Pittsburgh Pirates: Bob Nutting, Please Sell the Team

There is only one guy holding back the city of Pittsburgh from having a competitive baseball team, and that is its owner. For there to be any hope for this franchise, Bob Nutting needs to sell the team immediately to restore faith back to the fans of the Pittsburgh Pirates. Mr.Nutting, it is time to sell.

Mr. Nutting,

Since you took over in 2007, the Pittsburgh Pirates have been one of the worst run franchises in all of the sports. The Pirates have had 12 losing seasons in the 16 years you have owned the team. The Pirates and their fans have only experienced three playoff teams in which two of those teams did not make it past the wildcard round.

The payroll has been close to the bottom of the league consistently since you took over. Why buy a team in such a great city that cares about their sports teams if you are not going to do anything positive with it? In just the last 4 years, the Pirates combined record is 211-335. That is a winning percentage of just .386. If you do not see the problem with that, then sell the team and make your biggest profit and move on. The team is currently worth over $1.32 billion dollars. If money is your biggest concern, selling the team will make you never have to worry about that again.

Fans of the Pittsburgh Pirates do not want to hear the excuses of them being in a small market  either. Currently, the San Diego Padres are in a smaller market than Pittsburgh, but have spent almost $170 million dollars more for the 2023 season. You refuse to spend money when there isn’t anything stopping you from doing so. This is one of the reasons why fans of the team are against you and why they do not want you to run this franchise any longer.

There are plenty of viable options in free agency this off-season to improve this team and make them competitive. The problem is you don’t allow your general manager to do it. There needs to be progression on the big league club and adding proven veteran free agents that are not past their prime would do that. The fans do not want to continue to see reclamation project signings every year in hopes to inevitably trade them at the deadline for prospects. It is so tiring seeing the same thing year after year.

Another big problem fans have with you, is how you treat your top players. Most recently, Bryan Reynolds has requested a trade and it most likely stems from him not getting the money he deserves from this organization. This seems like a trend that never ends. The fans are tired of seeing their best players either traded away before they are about to get paid or when they lose them in free agency because you refuse to pay them what they want and deserve.

Please sell the team to an owner that cares about making this organization better for the city and its fans.  The Pittsburgh Pirates are one of the oldest and most cherished franchises in the sport and they have officially become a laughing-stock because ownership. Make a change, or sell the team and leave Mr. Nutting.