DK: A practical three-step solution to salvage this cluster
'SELL! THE! TEAM! SELL! THE! TEAM!'
That'd resonate throughout PNC Park for the first time in its quarter-century history on the occasion of the Pittsburgh Baseball Club's 144th home opener today, and it'd be repeated to the final out of a flat-lined 9-4 loss to the Yankees.
It began in the late morning with a rented private plane flying the message 'SELL THE TEAM, BOB!' over Downtown and the North Shore for a few hours leading up to first pitch:
GREG MACAFEE / DKPS
Total cost, I'm told by the fans who rented it: $4,000.
It continued inside the stadium, when Bob Nutting walked the left-field rotunda amid a group of angry fans, a few of whom I recognize in this video from the Downtown protests over the winter, shouting in his direction 'SELL! THE! TEAM!'
It really took hold after an error-filled second inning that prompted a separate group of fans sporting 'SELL THE TEAM' T-shirts, seated in the second deck and just beneath the broadcast booths, to start up that same chant, prompting the Yankees' commentators to pontificate some:
— Irate Pirates Fan (@IratePiratesFan) April 5, 2025
Eventually, it'd come to a crescendo among the capacity crowd of 36,893, after Isiah Kiner-Falefa was picked off first base ... um, down six runs in the fifth inning:
We Got Pirates Fans Chanting “Sell The Team!!!!!” In their first home game of 2025 Folks pic.twitter.com/gbjAtnj01h
It's not about the 2-6 start, the .204 team batting average, the 13 extra-base hits over 306 plate appearances, the worst-in-the-majors seven errors, the countless brain-cramps that aren't ruled errors, the 1.49 WHIP (walks and hits per inning pitched) of the staff that's fourth-worst in the majors, or anything that's really related to the past week.
It's about 2024. And 2023. And 2022. And 2021. And 2020, the year Nutting hired Ben Cherington and Derek Shelton. And all but three prior years of Nutting's tenure that began in 2007. And no division titles since 1992. And no World Series since 1979.
It's about no hope. Anywhere in sight. Among even the most hopeful.
And this, I'm sure, won't alter that sentiment: Nutting's not selling.
I spent nearly a half-hour with the man before this game, leading into our site'sformal interview with him by Greg Macafee. And I'll say it again for emphasis: He's not selling. Not now. Not for the foreseeable future. For all anyone knows, maybe never.
Why?
Well, there's always money as a factor. Even though the team was in the red for 2024, per our recent special report, that hardly stunts the growth in value of big-league sports franchises. My belief is that, if he put the Pirates on the market, he'd approach the $1.7 billion the Pohlad family's now seeking in putting the Twins up for sale. Pittsburgh's not the size of the Minneapolis/St. Paul market, but both have terrific stadium situations, traditional markets and dedicated-beyond-team-performance fan bases.
He'd make a killing and a half.
But there's no trace of intending to sale, so I'll ask again: Why?
This time, I'll likely come closer to the answer. Because, in the years I've known him and spoken to others who know him that much better, the predominant sense I've gotten -- and had reinforced here -- is that he sees himself as precisely the steward Pittsburgh and the Pirates need. He sees himself as responsible. He sees himself as doing what's necessary for the franchise to survive here and, in the right circumstances, thrive.
I haven't seen that. I've seen flaws. I've seen bad hires that've turned into bad ... fires, I guess, meaning in that it takes him far too long to correct a mistake. Within that, he trusts those he employs to a fault, thus exacerbating issues that could be cut off earlier.
Put it this way: It's a losing culture, from top to bottom, and he's at the top.
Nevertheless, it's his operation. He's the owner, and no one's about to chase him away, least of all anyone at Major League Baseball, where he's viewed, as best I've been able to gather, by both Rob Manfred and his fellow owners as an honest, helpful partner in the industry, and where no one's so much as whispered about any improprieties in Pittsburgh. Even the MLB Players Association, which has occasionally lumped the Pirates into complaints about a lack of spending, has never taken anything too far. And I should add that all of those entities, including the union, have direct access to all teams' individual books for actual auditing.
Like it or not, he's not going anywhere.
So, what to do? Where's this all going? Where can it go?
