OnlyBucs

This was a realistic possibility, looking back at the team over the past couple years:



This team was scheduled to build around a great outfield and great pitching. Imagine this team if Marte was hitting 25 home runs, Polanco 35, Meadows 30, Bell 35, kang 30 and Glasnow was contending For CY? It was not a crazy fantasy. There was reason to believe in Marte and Polanco, for a while. Instead Marte and Polanco prod along. Jung Ho may be out of baseball and Meadows and Glasnow have the potential to be stars in another organization.



This isn’t just about a couple players falling far short of potential (Marte, Polanco and Kang), this is also about the Pirates losing every critical trade. There was reason to question Marte especially. Polanco as well. The decision to build around those two and then move Meadows and Glasnow can’t be overstated.



Maybe the dream outfield of Meadows, Marte and Polanco was only destined to be a dream. If so, the brain-trust that runs this organization needs to be the first to realize this and act while value is still very high. If Marte and Polanco had been moved at the right time, the Pirates could be a championship team right now.



We bet on the wrong horses, and in doing so we’re basically part of “the field” for betting purposes. It’s a real long shot for a field horse to beat a championship caliber horse. We had a couple chances to be championship caliber.

The Pirates will never be swimming in revenue and Nutting will spend as little as possible. That's why the Pirates require a very shrewd front office and manager. But not only are they not shrewd, they are not even adequate. And to make matters worse, they seem to think they are smarter than everyone else. So they just keep making the wrong moves and not questioning their methods.

103D30212637206063520 wrote: The Pirates will never be swimming in revenue and Nutting will spend as little as possible. That's why the Pirates require a very shrewd front office and manager. But not only are they not shrewd, they are not even adequate.  And to make matters worse, they seem to think they are smarter than everyone else. So they just keep making the wrong moves and not questioning their methods.


and Nutting shows he doesn't really care by giving NH and Clint 4 year extensions.



In addition he doesn't go back and say, hey you told me in the off season before 2016 we would continue to be a top team. What happened and why?

597F7E697F6F1C0 wrote: The Pirates will never be swimming in revenue and Nutting will spend as little as possible. That's why the Pirates require a very shrewd front office and manager. But not only are they not shrewd, they are not even adequate.  And to make matters worse, they seem to think they are smarter than everyone else. So they just keep making the wrong moves and not questioning their methods.


and Nutting shows he doesn't really care by giving NH and Clint 4 year extensions.



In addition he doesn't go back and say, hey you told me in the off season before 2016 we would continue to be a top team.  What happened and why?
It starts at the top and Nutting knows he's not going to spend enough to give the team a realistic chance. No one expects him to be a big spender. But it shouldn't be too much to ask to approach average MLB payrolls instead of always being well below the average and close to the bottom. The goal seems to be to do just enough to keep the fans semi-interested. They saw in 2015 that a good team generated record attendance. But despite that, the team went in another direction, cut costs and experienced the anticipated decrease in attendance. That seems to be an acceptable loss since they also get money from TV, merchandising and welfare luxury tax payments. Nutting knows better than anyone that a new GM and mgr won't make much difference because they'll never have the resources they need. So NH and CH were good enough for Nutting's purposes and they got the 4 year extensions. Besides, if he did replace them and the team did little better because of Nutting's continued refusal to pay for talent, the fans would blame only him. As it is, NH and CH get plenty of the blame, deflecting some of it from Nutting.

I am on a Pirate facebook group where one member (who appears to have left) used to constantly post about what a great owner Nutting is.



He did get a few others to chime in.



Anyone who criticized the team were called haters.



At times it has been like a political page where there are two camps looking at the same thing and seeing something different. Its like someone devised a divide and conquer strategy and implemented it to perfection.

705657405646350 wrote: I am on a Pirate facebook group where one member (who appears to have left) used to constantly post about what a great owner Nutting is.



He did get a few others to chime in.



Anyone who criticized the team were called haters. 



At times it has been like a political page where there are two camps looking at the same thing and seeing something different.  Its like someone devised a divide and conquer strategy and implemented it to perfection.
Last year I was booted off a Pirate facebook group for criticizing Hurdle.

664B46575041561615240 wrote: I am on a Pirate facebook group where one member (who appears to have left) used to constantly post about what a great owner Nutting is.



He did get a few others to chime in.



Anyone who criticized the team were called haters. 



At times it has been like a political page where there are two camps looking at the same thing and seeing something different.  Its like someone devised a divide and conquer strategy and implemented it to perfection.
Last year I was booted off a Pirate facebook group for criticizing Hurdle.




I would bet this is the same one.

The thing is, as cheap and greedy the owner is, this organization was “THIS CLOSE” to fielding an exceptional team. Had the FO handled the parts correctly, this could be a great team despite the general disappointment of some of the key players. Neal and Co had to be good at their evaluation and negotiation. They failed in this. Held some players too long, others not long enough.



Looking back, it’s pretty tough to think about what could have been if a few more high end prospect had developed as expected OR if the FO was better at picking horses...

5750464E4057101C654248444C490B464A48250 wrote: The thing is, as cheap and greedy the owner is, this organization was “THIS CLOSE” to fielding an exceptional team.  Had the FO handled the parts correctly, this could be a great team despite the general disappointment of some of the key players.  Neal and Co had to be good at their evaluation and  negotiation.  They failed in this.  Held some players too long, others not long enough.



Looking back, it’s pretty tough to think about what could have been if a few more high end prospect had developed as expected OR if the FO was better at picking horses...






you are right but I'm not sure this group can do it again, there was more pressure to break the streak and with Cutch's breakout they had a star. Right now the team has no real stars (anybody that is in top 30 or 40 players in the game). In some ways the Archer and Kela trades were bold moves but not being willing any more just means spinning wheels. Its not there yet but the Cole deal could be heading in the direction of the Jason Bay deal of quantity over quality.

If Bell keeps hitting this year he might well fall into that "star" category.