investigate this man's true intentions and force him to get out of the ownership group. That will never happen because of the incompetent leadership of one Bud Selig and MLB execs.


Bill's thoughts on John Russell's job:

To answer your post about firing JR I don't believe that will ever happen.
He won't be fired until after this pathetic embarrassing season is over. Why would el-cheapo Nuthing fire him and have to replace him while the season is still going on? That means he would still have to pay him and a new manager. He'll wait til September or October when he won't have to pay him anymore and then (possibly) fire him.
As far as Opie, he probably won't go at all. After all, he and Coondog head the best management team in all of professional sports---remember? Those words came right out of Nuthings mouth.

I will include more of Bill's or anyone else's thought in another post.

11 comments:

  1. Great commentary, Matt! I feel the same way about Pirates' management. re: http://bit.ly/dqbdR9

    ~Goose

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  2. matt

    you should really do somthing more than write this blog. you are a good writer and really understand the game and the business of baseball.

    I always enjoy reading what you have to say and like your opinions. you should be covering major league baseball for a big publuication.

    keep up the good work

    james hall

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  3. great post and i have sent you some thoughts of my own. i enjoyed Bill's thought's also and couldn't agree more with the both of you

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  4. Bud Selig- Please Read This

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  5. James

    Thank You for your kind words. I have always wanted to cover a professional baseball team. It's still a goal of mine.

    For now I do work in sports and baseball, but I wuld trade all that to cover an MLB team every season. Who knows one day I may get lucky.

    Thanks for your comments

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  6. Matt and Bill

    You guys are great & hit the nail right on the head. You couldn't say things any better. I don't know why other people in baseball do not realize this and take action.

    I'd love to get your thoughts infront of the Pirates execs and see what they say

    I'd love for Bob Nutting to read this and dare to reply

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  7. I'd love for Bob Nutting to read this and dare to reply

    Bud Selig- Please Read This

    To comment on these two comments, why would Selig or Nutting read this? They likely can't read to begin with

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  8. Bill and Matt

    I agree with both of you. I doubt MLB could do anything because the Pirates make money

    What they need is a good sports guy at the top like Cuban or Lemiuex and then fill in down with good sports guys all the way down to field manager

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  9. I know they won, but why wasn't Russell bunting Crosby in the 14th?

    Even if the walk Cutch, you have 2 on and 1 out for Jones and Milledge.

    That's not good baseball.

    Fire JR Now

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  10. i don't think huntington is a problem. i think with what he had to deal he came out ok. his drafts have been good also

    nutting is a piece of trash & russell may be the worst manager is the history of baseball

    you can start by getting rid of him but your right, team wont be good until nutting sells

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  11. fact is, that if the piates get good and if fans start to show up, bob nutting will not add to the payroll.

    say they are in the wild card hunt this season, they will do nothing more than a minor deal for a bat of the bench or a bullpen arn.

    he won't try and help this team win at all. he will just refuse to sign off on it.

    when the time comes, he will have some bs excuse and cut the payroll even more. it will never go over 50 mil and when it gets close, expect us to dump salary

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