Perrotto: An Answer the Pirates Will Give Over and Over (+)
Talking points are the bane of my existence.
There is nothing I hate more than being part of an interview and getting canned responses from the subject. However, that is the way professional and college sports teams operate these days.
Want a candid answer? Lotsa luck with that.
The Pittsburgh Pirates have become very adept at talking points. Ask someone in the organization a question and you already know what the answer is going to be.
The Pirates clearly have developed a talking point when it comes to the subject of their traditionally low payrolls. Basically, they say the amount of money spent on players doesn’t matter.
This is what general manager Ben Cherington said Saturday about the Pirates’ payroll during a teleconference with media members who regularly cover the team:
“Three thoughts initially come to mind. One is we truthfully don’t know what our payroll number is going to be next year. Even if we did know, I’m not sure it’s in our interest to share it specifically, but the truth is that we don’t know.
“No. 2 is I would bet on it being higher than it was in 2022 but don’t know precisely.
“No. 3 is my belief is that whatever it is, whatever the numbers end up being is sort of secondary to the importance to all the other stuff that we’re focused on this offseason. Which is just making the team better, whether that’s through internal improvement or finding the right acquisitions or finding the right fits in free agency or trade. Our focus is on executive on a level that helps us get better in 2023 and much less precisely what the payroll number is.”
The Pirates have been using similar variations of this answer since the past season ended.
It translates roughly to the Pirates saying they aren’t going to spend any money or add players with significant contracts.
Of course, that is not a surprise. It’s not like the Pirates are going to sign Aaron Judge and Jacob deGrom as free agents this winter.
Even if the Pirates did add Judge and deGrom, it probably wouldn’t be enough to turn a 100-loss team in 2022 into a contender in 2023. Baseball isn’t like basketball or hockey where two stars can transform a team.
One of the biggest reasons Cherington took the job three years ago is because he wanted the challenge of building a championship team on a shoestring budget. Cherington was the GM when Boston won the World Series in 2013 but Red Sox owner John Henry commits plenty more resources to his baseball operations department than Bob Nutting ever has.
Of course, the Pirates’ mantra of payroll not mattering would carry a lot more weight if they were competitive on a yearly basis like the Tampa Bay Rays.
When you lose 101 and 100 games in consecutive seasons, though, it’s harder to sell fans on being thrifty. After all, Pirates fans have been waiting 43 years for another World Series appearance.
It would be nice if the Pirates just said, “we’re never going to spend a lot of money.” Cut out the superfluous words once and for all.
At least, the Pirates have a unified response when asked about payroll. It may not be a popular answer, but everyone should get used to it.
More about:Opinion PBN+ Pirates