____________________
I don't like offering criticisms without corresponding possible solutions. Those aren't easy in this setting, of course, but I'm going to give it a shot, anyway, in three parts to be executed in the following sequence:
3. Fire the manager.
Seriously, that's enough. I put that forth with no joy.Shelton's a genuinely good guy who's been nothing but courteous and professional with me since Day 1. This job was a dream come true for him, and he delivered, beyond any doubt, the passion and effort one would expect.
It's Year 6. His team stinks. At almost everything. Players come here and get worse. Players leave here and get better. His game decisions ... aren't awful, but they also lack conviction and identity.
That's enough.
Promote Don Kelly from bench coach. He's local, which is never a non-issue here in our Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood, he's eminently qualified, and he's always brought his own voice.
That's enough.
2. Fire the GM.
Here again, I've got no new material. Nor a new stance.
Keeping this succinct: There are three-plus reliable hitters in this lineup: Bryan Reynolds, Oneil Cruz, AndrewMcCutchen and, when healthy as my third-plus, Ke'Bryan Hayes. As if to remind everyone of that, Reynolds and Hayes homered on this day, and Cutch had three knocks. Reynolds, Cruz and Hayes are Neal Huntington acquisitions, and Cutch was a Dave Littlefield acquisition.
It's Year 6, and Cherington's yet to add one damned hitter into the fold, even having invested a No. 1 overall pick into Henry Davis four years ago. Not through the draft. Not through Latin America. Not through a trade. Not through free agency. Not one.
That's enough.
Promote absolutely anyone to take his place on an interim basis, then save the total organizational transfusion for season's end, at which point finding Cherington's successor should focus on a singular trait: Recognize bleeping talent.
1. Fight for the salary cap.
OK, so, if Nutting's not going to sell, there's one wonderful way he could at least render moot the prevailing subject matter that'd otherwise dog him forever: Be part of the ownership conglomerate that fights -- and I mean fights -- for baseball to finally, finally adopt the salary-cap system used by every other North American professional sport.
He does want the system. He'd be nuts not to.
For the uninitiated: A cap system comes with a payroll ceiling, a payroll floor that leaves about a $25 million range between them, and immensely expanded revenue sharing that allows all teams, even the poorest, to comfortably spend into that range. That's how it goes in the NFL, how it goes in the NHL, and I don't need to tell anyone in our city how much that means to both the Steelers and Penguins.
Once more: Nutting wants this. And now, as is becoming increasingly obvious across the scope of the sport, so do more owners than ever. Heck, Hal Steinbrenner, owner of these Yankees, has thrown more hints in this regard than anyone at his level, as he's tired of being ripped by fans for not being able to spend to the level of the Dodgers or Mets.
All owners need is three-quarters on board, and everything I'm hearing is that it'll be way more than that percentage. The labor agreement expires after next season. A reckoning's coming, and it all feels so familiar to the NHL events I covered earlier in my career that led to a cap in that league.
I believe it's coming. It'll come with no small amount of pain and, as anyone would expect, a work stoppage in one direction or the other. But it's coming. The union's stubborn, but the union doesn't set the work rules. The owners do. And in any such storylines over the past half-century, the owners who stick together get their way.
Which begs another question: Why doesn't Nutting say he's in favor of the cap?
Or, better yet, why'd he vote in favor of the current system in the previous negotiations?
Separate answer No. 1: He can't. Manfred's all over the owners on this, just as Roger Goodell and Gary Bettman are when it comes to labor. There are seven-figure fines in place for speaking out of turn, and they legit get enforced.
But, when our site asked Nutting on this day for his position on a cap, read the response meticulously: "There’s no question that, in the existing economic situation, there’s a huge revenue disparity. There’s no question that creates huge payroll disparity. And there’s no question that winning correlates with payroll. So when all those pieces flow together, I don’t want to guess on the right way to go from here to there, but it’s not a level playing field, and baseball is challenging for smaller-market teams."
He can't say it, but he's saying it.
So get it done. I'm informed from sources both inside and outside the Pirates that he's been among the most active owners in communicating with his peers on subjects like these. That has to continue. That has to ... well, it's got to happen. Whether he's the one or someone else, it's got to happen.
If and when it does, however long it takes, maybe we can all finally move past all the money matters -- which never get discussed related to the Steelers or Penguins, if anyone's noticed -- and just criticize him over baseball flaws. I don't know if those are fixable, either, but I do know that Steps 3 and 2 up there would make for a fine refresh.
