OnlyBucs

797C7B7D757F667B7261676A130 wrote: I am pleased that Freese spoke his mind about the entire organization. I have to wonder though if after hearing him speak out about the organization if there are any free agents who would agree to sign a contract with the Bucs at this time. I am sure they now have to overpay to get one to join the team.


This is a very good point.


The way the FA market is playing out, I think there are some who would take a 1 year deal even with a noncompetitive team and then test the market again next year.

765B56474051460605340 wrote: I am pleased that Freese spoke his mind about the entire organization. I have to wonder though if after hearing him speak out about the organization if there are any free agents who would agree to sign a contract with the Bucs at this time. I am sure they now have to overpay to get one to join the team.


This is a very good point.


The way the FA market is playing out, I think there are some who would take a 1 year deal even with a noncompetitive team and then test the market again next year.




Bobster makes sense. To make money they need to perform on the field. Maybe they get dealt during the season (which takes qualifying offer away and perhaps more marketable next offseason).

man speaks the truth, nothing wrong with that, he is saying what most of us are thinking. tired of the BS the front office spews out regularly. if they win this year it would be a fluke, not likely with the strength of the division. there selling us a pipe dream assuming we are dumb enough to fall for it.

I love that Cole, in backing up Freese, said that the players didn't hear the word "WIN" alot.



Love that shot at the FO.   !    



"Competitive" is nothing but a weasel word.  You will never lead men well by weaseling.  the objective is to WIN.   The game, the division, the pennant, the WS.



"What is your goal this year?"

"We're doing everything in our power to be competitive" - NH



Or how about the term "bridge year" after a 98 win season ::)

Harrison backs up Freese.



Some highlights:



Regarding a conversation he had with general manager Neal Huntington, Harrison said: “At the end of the day there wasn’t anything said or done that was like, aw man, I can breathe easy. He talked to me, said he wants to win and this or that. At the end of the day I said it’s about action, not speaking.”



Harrison also knocked the Pirates for a lack of transparency – “Some of it goes with not knowing the direction. I understand the business side. Every year, there’s going to be guys coming in and going out. You just want to know where we stand as a team, where you stand as a player” – and backed up teammate David Freese’s recent comments criticizing the Bucs for an absence of “accountability.”



“I don’t care how we do it, but things need to be done,” Harrison declared. “As Freese said the other day, it’s got to be urgent and not just from a couple guys, a couple people in the office. It has to be top to bottom. You talk about Freese, he’s a World Series MVP. The guy’s been there. He knows what it takes to win. I think it will go without saying that he and I, even some of the comments he mentioned, had been conversations we’ve had during the season. It’s been brought to light.”

092429383F2E39797A4B0 wrote: Harrison backs up Freese.



Some highlights:



Regarding a conversation he had with general manager Neal Huntington, Harrison said: “At the end of the day there wasn’t anything said or done that was like, aw man, I can breathe easy. He talked to me, said he wants to win and this or that. At the end of the day I said it’s about action, not speaking.”



Harrison also knocked the Pirates for a lack of transparency – “Some of it goes with not knowing the direction. I understand the business side. Every year, there’s going to be guys coming in and going out. You just want to know where we stand as a team, where you stand as a player” – and backed up teammate David Freese’s recent comments criticizing the Bucs for an absence of “accountability.”



“I don’t care how we do it, but things need to be done,” Harrison declared. “As Freese said the other day, it’s got to be urgent and not just from a couple guys, a couple people in the office. It has to be top to bottom. You talk about Freese, he’s a World Series MVP. The guy’s been there. He knows what it takes to win. I think it will go without saying that he and I, even some of the comments he mentioned, had been conversations we’ve had during the season. It’s been brought to light.” This is a total disaster so far for the Pirates these first few days of Spring Training. And to make it even worse Huntington came out again after these comments by JHay and said yet again “we understand where Josh and David are coming from but we made the moves we did to put us closer to winning a World Series.” Why is Huntington continuing to make these comments and quotes?? Just shut up for crying out loud and quit making an already bad situation even worse. I’m starting to be completely done with Huntington as well after listening to him continue to spew this crap these last few weeks. Huntington says a lot but he doesn’t do a lot. You got two of your veteran leaders in Harrison and Frrese coming out feeling comfortable ripping the organization before Spring Training even starts. The Pirates from where I sit have a huge huge issue on their hands already with this situation more then they will admit.

Interesting take on this situation from Tim Williams of Pirates Prospects. In his article today he summed up the situation by saying"



"The Pirates have a No-Man’s Land problem. They’ve become an organization with no set direction, just reacting to the market and allowing that to dictate their path. This wasn’t the case when they were winning. Not only is this a bad approach to take if you want to get back to winning, but it seems that it’s also a bad approach to take in regards to player morale, as it’s sending the wrong message to the players."



To me this sums up a lot of what we are trying to say here at OBN. Thanks Tim for the piece.



I also recommend that anyone who wants to keep up on the kids in the Pirates system Click Here

06213034312C13273031312C550 wrote: Harrison backs up Freese.



Some highlights:



Regarding a conversation he had with general manager Neal Huntington, Harrison said: “At the end of the day there wasn’t anything said or done that was like, aw man, I can breathe easy. He talked to me, said he wants to win and this or that. At the end of the day I said it’s about action, not speaking.”



Harrison also knocked the Pirates for a lack of transparency – “Some of it goes with not knowing the direction. I understand the business side. Every year, there’s going to be guys coming in and going out. You just want to know where we stand as a team, where you stand as a player” – and backed up teammate David Freese’s recent comments criticizing the Bucs for an absence of “accountability.”



“I don’t care how we do it, but things need to be done,” Harrison declared. “As Freese said the other day, it’s got to be urgent and not just from a couple guys, a couple people in the office. It has to be top to bottom. You talk about Freese, he’s a World Series MVP. The guy’s been there. He knows what it takes to win. I think it will go without saying that he and I, even some of the comments he mentioned, had been conversations we’ve had during the season. It’s been brought to light.” This is a total disaster so far for the Pirates these first few days of Spring Training. And to make it even worse Huntington came out again after these comments by JHay and said yet again “we understand where Josh and David are coming from but we made the moves we did to put us closer to winning a World Series.”  Why is Huntington continuing to make these comments and quotes?? Just shut up for crying out loud and quit making an already bad situation even worse. I’m starting to be completely done with Huntington as well after listening to him continue to spew this crap these last few weeks. Huntington says a lot but he doesn’t do a lot. You got two of your veteran leaders in Harrison and Frrese coming out feeling comfortable ripping the organization before Spring Training even starts. The Pirates from where I sit have a huge huge issue on their hands already with this situation more then they will admit.


What worries me even more than the idea that NH lying is the idea that maybe he's not lying but actually believes what he's saying. If so, he's not even grounded in reality. If he is lying, at last he know BS from reality. And for those who would say we shouldn't question him because he's the GM and we're not, I would point out that GMs get fired all the time for being bad at their jobs.