Perrotto: When Will Bob Nutting Reach Breaking Point?
The Pittsburgh Pirates have a 5-11 record.
The Pirates score 3.1 runs a game and had just 10 hits over the weekend while getting swept in a three-game series against the Reds in Cincinnati.
The Pirates’ two-time All-Star closer, David Bednar, is pitching at Triple-A Indianapolis.
The Pirates’ home opener was highlighted – lowlighted? – by an airplane flying over PNC Park carrying a sign that implored owner Bob Nutting to sell the team.
The Pirates roiled their fans by removing a sign on the right-field wall at PNC Park honoring the legendary Roberto Clemente and replacing it with an ad for Surfside, an alcoholic beverage.
The Pirates played with the emotions of some of their most loyal fans by digging up the commemorative Bucco Bricks on the sidewalks outside PNC Park without warning and sending them to a recycling center.
This has all happened in the last three weeks. We’re only in the middle of April, and the Pirates’ 2025 season already feels interminable.
It’s one loss after another, many punctuated with mental lapses or physical errors. On top of that are the off-the-field crises that never seem to end.
That leads to the question of when Nutting will reach his breaking point. He can’t be happy with how his team is playing and is unhappier with the public relations beating the Pirates are taking on a near-daily basis.
Surely, Nutting must consider making changes before the season becomes a fiasco. Certainly, Nutting is embarrassed by everything around his franchise.
Or maybe not.
Sometimes, Nutting seems embarrassment-proof. His tenure as owner has been filled with bad baseball – except for the unforgettable but championship-less run from 2013-15 – and PR faux pas.
Yet Nutting never gets upset publicly about all the negativity surrounding the franchise. He consistently maintains that the Pirates are focused on winning and building a strong organization.
If Nutting wants to focus on winning and building a strong organization, he should act now.
A strong case can be made that team president Travis Williams should be fired. The PR disasters could be avoided with better communication and common sense. The Pirates lack in both departments, which reflects poorly on Williams as much as Nutting.
General manager Ben Cherington’s job status is overdue for review. He has been on the job six years and still hasn’t assembled a contending roster.
Sunday’s lineup in a 4-0 loss to the Reds looked like this: 2B Enmanuel Valdez, DH Bryan Reynolds, CF Oneil Cruz, 1B Endy Rodriguez, RF Alexander Canario, LF Adam Frazier, 3B Isiah Kiner-Falefa, SS Tsung-Che Cheng, C Henry Davis, RHP Carmen Mlodzinski.
Fans want manager Derek Shelton fired, but Danny Murtaugh could be resurrected from his grave and not win with that group. Nevertheless, Shelton’s career record is 299-425, and few managers have ever lost at that clip and lasted six seasons.
I am at the top of the list of those who criticize Nutting for caring more about profits than wins. He certainly does nothing to suggest his mindset is different.
Nutting needs to change the narrative surrounding him. He needs to do it quickly before another season turns into a disaster.
The Pirates need a spark, and only Nutting can provide it.
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