Jeff Passan shredding Pirates ownership should send strongest message yet

ESPN MLB insider Jeff Passan brought the plight of the Pittsburgh Pirates fan into the national spotlight this week in what may end up being the most persuasive argument to date in favor of owner Bob Nutting selling the team.

Pat McAfee had Passan on his show Wednesday afternoon to discuss the Pirates' treatment of first baseman Rowdy Tellez, who was just four at-bats away from hitting a $200,000 bonus when Pittsburgh released him on Tuesday.

While McAfee claimed that the Pirates were "tempting the universe and the baseball gods to continue to ruin their existence" in their poor treatment of Tellez, Passan countered that this sort of thing isn't altogether unheard of in baseball. As an example, he brought up J.D. Davis, who was screwed out of nearly $6 million by the San Francisco Giants during spring training earlier this year.

Admittedly, Tellez's $200,000 pales in comparison. But, as Passan pointed out, the biggest problem with the Tellez situation is not the dollar amount itself; it's the fact that the Pirates were even in this situation in the first place.

"I think the important point here is not to focus on how the Pirates screwed Rowdy Tellez out of $200,000," Passan said. "It's to look at the Pirates and look at Bob Nutting and to ask, 'Why is Rowdy Tellez your first baseman in the first place? Why aren't you going out and getting better players? Why don't you sign Christian Walker or Pete Alonso, or someone this winter to go and be a part of the core of that lineup long-term? Why are you always playing for short term with little money?'"

In taking aim at the Pirates' ownership, Passan brought national attention to what Pirates fans have long known to be true as they continue to endure decades of mediocrity. Nutting cares more about saving money than he does about winning – if he cares about winning at all – and the club's handling of Tellez this week should therefore not be a surprise.

Jeff Passan shredding Pirates ownership over mishandling of Rowdy Tellez should send strongest message yet

Passan didn't stop there, either. He continued to take Nutting to task for his refusal to spend on team payroll.

"Why do you have an $86 million payroll to open the season when the rest of the sport, at the top, has $300-plus million?" he said. "How do you continue to exist as a Major League Baseball owner, who theoretically wants to win a championship, and do so pinching pennies?"

The key word here, of course, is "theoretically." In theory, the only reason one should even consider owning a professional sports team is the desire to win – or be even remotely competitive, for that matter. But Nutting doesn't care about any of that. Win or lose, he still makes his profit every year through broadcast rights deals, tickets and merchandise sales.

As Nutting sees it, he doesn't have to spend any money on this team in order to make money off of it. So, he never will. The result? A perennially bad on-field product and an incensed fanbase that knows nothing will ever change as long as Nutting controls the purse strings.

"This," Passan astutely observed, "is the consequence of ownership that does not treat things seriously."

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