Pirates owner Nutting defends spending patterns for team
think it comes out of a really good-hearted place that we all are in.
“We want to see this team perform up to the level that it can and up to the level that a historic franchise deserves. That message hasn’t changed and will never change as long as I’m in this seat.”
With Andrew McCutchen’s time in Pittsburgh potentially nearing an end — the right fielder has this season and an option year remaining, but the Pirates listened to offers this winter and might decide to trade him to recoup value before he reaches free agency — Nutting admitted it is difficult to separate sentimentality from a business model when discussing a franchise player.
“But I believe it is essential,” he said. “My responsibility and the organization’s responsibility is to be able to make those types of choices. If we have the appropriate goal set of making the team better, doing what’s right for Pittsburgh, doing what’s right for the Pirates, then it allows you to make some tough decisions that you know are the right thing to do.”
Early on, Nutting said, this management group did “any number of radically unpopular decisions that were, in my opinion, the right long-term calls but very painful in the short.” Jason Bay, Joel Hanrahan, Jack Wilson, Mark Melancon and even Neil Walker, however, are not McCutchen.
“If there were a way to keep him, clearly it would be wonderful to see him in a Pirates uniform,” Nutting said. “He loves Pittsburgh and [his wife] Maria loves Pittsburgh, and we love Andrew.”
The payroll for the Pirates active roster currently projects to be around $100 million. Nutting said it is too early to decide whether to continue spending or where, but there should be room to grow later on this season. The idea is to “always have the flexibility to be opportunistic,” he said.
When the Pirates dumped under-performing left-hander Francisco Liriano and two prospects in July, general manager Neal Huntington said the move created “financial flexibility” and fetched them a pitcher in right-hander Drew Hutchison who could eventually help in the majors. The move, especially parting with prospects so Toronto would eat salary, rankled many fans.
Under Huntington, the Pirates built a foundation on the notion that their best shot at winning the World Series — or multiple championships, for that matter — was to build a contender from within, through the international draft and a toptier prospect development model, and be a playoff team every year. Once in the postseason, they figure, it’s anyone’s game.
Would Pirates ownership be willing to go all-out one summer to fortify their roster? They’ve chased some opportunities to supplement the roster, Nutting said, but trades demand caution.
“We have not embraced, as many teams have, that you have to go in cycles and you have to double down and commit to five years of a bad team in a rebuilding cycle,” he said. “We believe that by continuing to infuse talent into the organization at every level we can, every way that we can, that we can create a sustained, competitive team.
“What you need to do is get into the playoffs, when everyone hits the reset button and goes forward. That is part of why it is so important that we’re able to have sustained success and not embrace the wild cycles that some teams have. We may be proven wrong at some point. That’s still our target and our goal.”