Time for the city to play hardball
Posted: Sun Dec 11, 2022 11:32 pm
7A76772C252C24292E312B1C0 wrote: I hold an unpopular opinion.
Somebody else is always 'the person' who does things. The city, the state, the commissioner, some politician(s), "MLB" (whatever that means. It must mean the other 29 owners.)
I'm not sure that any of them can force BOB or any other owner to do something different unless it's found that they're in violation of some law or contract.
Is there a law against being cheap?
Is there a law against focusing the core of your business plan on hiring less-experienced, thus lower-compensated talent?
I don't mean to be "smart," but that's what the BOB Issue tends to get down to.
We might not like it, but franchise values continue to increase regardless of whether stands are full or empty. That's just the way things are.
I say, let the market dictate. Fan boycotts have failed more than once in The Burgh.
BOB has an incentive to offer a better team. The higher the attendance, the higher the team's profits. It's in his best interest to field a competitive roster.
No owner wants to see empty seats. No owner wants to see lower Nielsen ratings or Google clicks.
I'm not really sure what can be done to "force" BOB to make significant changes. The players union has unsuccessfully challenged the Pirates and other teams. The owners have accepted what the Pirates submit to them.
Wish I had an answer, but I don't.
Seems to me that it comes down to individual choices. Go to games, tune in, click if you like. Or, not if you don't.
If the day ever comes that he makes less money than he wants, that will be the time that he changes his current ways. Until then, we hope for the best like fans of all the other teams.
What you propose is just accepting the status quo.
I have to believe by playing the PNC lease card it can put pressure on Nutting. Proving intent is important in litigation.
There is no doubt that by paying for PNC Park with taxpayer dollars it was with the “intent” that the Pirates would remain in Pittsburgh and that it would allow the franchise to be competitive and be able to keep their star players. This has not happened. Furthermore it is evident that Nutting has not only failed to meet an average payroll but he has never kept a home grown star player or even attempted to acquire star level free agents. He continues to reap additional profits by getting “welfare” payments from MLB and the major market luxury tax teams.
You are so right the intent to build a new ballpark was to make the team more competitive, and to be able to retain their star players. Those early years the Pirates extended Kendall and Giles, and contracts were signed in later years by Cutch, Marte and Polanco. Yes, they signed Hayes this past April, but it appears that no extensions are on the horizon. Nutting has avoided speaking to the local media about the State of the Team for almost two years, that is not right. With him being silent it gives me the impression his next move is to approach another city, about moving the franchise.
Fortunately Nutting cannot move the franchise until 2031 as the lease has specific language to prohibit him from doing that
Somebody else is always 'the person' who does things. The city, the state, the commissioner, some politician(s), "MLB" (whatever that means. It must mean the other 29 owners.)
I'm not sure that any of them can force BOB or any other owner to do something different unless it's found that they're in violation of some law or contract.
Is there a law against being cheap?
Is there a law against focusing the core of your business plan on hiring less-experienced, thus lower-compensated talent?
I don't mean to be "smart," but that's what the BOB Issue tends to get down to.
We might not like it, but franchise values continue to increase regardless of whether stands are full or empty. That's just the way things are.
I say, let the market dictate. Fan boycotts have failed more than once in The Burgh.
BOB has an incentive to offer a better team. The higher the attendance, the higher the team's profits. It's in his best interest to field a competitive roster.
No owner wants to see empty seats. No owner wants to see lower Nielsen ratings or Google clicks.
I'm not really sure what can be done to "force" BOB to make significant changes. The players union has unsuccessfully challenged the Pirates and other teams. The owners have accepted what the Pirates submit to them.
Wish I had an answer, but I don't.
Seems to me that it comes down to individual choices. Go to games, tune in, click if you like. Or, not if you don't.
If the day ever comes that he makes less money than he wants, that will be the time that he changes his current ways. Until then, we hope for the best like fans of all the other teams.
What you propose is just accepting the status quo.
I have to believe by playing the PNC lease card it can put pressure on Nutting. Proving intent is important in litigation.
There is no doubt that by paying for PNC Park with taxpayer dollars it was with the “intent” that the Pirates would remain in Pittsburgh and that it would allow the franchise to be competitive and be able to keep their star players. This has not happened. Furthermore it is evident that Nutting has not only failed to meet an average payroll but he has never kept a home grown star player or even attempted to acquire star level free agents. He continues to reap additional profits by getting “welfare” payments from MLB and the major market luxury tax teams.
You are so right the intent to build a new ballpark was to make the team more competitive, and to be able to retain their star players. Those early years the Pirates extended Kendall and Giles, and contracts were signed in later years by Cutch, Marte and Polanco. Yes, they signed Hayes this past April, but it appears that no extensions are on the horizon. Nutting has avoided speaking to the local media about the State of the Team for almost two years, that is not right. With him being silent it gives me the impression his next move is to approach another city, about moving the franchise.
Fortunately Nutting cannot move the franchise until 2031 as the lease has specific language to prohibit him from doing that