THE ASYLUM
DK: A practical three-step solution to salvage this cluster
'SELL! THE! TEAM! SELL! THE! TEAM!'
That'd resonate throughout PNC Park for the first time in its quarter-century history on the occasion of the Pittsburgh Baseball Club's 144th home opener today, and it'd be repeated to the final out of a flat-lined 9-4 loss to the Yankees.
It began in the late morning with a rented private plane flying the message 'SELL THE TEAM, BOB!' over Downtown and the North Shore for a few hours leading up to first pitch:
GREG MACAFEE / DKPS
Total cost, I'm told by the fans who rented it: $4,000.
It continued inside the stadium, when Bob Nutting walked the left-field rotunda amid a group of angry fans, a few of whom I recognize in this video from the Downtown protests over the winter, shouting in his direction 'SELL! THE! TEAM!'
It really took hold after an error-filled second inning that prompted a separate group of fans sporting 'SELL THE TEAM' T-shirts, seated in the second deck and just beneath the broadcast booths, to start up that same chant, prompting the Yankees' commentators to pontificate some:
Eventually, it'd come to a crescendo among the capacity crowd of 36,893, after Isiah Kiner-Falefa was picked off first base ... um, down six runs in the fifth inning:
My goodness.
What a scene. Or scenes. All day long.
And to think, it could've been this:
JOE SARGENT / GETTY
Or just a fun ballgame.
Or just ... anything but what it was.
____________________
I get it. Oh, trust me, I get it. I'm a lifer.
It's not about the 2-6 start, the .204 team batting average, the 13 extra-base hits over 306 plate appearances, the worst-in-the-majors seven errors, the countless brain-cramps that aren't ruled errors, the 1.49 WHIP (walks and hits per inning pitched) of the staff that's fourth-worst in the majors, or anything that's really related to the past week.
It's about 2024. And 2023. And 2022. And 2021. And 2020, the year Nutting hired Ben Cherington and Derek Shelton. And all but three prior years of Nutting's tenure that began in 2007. And no division titles since 1992. And no World Series since 1979.
It's about no hope. Anywhere in sight. Among even the most hopeful.
And this, I'm sure, won't alter that sentiment: Nutting's not selling.
I spent nearly a half-hour with the man before this game, leading into our site's formal interview with him by Greg Macafee. And I'll say it again for emphasis: He's not selling. Not now. Not for the foreseeable future. For all anyone knows, maybe never.
Why?
Well, there's always money as a factor. Even though the team was in the red for 2024, per our recent special report, that hardly stunts the growth in value of big-league sports franchises. My belief is that, if he put the Pirates on the market, he'd approach the $1.7 billion the Pohlad family's now seeking in putting the Twins up for sale. Pittsburgh's not the size of the Minneapolis/St. Paul market, but both have terrific stadium situations, traditional markets and dedicated-beyond-team-performance fan bases.
He'd make a killing and a half.
But there's no trace of intending to sale, so I'll ask again: Why?
This time, I'll likely come closer to the answer. Because, in the years I've known him and spoken to others who know him that much better, the predominant sense I've gotten -- and had reinforced here -- is that he sees himself as precisely the steward Pittsburgh and the Pirates need. He sees himself as responsible. He sees himself as doing what's necessary for the franchise to survive here and, in the right circumstances, thrive.
I haven't seen that. I've seen flaws. I've seen bad hires that've turned into bad ... fires, I guess, meaning in that it takes him far too long to correct a mistake. Within that, he trusts those he employs to a fault, thus exacerbating issues that could be cut off earlier.
Put it this way: It's a losing culture, from top to bottom, and he's at the top.
Nevertheless, it's his operation. He's the owner, and no one's about to chase him away, least of all anyone at Major League Baseball, where he's viewed, as best I've been able to gather, by both Rob Manfred and his fellow owners as an honest, helpful partner in the industry, and where no one's so much as whispered about any improprieties in Pittsburgh. Even the MLB Players Association, which has occasionally lumped the Pirates into complaints about a lack of spending, has never taken anything too far. And I should add that all of those entities, including the union, have direct access to all teams' individual books for actual auditing.
Like it or not, he's not going anywhere.
So, what to do? Where's this all going? Where can it go?
