Manfred addresses league issue on payroll
Commissioner says Pirates can compete
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — Sunday’s Grapefruit League spring training media day reinforced that the emotions about payroll aren’t limited to the city of Pittsburgh and fans of the Pirates.
Commissioner Rob Manfred sternly addressed the grievance that the MLBPA filed last season against the Pirates, Oakland Athletics, Miami Marlins, and Tampa Bay Rays. The grievance alleged that that have failed to spend their revenue sharing money in compliance with the collective bargaining agreement.
“Tony Clark [MLBPA Director of Player Relations] started the assertation that teams aren’t trying to win by singling out four teams, Manfred said. “He did a very poor job with those teams. One won 97 games, another won 90, and the other was a game above 500, right Frank [Coonelly]? Two games above 500. Our teams are trying. They all want to win.”
“This narrative that our teams aren’t trying is just not supported by the facts. Our teams are trying. Every single one of them wants to win. It may look a little different to outsiders because the game has changed. The way people think about putting a winning team together has changed,” Manfred said. “But that doesn’t mean they’re not trying.”
That third team was the Pirates, the “Frank” being team president Frank Coonelly. According to Cot’s Contracts, the Pirates are expected to enter the year with a payroll near $71 million. If that is accurate, it will be 15 million dollars less
“I reject the notion that payroll is a good measure for how hard a team is trying or how successful that team is going to be.” — Rob Manfred MLB commissioner
than the Pirates payroll to end last season. Manfred doesn’t feel this will keep the Pirates from contending.
“I reject the notion that payroll is a good measure for how hard a team is trying or how successful that team is going to be,” Manfred said on Sunday.
Coonelly was in attendance along with Pirates general manager Neal Huntington and field manager Clint Hurdle. Coonelly shares Manfred’s sentiments on the Pirates being able to contend with their payroll.
“Our focus is never about a payroll number. We’re excited about the men we are putting on the field,” Coonelly told the Post-Gazette. “As I mentioned at PiratesFest, we have a very young roster. We needed to get younger after a couple of tough years. We needed to get younger, more dynamic and more athletic. We’ve done that.
“We have a young roster now, where eight of our core players will be eligible for arbitration next year. They’re not eligible this year. More than half of our likely 25-man roster is not yet eligible for arbitration and that explains our payroll. We don’t focus payroll number and the men that we’re putting on the field this year.”
One of the areas where fans wanted to see the team spend more money was replacing Jordy Mercer at shortstop. Coonelly, however, is confident in what the Pirates have in Erik Gonzalez and Kevin Newman.
“We feel really good about Gonzalez and Newman. I’m not sure who will win the starting role,” Coonelly said. “They each bring something to the table. The known is always less risky than the unknown. But, every established player in the big leagues was a player who had to establish themselves at some point.”
Newman struggled when called up to the big leagues in August. Coonelly believes that his track record shows more than the small sample size did last season.
“Kevin Newman has hit everywhere he has been, including last year when he hit over .300 at Triple-A and had a .757 OPS. He was the MVP for the Indianapolis Indians, was a midseason All-Star and a postseason All-Star at Triple-A, “Coonelly said. “Former first-round draft pick and a top-100 prospect. That is a good pedigree and long track record of success. I’m not going to allow the struggles he has in September last year to break down that track record. His track record makes me believe that he can be a very good shortstop for the Pittsburgh Pirates.”