Ah, hell, here we go
by bucdaddy on Jan 31, 2010 10:14 AM EST
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The season just went into the toilet before it started
Dejan writes in today's PG:
"For the Pirates, the internal focus will remain on preparing for the season that opens April 5. But, should this ownership story play out further -- and even if it does not -- it could make for quite the distraction." So expect batting averages to plummet and ERAs to soar while our players spend more time in little clubhouse klatches, bitching and fretting and worrying about who signs their massive paychecks, and less time in the batting cage and the practice mound, trying to win and keep a major-league job. Yes, this will be a huge distraction -- as long as media types keep pounding them and hounding them with questions about a possible ownership change. They'll lose focus, they'll lose concentration, they'll want to shove media types into lockers and shut the doors. And if that isn't bad enough, they'll be out there at the plate or on the mound, not thinking about whether to throw or swing at a curve or fastball or change but about how much harder they could throw or how much farther they could hit a ball if only Ron Burkle were signing the checks. I see another 17 years of darkness settling over the franchise, friends. "Abandon all hope, ye who enter here." All because somebody made an offer to buy the team and was ignored.* * Please note that it doesn't matter whether the story plays out further, or not! Conveniently for the sportswriter, he can beat this story to death and write about "distractions" either way. And it doesn't matter how the team performs either. If the team goes 30-130, blame it on the "distractions." If the team goes 130-30, Wow! Look how they overcame all the "distractions"! *sigh* It was gonna be a long season anyway ...This is a FanPost and does not necessarily reflect the views of the managing editor (Charlie) or SB Nation. FanPosts are written by Bucs Dugout readers.
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I dont think the players will care too much, but equally, I don’t think the story will die. The fans will love the idea of Lemieux taking over the team, and every losing streak of 2 or greater will be greeted with the same question. This would be very different from Cuban trying to buy the team- Lemieux is the man in Pittsburgh (with good reason, as far as hockey is concerned), and he would become the hypothetical baseball savior too!
I remember
I was at a game a few years back, and all the guy in front of me kept telling people was “Mark Cuban will buy the team, spend money, and win championships, just like he does with the Dallas Mavericks.”
At first, I ignored him, but I couldn’t resist calling him an idiot after a few innings, just because:
-Cuban has almost no real interest in buying the Pirates
-Spending money on a team full of joes isn’t the best way to fix them
-THE MAVERICKS HAVEN’T WON A CHAMPIONSHIP!
But now Mario enters the picture. He has won championships as a player and an owner. He spends decent money on the Pens, and so when the Pirates need that “ace” to put them over the top, he might buy it for us, and he actually has interest in buying the team.
The only argument I have against Lemieux buying the team is strictly in my opinion only. I believe Nutting has put together a solid foundation to build a team, he has invested in the draft and amateur talent, and he has put the team on the right track to winning. I don’t want Lemieux to take all the credit for the turnaround because he really just needs to keep this thing in autopilot. For as great of a guy he is, do we really want Lemieux to be credited with “saving” 2 different teams? The man is a God to the city already, buying the Pirates now could turn him into a mythical legend.
Nutting has put together a solid foundation to build a team, he has invested in the draft and amateur talent, and he has put the team on the right track to winning.
For that reason, he won’t sell. Honestly, for all I know, Nutting might have been responsible or indifferent to the team’s result while a profit was made – who knows how much clout he had while on the board?!
But, at this point, he has things on the right track, thanks to a good FO, unlike the last horrendous one. And we really don’t know what Mario-Burkle would do. I won’t deny that money could have a quicker impact, and that they could do better things than Nutting, but It’s not a given, and (at this point) I don’t see anything that makes me feel that change is needed right now.
by BurgherKing on Jan 31, 2010 12:24 PM EST up reply actions
Right
If you had bought into a plan that included tearing the down the team, knowing there’d be difficult times, and taken all the inevitable abuse and then some, would you sell just when it was reaching the stage where you expected it to start turning around? That would really prove he doesn’t care about winning.
mavericks
I think you want to steer away from the Mav’s discussion. Cuban changed the whole organization, top to bottom and made it a destination franchise. Cuban has revolutionized the way franchises operate – from facilities upgrades to air travel. And while they haven’t won championships, they have played championship caliber basketball.
