Where the heck have the Pirates been during labor negotiations?

Whether you like it or not, the concept that baseball could be dead within a week or two is drawing nearer with each passing day. Little to no progress has been made regarding the structure of a new collective bargaining agreement and franchise owners are solely to blame for the lack of traction.

Clearly, there is no incentive to get the ball rolling – no pun intended – even though there have been club owners in attendance at these bargaining meetings. On Thursday, we saw Hal Steinbrenner from the New York Yankees attend. Earlier this month, Dick Monfort of the Colorado Rockies attended, along with others scattered throughout the past weeks.

But have you ever noticed that one name, or team for that matter, hasn’t appeared at any of these meetings, let alone commented on anything?

That person/team: Bob Nutting and the Pittsburgh Pirates.

This was brought up in a tweet by Pittsburgh sports figure Dejan Kovacevic (DK Pittsburgh Sports), citing that “anyone associated with the Pittsburgh franchise” has not shown their face during the negotiation process. As a fan and follower of the Pirates, this is absolutely pathetic.

For a team that’s in the midst of a rebuild with a very promising future, and considering he gave up his ski resort business in the winter – yes, I brought that up again – you’d think Nutting would actually attempt to take this seriously, considering he’s already on thin ice with fans due to years of underachieving.

This is a time where he could fight to HELP his organization, help to fight for those prospects he’s racking up, or to at least try to get the fans’ respect back, but no. The Pirates have had their heads in the sand this entire time.

Now, I’m not saying the organization as a whole is to blame, because you’re only as strong as your leader, but there should’ve been a point where someone got Nutting into the mix of negotiations.

If this is him intentionally not doing anything, then he needs to step down, pocket his earnings and let someone take over who will do the job correctly and focus on improving the game, rather than making a buck.

It would be different if he actually attended a negotiation meeting or two, simply because it would give off a slight feeling that he doesn’t want to lose a season, but unfortunately, that’s not the case.

Either sell the team or fight for it. Your choice, Bob.