Pittsburgh Pirates valued on/off field: Rum Bunter Rumblings

Pittsburgh Pirates fans:  Can you believe it’s only a scant eight days until the games count?

And thank goodness for that, because, as staff writer Jon Anderson empirically points out, spring training records do not matter.  He leads off our weekly best-of look at the week in Rum Bunter:

"I took every team’s spring training winning percentage for every year since 2009 and compared it to their regular season winning percentage for the same year.  The first result I looked for and found in the data was the average difference in winning percentage. I did this by finding the difference of every team’s preseason and regular season winning percentage for each individual year, listing them all, and then taking the average of them. I made them all positive numbers since for this purpose it doesn’t matter if they are improving or getting worse, and then I averaged all 191 numbers out.That result came out to 0.08705, which is equivalent to about a 13 win difference over 162 games. That number is huge, and suggests that spring training records tell you very little about what a team’s regular season record will end up being."

It’s incredibly hard to argue with the numbers.  Another set of numbers that is sure to have Pittsburgh Pirates fans in hot debate is the annual list of MLB Franchise values put out by Forbes this past week.  Rum Bunter founder Tom Smith broke down the numbers and had this to say:

"While the Pirates will never, ever, be able to compete with the large markets in mega tv deals, there is a bit of hope.  Everyone’s favorite team, the St. Louis Cardinals are not located in a big market, but are worth $1.4 billion.  Winning in 16 of 19 seasons and appearing in four World Series while winning twice has made the little engine that could steamroll its way up the Forbes rankings.  Additionally, the Pirates ranked third-best this year in spending the least amount of money per win, coming in at having spent $887,633 per win in 2014, as per Sporting Charts  We previously have reported on this number back in 2012.  In 2012, the Pirates spent $693,019 per win.  This modest increase could just show that the Pirates are building responsibly."

Of course, those who take an anti-front office approach will point out the Pirates had approximately $40 million in operating income off of the backs of their revenue for 2014.  Thankfully, we can return to on-the-field matters.  Tyler Waite really dug his heels in this week and set about comparing the Pittsburgh Pirates to the National League’s best.  It was such an epic undertaking, that he couldn’t possibly do it all in just one post.  Nay, three separate missives were filed.  Perhaps the money quote from Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3 was this:

"Each of the best teams in the National League have X-factors that can push them over the top. The Dodgers have Kershaw, the Cardinals have Molina and Wainwright, the Nationals have Harper, and the Pirates have Gerrit Cole. Do the Pirates have the best team in the NL on paper? Probably not. But the playoffs are an entirely different animal than the regular season. Certain players take over games and series, and magical performances are created. This Pirates team has all the makings of a playoff contender, and a team that could possibly make a run to the World Series. Maybe Cole will take them there, or maybe Pedro Alvarez will carry the team, or maybe Neil Walker will put on a performance for the ages. Hopefully the Pirates make Pittsburgh proud this year and bring home the city’s 6th World Series championship."

We end this week’s look at the best of Rum Bunter with a couple of feel-good stories to help us get through this last interminably long week until Opening Day:

Matt Bower gave a heartfelt nod to an old friend, Pirates post-game talker Rocco DeMaro, a lone shining voice in a sea of drivel, one that is sorely missed.

The Big Tuna gave a stirring tribute to YOU, Pirates fans.  Read on to learn why you are the best fans in baseball, bar none.

Thank you as always to the best readers in the business for making Rum Bunter a daily stop on your quest for all things Pittsburgh Pirates.  Please visit our Twitter and Facebook pages below, and keep your eyes peeled this week for an exciting contest!

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