OnlyBucs

Can you think of anything more painful than watching Billy Hamilton work a walk against a Pirate pitcher?

And the Billy Hamilton deal is final! It's a wonderful day in baseball.

If I were Billy, I would have demanded my agent work a deal in the division. Without the Bucs as a regular opponent, his (already low) batting average will probably drop twenty points and you can lop off twenty stolen bases a season.



Bye Billy!

First off I want to say that I have supported NH during his tenure with the Pirates. I just have to wonder what constitutes a normal day for him. He probably opens his laptop, and sees all these remaining free agents on the market. He reads that the Reds are on the verge of acquiring Sonny Gray. Other teams in his division have made upgrades to their roster. Bob and Frank are meeting in Bob’s PNC Park Office and discussing budget constraints. Neal would like for them to allocate him some additional payroll to add another pitcher and a shortstop, but they tell him to wait a few weeks longer because salary demands will decrease, but Neal knows the players he would like to approach for contracts will probably be off the board at that time. As he is prepared to leave the office at the end of the day the small market Twins, and Rays each sign a free agent at a below market rate, and he wonders whether he should have accepted the Giants GM position.

7F7372292029212C2B342E190 wrote: First off I want to say that I have supported NH during his tenure with the Pirates. I just have to wonder what constitutes a normal day for him. He probably opens his laptop, and sees all these remaining free agents on the market. He reads that the Reds are on the verge of acquiring Sonny Gray. Other teams in his division have made upgrades to their roster. Bob and Frank are meeting in  Bob’s  PNC  Park Office and discussing budget constraints. Neal would like for them to allocate him some additional payroll to add another pitcher and a shortstop, but they tell him to wait a few weeks longer because salary demands will decrease, but Neal knows the players he would like to approach for contracts will probably be off the board at that time. As he is prepared to leave the office at the end of the day the small market Twins, and Rays each sign a free agent at a below market rate, and he wonders whether he should have accepted the Giants GM position.
It has to be frustrating for NH. But I think he has something no other GM has---job security. There are only 30 such jobs and 29 of them are expected to produce or are liable to be fired. NH's hands are tied by BN and success is not expected. If he left the Pirates and failed to build a winner anywhere else, he might lose his job and there's no guarantee he would ever be a GM again. But as long as he can be in the neighborhood of .500, BN is pleased. So pleased in fact that NH received a 4 year extension after a 98 win team deteriorated into a sub .500 team the next 2 years. The bar is very low with the Pirates.

694449585F4E59191A2B0 wrote: First off I want to say that I have supported NH during his tenure with the Pirates. I just have to wonder what constitutes a normal day for him. He probably opens his laptop, and sees all these remaining free agents on the market. He reads that the Reds are on the verge of acquiring Sonny Gray. Other teams in his division have made upgrades to their roster. Bob and Frank are meeting in  Bob’s  PNC  Park Office and discussing budget constraints. Neal would like for them to allocate him some additional payroll to add another pitcher and a shortstop, but they tell him to wait a few weeks longer because salary demands will decrease, but Neal knows the players he would like to approach for contracts will probably be off the board at that time. As he is prepared to leave the office at the end of the day the small market Twins, and Rays each sign a free agent at a below market rate, and he wonders whether he should have accepted the Giants GM position.
It has to be frustrating for NH. But I think he has something no other GM has---job security. There are only 30 such jobs and 29 of them are expected to produce or are liable to be fired. NH's hands are tied by BN and success is not expected. If he left the Pirates and failed to build a winner anywhere else, he might lose his job and there's no guarantee he would ever be a GM again. But as long as he can be in the neighborhood of .500, BN is pleased. So pleased in fact that NH received a 4 year extension after a 98 win team deteriorated into a sub .500 team the next 2 years. The bar is very low with the Pirates.




yeah, Neal may have been frustrated a couple years ago but I think he is perfectly satisfied now. If the team does great he looks like a miracle worker. If they are mediocre it is what everybody expected.

Asdrubal to the Mariners for 3.5MM. Man I would have done that.