Peduto laments: Pirates aren’t required to field winner
Bill Peduto isn’t happy with his hometown baseball team.
The mayor of Pittsburgh also isn’t about to barge into the offices at 115 Federal St. and demand that the Pirates open their books or spend more money on players.
This offseason for the Pirates has already been an interesting one, complete with a managerial search, the firing of a couple of assistant coaches and Mr. Peduto fielding questions about whether the city can pressure Pirates owner Bob Nutting into selling the team.
The short answer on that last point: While he’s hardly happy with the state of the team, Mr. Peduto doesn’t believe there’s anything he or others in political power can do.
“When it comes down to what the spending is with the owner and with the Pirates, there is no direct authority that government has over how they spend the money,” Mr. Peduto told the
percentage of their budget strictly to payroll.
“I think we all understand that the lack of having a payroll has been the biggest detriment to being able to provide a good team. But I don’t have any legal authority to require them to do so.”
Mr. Peduto, who also took questions about the Pirates on Wednesday on the online discussion website Reddit, said the situation with the Pirates is no different than with any other local business. He said he doesn’t feel it’s his place to throw a fit in the cereal aisle of Giant Eagle because he doesn’t like the prices.
“Can I just decide to audit the operations of the Pittsburgh Pirates? No,” he said. “There’s limits of what we can or the SEA can audit based on that agreement. And the city of Pittsburgh can’t just go into Big Burrito or Giant Eagle and demand them to open up their books because I’m not happy with the way that they’re operating their businesses.
“In fact, you wouldn’t want any elected official to have that power. That power would be devastating to democracy. You could use it haphazardly to destroy businesses that you may not agree with, what their president believes or who they politically support.”
One argument some make for government intervention involves a part of the PNC Park lease agreement that discusses the openness of the Pirates’ financial records. Here’s that section, in full: “All financial records of the Team shall be open to the inspection and audit of the Authority and its representatives or agents during the Lease Term ... which inspection shall occur at the Team’s office, following reasonable notice. Authority shall have the right to review and examine all documents and materials in the possession of the Team relating to the financial statements submitted to the Authority ... including without limitation, any and all contracts entered by Team with third-party non-Affiliates, to determine if all expenditures and contract terms were reasonable, and to determine the accuracy of any statements, schedules or other information provided under the terms of this Lease.”
The key language there, Mr. Peduto said, is that it involves “third-party non-affiliates.”
“We can audit them,” Mr. Peduto said. “But we’re going to see how much Pepsi they sold.”
He continued, “Even though they’re playing in a stadium that we are the landlords of, we don’t then have a right to administer the team, which a lot of people would like to see, and I can understand that.”
That doesn’t mean the mayor is happy about what has happened to the Pirates. They haven’t made the postseason playoffs since 2015. The 2019 campaign was marked by a massive collapse after the All-Star break, players and coaches fighting, and the arrest of star relief pitcher Felipe Vazquez.
The Pirates’ payroll remains among the lowest in Major League Baseball, and Mr. Nutting has not spoken publicly aside from issuing a statement when manager Clint Hurdle was fired last month.
“Am I upset that we don’t have a team that competes? Hell yeah,” Mr. Peduto said. “I want to see the opportunity for playoffs again in my lifetime. I’d like to see it while I’m still mayor. I want to see a consistent competitor like the other teams in our division have been able to produce.”
Mr. Peduto said he realizes he’ll probably be criticized for adhering to the belief that there’s only so much elected officials can or should do. But he seems to be OK with that.
“That’s not the way that I do business,” he said. “I’ve been criticized for not doing it to UPMC or to the universities. I try to build relationships with any organization, even those that I disagree with. I expect that same type of treatment back.”
But Mr. Peduto realizes he has a platform. As such, he’s willing — to an extent — to voice his displeasure with the team and how the Pirates are perceived now.
“I have absolutely no idea how to run a Major League Baseball team, so I’m the last person who could give advice on where they need to go,” Mr. Peduto said. “However, I do have a very keen sense on the feel in the city and a pretty good sense on Western Pennsylvania. That doesn’t come from being mayor. That comes from working in communities for 25 years all throughout the western side of the state.
“My conversations — and I do meet with Nutting, and we do talk about things other than the agreements — are to coerce them into understanding the importance that having a winning baseball team has on this city. It is financial, and that’s part of the reason. But it’s much deeper. It’s part of the culture of who we are and how we identify ourselves.
“When the ownership of that team appears to a great number of people to be aloof about the plight of the team’s winning, then I do have a responsibility to speak for people and say that more has to be done and more has to be shown, and opening the books may not do much in changing that culture, but maybe it’s a way of showing that they are listening. If I can help get that message to them, I certainly will.”
The Pirates’ lease at PNC Park runs until Oct. 31, 2030. The team has the right to an option that would extend the lease five more years.
Under the agreement, the Pirates are responsible for operating and maintaining the North Shore ballpark, which is owned by the SEA. In exchange, the team gets to keep nearly all revenue from ticket sales, concessions, naming rights, advertising and non-baseball events.
The lease also includes clauses to prevent the team from relocating.