Ownership Dedicated to Success?

Chuckleheads as I sit here and write this, I do realize that the Super Bowl just happened, but I don’t really feel like talking about that Patriots and their 6th Super Bowl. So instead, this week we are going to look at the Pittsburgh Pirates with spring training right around the corner,  February 12th  to be exact. That’s when the Pittsburgh Pirates pitchers and catchers will make their way to Bradenton, Florida, and thus the beginning of another Pirates baseball season. The Pirates have been very quiet this offseason, making a handful of moves – none of which jump off the page as an improvement on the 82 wins the 2018 ball club had. A couple questions management must answer: who’s the fifth starter in the rotation? Who is going to make up the middle infield this season?  How can you tell fans that ownership is dedicated to winning with a projected $74.5 million payroll?  Until proven otherwise, Bob Nutting is equal or maybe even worse than the lady that owned the Cleveland Indians in the movie Major League.
Starting pitching for the Pirates is mostly locked into place with Jameson Taillon is the teams ace, and a pitcher that some are calling a dark horse for the Cy Young. The rest of the rotation is as followed: Chris Archer, Trevor Williams – who was the big strength in that Pirate rotation a season ago, and Joe Mustgrove. Now, if you count those up, that’s only four pitchers. That means there is a fifth spot open to be won at Spring Training. The front runner for the fifth spot is Jordan Lyles, a former first round pick of the Astros back in 2008. Lyles split the 2018 season between the Padres and the Brewers with a 4.11 ERA in 87.2 frames. Not numbers that jump off the page, but the change of scenery might be what Lyles needs. The Pirates have also suggested Nick Kingham, who is out of minor league options, and Steven Brault, who has seemed to find a home in the bullpen. Kingham had moments last year where he looked to be capable, but they were few and far between. Steven Brault, much like Kingham, has looked good at times; but as a starter, it doesn’t seem to be the right fit. Brault has seemed to find his calling in the bullpen.
Another issue the 2019 Pirates face is who is going to make up the middle of the infield. The Pirates parted ways with shortstop Jordy Mercer and 2nd baseman Josh Harrison – leaving a hole up the middle. The outlook coming into spring training has Adam Frazier penciled in at 2nd base, but they also have the option to put Jung ho Kang there as well. The shortstop position sees two players competing for the job: Kevin Newman who was anything but impressive at the end of last season bating .209 for 91 at bats. The other option the team has is newly acquired Erik Gonzalez, who, in 81 games, batted .265 for the Cleveland Indians in 2018. General manager Neal Huntington said of the two shortstops, “We like Erik Gonzalez and Kevin Newman and we like what we feel is the level they can produce at in comparison to what else is truly out there.”
The last thing that needs to be addressed is more of what general manager Huntington said during the offseason that should have Pirate fans a little worried about where the mentality of the ownership is. Huntington said of the growth of the organization: “we have the ninth best record over the past six years.” He went on to say, “we are one of the few teams that have made the post season three times in the last seven seasons.” Fans should find this crazy that the team is bragging about three post-season appearances in seven years – where the team did not advance past the divisional series. Why is this a bench mark that the team seems to be so proud of? The Pirates’ last playoff birth was in 2015, in which they went 98-64 third best in the majors. There was a 2016 78-83 payroll reduction, 2017 75-87 payroll reduction, and then in 2018 82-79 yup, you guessed it, cut payroll again. For 2019, the Pittsburgh Pirates are projected to have a $74.5 million payroll – which is grossly under lthe eague average of $121 million and is good enough to rank the Pirates 29th out of 30, with only the Tampa Bay Rays lower on payroll. Huntington also stated on the culture in the front office: “There is a tremendous group of people whom I am honored to work with and they are committed to bringing a championship to Pittsburgh. We believe we have a strong group of young players that can grow and get better. We have an ownership group that is fully committed to bring a championship home.” I don’t want to insult anyone’s intelligence, but having a $74.5 million payroll leaving you with close to $50 million in open space, doesn’t seem like the effort the Pirates claim to be putting forward.
Chuckleheads be happy that baseball season is right around the corner: pitchers and catchers report in a week. This means the continuation of being told by management and ownership about a commitment to winning with arguably less effort towards that cause than they ever have. Ownership has no interest in spending money to grow into a championship-caliber team, which has a trickle-down effect throughout the ball club. Lack of money spent handcuffs the general manager in, who he can bring to the club. The general manager can only play with the talent that he is given. My hope is that some of this young talent that we as fans have been told about for years can develop into solid big leaguers, and that the current big leaguers can put together some wins and get the fan base back to the excitement that was the 2015 season – when they won 98 games.