Pirates GM To Meet With Players About Recent Transactions

Huntington Believe Strongly In Direction Of Pirates Following Recent Trades

Pirates GM Neal Huntington and manager John Russell will meet with players Friday afternoon after the MLB trade deadline goes by, but the audience “will be loaded with skepticism, based on remarks made in public and private by players disillusioned” by the club's recent transactions, according to Dejan Kovacevic of the PITTSBRUGH POST-GAZETTE. Huntington does not intend to "take a prepared speech into the room.” Huntington: “I’m going to let the emotions take over. I believe so strongly about where we’re going.” The team Thursday dealt Ps John Grabow and Tom Gorzelanny to the Cubs for P Kevin Hart and two prospects, the latest move by a team that has also traded SS Jack Wilson, 2B Freddy Sanchez, OFs Nate McLouth and Nyjer Morgan and Ps Ian Snell and Sean Burnett, among others, in the past two months. When asked if the deal with the Cubs will be the last before Friday’s deadline, Huntington said, “We sit in front of you wanting it to be this one. We’re working very hard to stop the cycle of losing and, with that, the cycle of trading.” The Pirates as of Thursday night “were not engaged in any trade talks that they expected to reach fruition” (PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE, 7/31). In Pittsburgh, Rob Biertempfel notes the “mood in the clubhouse again was sour” after the Pirates Wednesday traded Wilson to the Mariners and Sanchez to the Giants (Pittsburgh TRIBUNE-REVIEW, 7/31). Meanwhile, Burnett returns to Pittsburgh this weekend as a member of the Nationals, and he said of the Pirates, “They’re the laughingstock of baseball right now. They’ve gotten rid of everybody. They won’t keep anybody around. Some of the guys here, they don’t understand it, but Nyjer and I knew this was coming.” Burnett added of Pirates fans, “What the Steelers and Penguins have done, they’re dying for a winner in baseball, too. They’re dying to cheer the Pirates on. And now, they don’t have anybody they even know” (PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE, 7/31).

MANAGEMENT DEFENDS MOVES: Pirates President Frank Coonelly said of the roster moves the organization has made recently, “It’s tough for the fans, and we understand why. It’s tough to see players who were popular and did good things go.” Connelly: “The reaction of some is negative. But I think most of the fans understand what we’re doing" (SI.com, 7/30). ESPN's Tony Kornheiser said, "The Pittsburgh Pirates' organization from management down is a disgrace. … Pittsburgh deserves better than this" ("PTI," ESPN, 7/30). L.A. Times columnist Bill Plaschke said, "Baseball's model is broken here so don't say Pittsburgh is too small to win." Plaschke: "The problem is they have an owner … who apparently doesn't want to spend any money." FanHouse.com's Kevin Blackistone added, "For a team to have a $31(M) payroll … is absolutely ridiculous. This is why there is relegation in the Premiereship because there's got to be some incentive for you to win" ("Around The Horn," ESPN, 7/30).

RUNNING OUT OF PATIENCE: A PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE editorial states the “loyal public who built and opened" PNC Park eight years ago are "still getting hit in the face with the Pirates’ revolving-door style of team building.” It “seems clear that around June 2008, the ownership had two choices on how to rebuild this team: spend money to buy impact players to fill in the gaps around it with proven stars or trade away its players of value for inexpensive prospects who, on a hope and a prayer, might peak together around 2011 as a competitive force.” The team’s payroll has dropped from $50M on opening day to $31M, and the editorial states, “Sure, these owners want to win, but they want to win on the cheap” (PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE, 7/31).

Pirates Fans Still Going To PNC Park Despite Team's Lack Of On-Field Success

FAN FRUSTRATION: In Pittsburgh, Tricia Lafferty notes during the noon lunch hour Thursday, there was a “steady line that was at least four-deep” at the ticket office outside of PNC Park. However, it was “not so much the product on the field that is drawing these ticket-buyers” to the ballpark. Saturday’s game against the Nationals features a postgame concert by country artist Jo Dee Messina, and fan Paul Kolich said, “If it wasn’t for the concert … my kids haven’t wanted to go in a couple years” (Pittsburgh TRIBUEN-REVIEW, 7/31). ESPN Radio 1250 Pittsburgh’s Joe DeSito said of the reaction of Pirates fans to the recent trades, “I think 'frustrated' probably is maybe the best word to use because they’ve seen this kind of makeover happen time and time again.” DeSito: “Fans still go. They’ll get 15,000-20,000 a night because it’s a nice night. If they ever put a winning team on the field, that place … (is) going to be sold out” (“ESPN First Take,” ESPN2, 7/30). 

TRADE DEMANDS: In Toronto, Richard Griffin reports Blue Jays Owner Rogers Communications was “taken aback by the vociferously negative fan reaction surrounding any thought” of trading P Roy Halladay. Rogers did not understand the "affection and respect he engendered,” and once they “realized the financial impact a Halladay trade might have on attendance, TV ratings and brand loyalty, the belief here is that GM J.P. Ricciardi was advised to slow down, maybe just listen to offers, make his compensation demands insanely one-sided and only then would a deal be approved.” The Blue Jays’ bottom-line is “annually in the red,” and it made “little business sense to save $2[M] in Halladay salary and lose the goodwill of their fan base” (TORONTO STAR, 7/31).

WRONG DIRECTION: In Milwaukee, Michael Hunt notes there are a "lot of irritated baseball fans in Cleveland” following the trade of P Cliff Lee to the Phillies on Wednesday. The move comes a year after the team traded P CC Sabathia to the Brewers, and while the Indians “might rise again with all the prospects they have gathered” in those moves, but the “only thing that’s presently certain is they’re struggling in ways no franchise can afford right now.” Hunt: "Time was, you couldn’t get an Indians ticket. Now, they’re next to last in AL home attendance with their white-flag stance” (MILWAUKEE JOURNAL SENTINEL, 7/31).