Exposé reveals Pirates refused to honor simplest possible request to increase offense

Pittsburgh Pirates owner Bob Nutting is often criticized for his lack of financial commitment to the team's payroll, which consistently ranks among the lowest in MLB. Apparently, player salaries aren't the only things he's stingy about.

According to a recent exposé by Noah Hiles of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, multiple Pirates players expressed their displeasure toward ownership's overall lack of commitment to winning. One example from this season stood out in particular.

"Earlier this year, multiple Pirates players were having trouble seeing the ball while hitting at PNC Park during afternoon games, particularly contests that started at 4 p.m.," Hiles wrote. "Some players requested the franchise paint the batter’s eye black, claiming it could help the team offensively. That request was denied."

The batter's eye – which is almost always a dark color – is an area behind center field in a baseball stadium designed to provide a sharp contrast for batters so they can see the pitched ball more clearly. It's a basic standard of any ballpark, not just in the Major Leagues.

So, in other words, multiple players on the team that ranked 28th out of 30 in team batting average (.231) and dead last in the league in slugging percentage (.350), runs scored (583), runs per game (3.6) and RBI (561) made the simplest, most reasonable request possible to help improve their offense, and they were told, "No."

Well, then.

Bob Nutting's lack of commitment to winning is evident beyond just Pirates' payroll

According to Hiles, Pirates players also complained about a lack of resources that could help improve performance, particularly on offense.

"Some players claimed the Pirates lacked information and technology to help adequately game plan for opposing pitchers, resources that were available during their time with other major league clubs," Hiles wrote.

If Nutting isn't going to pay to bring established hitters into the fold, the least he could do is provide the hitters he has with adequate resources that set them up for success. But perhaps that's precisely the problem – he's not even remotely invested in the success of his players, or his team as a whole.

Nutting profits regardless of how the team performs, thanks to his cut of the league revenue share. He doesn't care if his hitters can't see the ball.