Nutting has in theory changed the direction of the organization, but he has to make a quantum leap before he shows similar organizational success as Cuban.
Revolutionized the way franchises operate?
I wouldn’t go that far. Bear in mind, his partners with the Mavericks are currently suing him.
H2O, I’m with you, man. I can’t put that kind of scenario on a guy like Cuban who hasn’t done it in reality. At least Mario has won a championship as an owner. Cuban hasn’t done that yet. He doesn’t belong in this conversation.
Bob Nutting did the smartest thing this organization has done in over a decade when he went and got Frank Coonelly as President, who then got Neal Huntington as GM. He let men familiar with Major League Baseball and familiar with how successful baseball franchises operate run the team. That’s exactly what this team needs, not an exorbitant payroll.
Competent management and well-developed talent wins. Ask the ‘02 Angels and ’03 Marlins. Both teams did it spending less than $65M, with young players like Josh Beckett, Dontrelle Willis, Miguel Cabrera, Francisco Rodriguez and John Lackey, way before they became household names with eight-figure contracts. There’s no reason to think that names like Pedro Alvarez and Tony Sanchez can’t be in that same group as long as the job is done right.
If that definition is carried out with Bob Nutting, fine. If it’s carried out with Mario-Burkle, fine. I don’t care who signs the checks. Just leave the baseball operations decisions to FC and NH.
"Straight ball I hit very much, but curveball, bats are afraid." - Pedro Cerrano
Saying Cuban has revolutionized how franchises operate is over-stating what he has done. But also, saying he shouldn’t own the Pirates because he hasn’t won a championship with the Mavs is also way overboard.
This is all a theoretical discussion, because I can’t see Nutting selling the team any time soon. Why would he?
Still…
First, I believe Cuban has, in fact, inquired about the Pirates, and I don’t doubt he would love to own them if possible. Cuban definitely wants an MLB team. He tried to buy the Cubs, he has mentioned the Dodgers, and he is a Pirates fan.
Second, I have no doubt Cuban would be an excellent owner for the Pirates. He is a very smart guy and has figured out quite a few businesses and been very successful at them. The guy beat the SEC on an insider trading lawsuit, for cryin’ out loud. Practically nobody does that.
Third, there’s no way he would come in and spend his own money on payroll. Didn’t do it with the Mavs, and he wouldn’t do it with the Pirates. Plus, one of his regrets with the Mavs is that he wasted money on some free agents that didn’t make a difference. So, he’s learned his lesson there already. He already understands the benefit of building through the draft and concentrating on the little things. He listens to smart basketball people and he’d do the same with the Pirates. He probably would keep the current management team in place. He did that when he purchased the Mavs, but just got them the tools and things they needed to succeed.
Also, remember that the Mavs were the absolute laughing stock of the league when he took over. They had drafted Dirk already, so that was something he had. But there’s no doubt the change in culture that he brought to the team was real and he created an atmosphere that made the players proud to be there. So, I almost feel he is more qualified than Mario or at least equally qualified, because the situation he took over in Dallas was at least as bad as the Pirates were before Coonelly was hired.
After all that, I think Nutting is doing a fine job and I’m looking forward to him being the one to turn things around, if for no other reason than I want to see Smizik’s head explode.
Look at it from Nutting perspective (and Huntington and Coonelly). The Pirates are a prime takeover candidate. They are 3rd from the bottom in attendance and have all kinds of opportunity to grow.
Just like NH likes to build value in a player before he trades them, BN wants to sell high, not low.
Very simple strategy. Unless someone wants to overpay greatly, why would he want to sell until the worth of the franchise is maximized?
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