____________________
I don't like offering criticisms without corresponding possible solutions. Those aren't easy in this setting, of course, but I'm going to give it a shot, anyway, in three parts to be executed in the following sequence:
3. Fire the manager.
Seriously, that's enough. I put that forth with no joy.Shelton's a genuinely good guy who's been nothing but courteous and professional with me since Day 1. This job was a dream come true for him, and he delivered, beyond any doubt, the passion and effort one would expect.
It's Year 6. His team stinks. At almost everything. Players come here and get worse. Players leave here and get better. His game decisions ... aren't awful, but they also lack conviction and identity.
That's enough.
Promote Don Kelly from bench coach. He's local, which is never a non-issue here in our Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood, he's eminently qualified, and he's always brought his own voice.
That's enough.
2. Fire the GM.
Here again, I've got no new material. Nor a new stance.
Keeping this succinct: There are three-plus reliable hitters in this lineup: Bryan Reynolds, Oneil Cruz, Andrew McCutchen and, when healthy as my third-plus, Ke'Bryan Hayes. As if to remind everyone of that, Reynolds and Hayes homered on this day, and Cutch had three knocks. Reynolds, Cruz and Hayes are Neal Huntington acquisitions, and Cutch was a Dave Littlefield acquisition.
It's Year 6, and Cherington's yet to add one damned hitter into the fold, even having invested a No. 1 overall pick into Henry Davis four years ago. Not through the draft. Not through Latin America. Not through a trade. Not through free agency. Not one.
That's enough.
Promote absolutely anyone to take his place on an interim basis, then save the total organizational transfusion for season's end, at which point finding Cherington's successor should focus on a singular trait: Recognize bleeping talent.
1. Fight for the salary cap.
OK, so, if Nutting's not going to sell, there's one wonderful way he could at least render moot the prevailing subject matter that'd otherwise dog him forever: Be part of the ownership conglomerate that fights -- and I mean fights -- for baseball to finally, finally adopt the salary-cap system used by every other North American professional sport.
He does want the system. He'd be nuts not to.
For the uninitiated: A cap system comes with a payroll ceiling, a payroll floor that leaves about a $25 million range between them, and immensely expanded revenue sharing that allows all teams, even the poorest, to comfortably spend into that range. That's how it goes in the NFL, how it goes in the NHL, and I don't need to tell anyone in our city how much that means to both the Steelers and Penguins.
Once more: Nutting wants this. And now, as is becoming increasingly obvious across the scope of the sport, so do more owners than ever. Heck, Hal Steinbrenner, owner of these Yankees, has thrown more hints in this regard than anyone at his level, as he's tired of being ripped by fans for not being able to spend to the level of the Dodgers or Mets.
All owners need is three-quarters on board, and everything I'm hearing is that it'll be way more than that percentage. The labor agreement expires after next season. A reckoning's coming, and it all feels so familiar to the NHL events I covered earlier in my career that led to a cap in that league.
I believe it's coming. It'll come with no small amount of pain and, as anyone would expect, a work stoppage in one direction or the other. But it's coming. The union's stubborn, but the union doesn't set the work rules. The owners do. And in any such storylines over the past half-century, the owners who stick together get their way.
Which begs another question: Why doesn't Nutting say he's in favor of the cap?
Or, better yet, why'd he vote in favor of the current system in the previous negotiations?
Separate answer No. 1: He can't. Manfred's all over the owners on this, just as Roger Goodell and Gary Bettman are when it comes to labor. There are seven-figure fines in place for speaking out of turn, and they legit get enforced.
But, when our site asked Nutting on this day for his position on a cap, read the response meticulously: "There’s no question that, in the existing economic situation, there’s a huge revenue disparity. There’s no question that creates huge payroll disparity. And there’s no question that winning correlates with payroll. So when all those pieces flow together, I don’t want to guess on the right way to go from here to there, but it’s not a level playing field, and baseball is challenging for smaller-market teams."
He can't say it, but he's saying it.
So get it done. I'm informed from sources both inside and outside the Pirates that he's been among the most active owners in communicating with his peers on subjects like these. That has to continue. That has to ... well, it's got to happen. Whether he's the one or someone else, it's got to happen.
If and when it does, however long it takes, maybe we can all finally move past all the money matters -- which never get discussed related to the Steelers or Penguins, if anyone's noticed -- and just criticize him over baseball flaws. I don't know if those are fixable, either, but I do know that Steps 3 and 2 up there would make for a fine refresh.
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