Nutting "Absolutely Not" Selling Pirates Despite Fan Criticism

Nutting Committed To  Pirates For Long Term

Pirates Owner Bob Nutting Saturday said he is "absolutely not" planning on selling the team despite recent fan and media criticism of the team's moves, according to Dejan Kovacevic of the PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE. Nutting: "My family plans to own this franchise on a multi-generational level, and I look forward to my daughters being involved someday, as well. We believe in what we're doing here, and we plan to see it through and win. We look forward to doing that for many, many years to come." Nutting last month said that he "would back any move general manager Neal Huntington made to improve the baseball team, even if it were trading Jack Wilson and/or Freddy Sanchez, even [if] it meant most of the public backlash would be aimed at him." The Pirates last week traded Wilson to the Mariners and Sanchez to the Giants, and Nutting said of the response to the trades, "This was something we could see coming because Jack and Freddy, obviously, were popular players. But we believe we're doing the right thing, and I'm standing behind our people working hard to improve the team." Nutting added, "If you look at all the talent we've brought here, what's already in Pittsburgh and what's coming, you can see that we've made tremendous strides. We're very much looking forward to watching this group grow together" (PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE, 8/2). In Pittsburgh, Bob Smizik reports some fans are "circulating petitions calling for Nutting to be removed as owner," and others are "demanding he open the books to the public so one and all can see how he is lining his pockets with Pirates profits." But the Pirates are "his team," and "if he wants to take the profit, he can." Nutting "never has seemed to be particularly concerned with his public image." Smizik: "But he would be wise to make some sort of public announcement about profits" (POST-GAZETTE.com, 8/3).

GROWING DISSATISFACTION: The POST-GAZETTE's Kovacevic noted there were "marginal signs of dissatisfaction with the recent trades inside PNC Park" during Friday's game against the Nationals. The "most vocal was a loud ovation" for Nationals LF Nyjer Morgan, whom the Pirates traded in June, the "loudest for any player on either side." The "only noteworthy banner was the familiar 'Freddy's Freaks' sign in the right-field corner, hung upside down by the patrons out there." Pirates manager John Russell: "I know the fans who see and understand what's going on, they're excited about our future. Unfortunately, there are going to be fans who are very frustrated. That's understandable. They'll see what's going on" (PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE, 8/1).

LESS THAN EXPECTED: Pirates President Frank Coonelly yesterday produced figures calculated by MLB Commissioner Bud Selig's office that "show the amount the Pirates will spend on payroll for 2009 will be $47.7[M], roughly $7.3[M] lower than the $55[M] that had been projected on opening day." But the savings are "far less of a decrease than most likely envisioned." Coonelly: "The savings are not nearly as large as some believe" (PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE, 8/3).

SOMETHING NEEDS TO HAPPEN: FANHOUSE.com's Jay Mariotti wrote the Pirates "aren't operating a major-league franchise in western Pennsylvania." Mariotti: "They're running the Quittsburgh Pirates, a perpetual surrender shop, a feeder system for legit teams, a bush-league train wreck in a waterfront ballpark much too beautiful for such a vicious, endless cycle of consumer fraud." Selig "owes it to the people of Pittsburgh -- and the competitive integrity of his sport -- to investigate the Pirates and force the sale of the club if necessary" (FANHOUSE.com, 8/2). Baseball writer Murray Chass wrote, "Every few years a new regime comes in to operate the Pirates, proclaiming how it will do a different and better job, and every time it does the same old dreadful job." Chass: "For Pirates fans, it’s bad enough that the Pirates can’t mount a winning season, but the club’s hierarchy won’t even give the fans a consistent set of players to relate to and root for" (MURRAYCHASS.com, 8/2).