It's conditional, it's far from certain, but I'd imagine it'd be at least somewhat comforting to those who still believe the Pirates can make anything of themselves that ... I very much got the sense this week at PNC Park that patience won't be limitless this summer.

No, I'm not talking about the Bucco Bricks, the Roberto Clemente ad flap or any of that.

Talking about the club being 5-8 heading into a weekend set in Cincinnati against the same-record Reds that begins tonight at Great American Ball Park. And a historically awful offensive start, lowlighted by a .198 team batting average. And a blown-to-bits bullpen. And abysmal fundamentals all over the field. 

Remember all that stuff?

Yeah, well, I can't carry this concept out to completion, so let me just put forth that, if some or all of the above don't begin boomeranging back in the opposite direction, there won't be a hesitation from those with the authority to make a change.

Bob Nutting's rationale in bringing back Ben Cherington and Derek Shelton for another year was, I'm told, that he wanted both to follow through on a roster that'd been built on a potentially superlative rotation of Paul Skenes, Mitch Keller, Jared Jones, their only significant free agent in Andrew Heaney, and soon Bubba Chandler and/or Thomas Harrington. It'd be too strong to suggest Nutting felt he owed it to Cherington and Shelton, but he did see it as worth one last look before having to push the plunger on the entire process again. Because the latter's how it goes when any GM's replaced anywhere.

And then, all this unfolded.

They're all out of excuses, all out of chances.

MORE PIRATES

• The buck on the Bricks stops with Travis Williams. He literally runs the business. He's atop that specific structure within the company. The same way he acknowledged the buck stopped with him on the Clemente flap. Neither of which, obviously, is a good look. It's been a struggle for Williams at times. Running a venture of this size isn't for everyone.

• I hate, hate, hate the Bricks thing, as I hope I've made clear. But the Clemente thing ... that's different. It's borderline blasphemy to criticize anything Clemente-related, and I appreciate why. But both Roberto Clemente Jr. and brother Luis haven't exactly been the most successful businessmen, and their latest quagmire's having been sued almost a year ago in Los Angeles Superior Court for 'fraudulent conduct' in how they tried to sell the rights to their father's story to multiple parties. Put another way, it's not an accident that one of Roberto Jr.'s two messages on social media critical about this ad flap included a veiled plea for the Pirates to establish some sort of permanent financial relationship with the sons.

• Also regarding that ad ... I mean, it was a two-year placeholder when the Pirates couldn't find an ad to put in that space. There'd been zero connection between that space and Clemente before the team put the Clemente logo up there in 2022. This was butchered in the communication aspect but nothing else.

• Repeating for emphasis, though: The Bricks thing is bad. It's different than just about anything in Nutting's 18-year tenure. It needs to be made all the way right. 

• Back to ball: A couple of the veterans with whom I spoke in the clubhouse this week acknowledged that the team's offense needs to be performing way better, and the statistics support that most of them are well below career norms. But they also believe they've been 'pitched to,' to borrow from the vernacular. Meaning they've seen plenty of above-average stuff/command from their mound opponents. 

• I'll recite it every spring, but we'll witness six-plus weeks of Grapefruit ball, come up with all kinds of sweeping conclusions both good and bad, only to eventually see that Jack Suwinski and Ji Hwan Bae, the top two performers at the plate down there, only to see that Suwinski's now 3 for 25 with 13 Ks, and Bae was banished to the bus rides after four official at-bats. Hate to see it with both. I know how much they put into it. I know how good they felt on that final day in Fort Myers, Fla. Cruel game.

INSTAGRAM

Mason Rudolph works out this week in California.

STEELERS

• No, I've got no idea about anything Aaron Rodgers-related. Heck, I'm not sure Rodgers does.

• Mason Rudolph's getting his work done, and he's preparing/hoping, as one might expect, as if he'll be the starting quarterback. He's always done that. Just a pro's pro.

• Oh, and there's a reason he hasn't been around for a formal interview, as a few others have been on the South Side already: The team would rather he hangs on until this whole quarterback thing's sorted out. Which makes sense. Doesn't have to address a slew of hypotheticals that'd have nothing to do with him. I've communicated with him, and he's in a very, very good place, eager to get to work again in a city he genuinely loves.

• The only thing I've been told definitively from within those four walls over on the South Side regarding the NFL Draft is this: Management's hell-bent on finding a running back within this class. That's not to say it's their top priority, but it's on the list, whereas no other position's been mentioned to me.

• Told to me by someone over there who matters: It'll be a "make-or-break" year for Broderick Jones. Pretty strong wording, considering it'll be his third year and he's bounced back and forth at both tackle positions, but hey.

• I sure wouldn't be thinking about wide receiver in the draft. Can't rule it out, but I was told in definitive terms that Calvin Austin was seen as the No. 3 wide receiver even before the addition of DK Metcalf, in that he's a fine fit for the role. What's more, Roman Wilson still exists, and he can find his way onto the figurative moving train at some point as a No. 4.

PENGUINS

• There's a sub-zero chance that Kyle Dubas could tune out how beloved Boko Imama's become in the Penguins' world. He has to be brought back. And believe me, based on a talk Imama and I had the other night, he wants that more than anything. The mutual love's been something to behold in both directions.

• I joked the other night with David Quinn, assistant coach, that he should be outright revered for the way the power play's improved year over year -- from 30th in the NHL to seventh now at a 25.0% rate -- and he seemed to appreciate it:

Super-sharp guy. Arguably over-qualified for his current position. But man, as long as he's here, it's been something to see how all of the approach he and Mike Sullivan were emphasizing to the stars way back in training camp came to life. And especially the quick puck movement and shoot-first reflex down low, like this Sidney Crosby beauty the same night:

Bang, bang, bang. Like so many others this season.

• Been wonderful to see Tristan Jarry just relax and be his best self, on and off the ice. I'm not making any predictions about anything. Just sharing.

• In the closing days of the now tragically lost Ray Shero's tenure with the Penguins, I focused most of my hockey columns on criticizing his drafts. I'm not sure I've ever written anything so wrong, and I hope I never do again. See, Mr. Shero was fired in 2014, and it was only after that occurred that any of us could see that his final few classes here would include Bryan Rust and Tom Kuhnhackl (2010), Matt Murray and Olli Maatta (2012) and Jake Guentzel (2013), with only Maatta having been a first-rounder. That's exceptional work, to say the least. That wave of youth was a vital component in both the 2016 and 2017 Stanley Cups. And beyond that, Rust and Guentzel blossomed into big-time players. I blew it, and I've known it ever since. It's why I try to be careful to this day in any sudden evaluations of any transactions that take years to play out.

• Deepest condolences to the family and friends of Mr. Shero, a good, good man, a championship executive and an importance piece of our city's sporting history.