Pirates Owners Named Second-Worst in MLB
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It doesn't take much digging to figure out who public enemy No. 1 is for Pittsburgh Pirates fans.
Few fans, if any, are fans of Pirates owner Bob Nutting and Bleacher Report's rankings of the owners in Major League Baseball added a little more fuel to an already roaring inferno. Zachary Rymer ranked all of the owners in the MLB and had Nutting as the second-worst owner in baseball. Nutting was only ahead of Miami Marlins owner Bruce Sherman.
"The Pirates' value and revenues are more or less in line with their market size," Rymer writes. "From these angles, at least, you can make excuses for Nutting's refusal to consistently invest in payroll. It becomes harder to do so when you notice that his net worth is measured in billions. He ought to be treating the Bucs like his pride and joy, whereas he never spends in free agency and otherwise skimps on everything. Fans are right to want him to sell."
The results on the field are far from the only gripe Pirates fans have against Nutting. Across his 18 seasons as the principal owner, Pittsburgh has the same number of 100-loss seasons as it does playoff appearances. In his tenure, the Pirates have gone 1,283-1,528, which averages out to nearly 74-88 when excluding the COVID-shortened 2020 season when they went 19-41.
Beyond that, Nutting has historically been one of the cheapest owners in baseball. The Pirates' decisions since September have perfectly depicted that and have ranged from designating first baseman Rowdy Tellez for assignment in the final week of the season when he was four plate appearances away from a $200,000 bonus to their largest deal this offseason being re-signing Andrew McCutchen to a one-year $5 million deal.
"The Rowdy Tellez situation happens when ownership doesn't treat things seriously..
— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) September 25, 2024
Why do the Pittsburgh Pirates have an $86M payroll to start the season" ~ @JeffPassan #PMSLive pic.twitter.com/sTk3JJk2z0
The decision to spend even less money than normal this offseason becomes even more infuriating when you consider that Pittsburgh has arguably the best pitcher in baseball in Paul Skenes and a young rotation that could be playoff-ready. Unfortunately, an offense that struggled mightily last season hasn't done much to improve outside of trading for left-handed hitting first baseman Spencer Horwitz.
Until things change, Nutting will have few supporters. And if the Pirates can't turn it around with Skenes leading the charge, things may actually get worse in the future.
