Perrotto: Sell the Team? How About Tell the Truth
PITTSBURGH – One of the worst things a business can do is insult customers.
Pittsburgh Pirates owner Bob Nutting insulted his team’s fans on Friday during the pre-game show on their television broadcast. Then the team insulted the fans by looking like a ragtag sandlot team.
The Pirates were thumped by the New York Yankees 9-4 in an ugly home opener at PNC Park, a three-hour and 18-minute slog on an overcast day. We’ll get to the on-field details in a moment.
First, Nutting went on TV and said the Pirates are “laser-focused” on winning. He also said, “I think I’ve done everything I can to provide the tools and resources to the team.”
That’s what he said. No fake news. No alternative facts.
How could Nutting say that with a straight face? He does not care about winning and has not provided the tools and resources needed to win. The Pirates are among the bottom five teams in MLB in payroll yet again this season.
The lack of commitment showed during the Pirates’ pathetic offseason.
Their most notable winter move was trading for Toronto Blue Jays first baseman Spencer Horwitz, who had a bum thumb that needed surgery. Most of the other transactions barely created a ripple as they signed Tommy Pham and Adam Frazier, both past their primes, to bolster a moribund lineup.
Even though the Pirates knew that David Bednar was no sure thing following a poor 2024 season, they did not acquire any closer insurance. Instead, they allowed Aroldis Chapman to leave as a free agent.
Now Bednar is in the minor leagues, and the Pirates don’t have anybody who can reliably close out games.
So, the Pirates are now 2-6 eight games into the season. There is nothing to suggest they will play better.
Little happened Friday to provide much hope other than Ke’Bryan Hayes hitting a three-run home run when the Pirates already trailed 9-1 and Andrew McCutchen getting a couple of hits and making a fine running catch in right field.
The catch was impressive considering McCutchen did not play an inning in the outfield in spring training. It is yet another case of the Pirates giving the appearance that they are making stuff up on the fly.
But the awful outweighed the good.
Mitch Keller didn’t make it out of the fourth inning and looked like the pitcher who performed poorly in the second half of last season. The Pirates also made two errors and had their daily baserunning blunder.
I could go into detail about all the mistakes but why relive it? The fans suffered enough on what was supposed to be a festive day.
The worst part of the day, though, was Nutting saying the Pirates are “laser focused” on winning. Apparently, he believes the fans are a bunch of idiots to buy that idea.
To say the Pirates are “laser focused” on winning is disingenuous, at best. At worst, it’s an outright lie.
The second worst part of the day came after the game when manager Derek Shelton talked about how his team battled despite being down 9-1 in the seventh inning.
Battling is nice, but that’s all Shelton has talked about for six seasons. This is the big leagues, and it’s about winning instead of trying.
Trying hard is not enough for a fanbase that has endured 28 losing seasons in the last 32 years.
The fans already have had their fill of losing in 2025. Chants of “sell the team” were heard periodically throughout the game.
Nutting isn’t going to sell the team. No way. No how. He’s making money no matter how some people try to spin it.
A good alternate chant would be “tell the truth.”
Now that would be refreshing.
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