Pirates owner Bob Nutting said that if the club were to make a “broad, real restructure of the organization midseason” after releasing manager Derek Shelton, they will “not improve the team for 2025,” according to Jason Mackey of the PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE. Nutting said, “I don’t think that makes us better. I’m not willing to give up on what we expected, which involves a significantly better performance than you’ve seen.” Nutting said he “will continue to view the allocation to baseball budget as a larger lump sum.” Nutting: “I have to trust [GM Ben Cherington] to allocate between the various pieces, whether it’s minor league, development or acquisition. I also believe we’re underperforming.” Nutting said of his ownership of the club, “I truly believe that I am well positioned right now to lead the franchise.” He added he is “particularly well positioned right now to be able to help influence change in the economics of the game.” Nutting: “I’m uniquely well positioned to have a louder voice for Pittsburgh as we’re heading into the next [collective bargaining agreement]. I want to make sure that we don’t lose that position. I don’t think a new owner in Pittsburgh would have the same standing or ability to advocate for the kind of changes that we need.” Nutting noted he “really was embarrassed” when he realized what had happened with the Bucco Bricks. Nutting: “It was a fiasco. It was self-inflicted. It was a mistake. It was handled badly. I believe that” (PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE, 5/9).
POINT THE FINGER: In Pittsburgh, Joe Starkey wrote Nutting has “ruined baseball in this town” and he has “ruined a beloved civic institution” in the Pirates. The club’s history “turns attention toward Nutting” and how he has “always prioritized the bottom line over winning, despite his enormous personal wealth and the enormous MLB welfare checks his team receives every year” (PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE, 5/9). Mackey in a separate piece wondered if Nutting “was willing to spend this offseason and Cherington didn’t properly execute that, why is he still employed?” The Pirates “might be innovative with compiling information and creating fancy ways to display it,” but it “hasn’t been anywhere close to impactful enough on the baseball side” (PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE, 5/9).
ON THE AIR: In Pittsburgh, Noah Hiles noted Cherington opened his weekly radio show on Pittsburgh-based KDKA-FM Sunday morning “discussing Shelton’s dismissal before quickly transitioning into how he still believes this year’s team can increase its quality of play.” Cherington: “I believe we will have a team on the field that wins games, that plays good baseball. None of us have our heads in the sand. We’ve dug ourselves a hole, and there are a variety of reasons for that.” As the conversation progressed, Cherington “spoke more about the organization’s big picture offensive woes.” He “acknowledged the organization’s shortcomings in positional player development during his time at the helm.” But despite the “many noted failures,” Cherington “believes this is an area the Pirates will improve upon moving forward, thanks to the efforts of a newly assembled group” (PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE, 5/11).
