With about $50M "committed to payroll for this season -- that number will increase after the Pirates' deal with veteran pitcher A.J. Burnett is finalized -- and having spent more than any Major League Baseball team in each of the past three amateur drafts," Pirates Owner Bob Nutting is "optimistic about the direction in which his club is headed," according to Rob Rossi of the PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE-REVIEW. Nutting in a recent interview discussed his ownership philosophy, managing team ownership with other responsibilities, and fans' scrutiny. Below is an excerpt from the Q&A.
Q: What is your ownership philosophy?
Nutting: My role is, frankly, to take ultimate responsibility for the direction of the organization, the strategy, the outline -- but mostly set the expectation. It's absolutely important for everybody to understand that we can be a championship organization. I believe that. The guy at the top has to believe that and project it throughout the organization. My role is to provide [relentless] accountability. I'm most focused on the strategy and process to get us there.
Q: How does Bob Nutting fully concentrate on owning the Pirates when he also is owner of Seven Springs Mountain Resort and plays a significant role in a newspaper chain?
Nutting: I fundamentally believe you can't multitask. You have to attempt to be fully engaged in every process you're in. The key in all of those businesses is I'm still driven by a sense of core values: strategic focus on where the business needs to be in the longer term; a focus on making sure excellent people are empowered to make good decisions and that they never feel they are handicapped by a bureaucratic structure; and wrapping that around what the long-term strategic goal is, and making sure everyone understands we have a measuring stick.
Q: Has the fans' interest in you personally been a surprise?
Nutting: I don't think anything could have prepared me for the level of public interest or scrutiny of every decision. I think it's wonderful. It's challenging and difficult, personally, but it emphasizes the level of commitment and energy by Pittsburgh fans for the Pirates, in particular. They have very high expectations. I knew that conceptually. I'm not sure I had a sense of the emotional impact of the appropriate criticism I've had periodically (PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE-REVIEW, 2/19).
