Just heard on the radio Pirates have been outscored 48 - 14 in their last 4 games. Hmm, where have I heard those 2 numbers together before?
Pirates
- Thread starter nittany dave
- Start date
The Pirates are the most disgraceful franchise in all of sports, PERIOD!
Bob Nutting is a clown. He has milked that team for all it's worth never giving back. What a shame. That is one of THE worst teams Pittsburgh has had since the 80s clownfest. Dale Berra years. Yikes
There are a number of teams with a worse record than the Pirates. They are definitely a young team which should be better in coming years. However, they lack big hitters with power and Hurdle is maybe, the worst manager in baseball.
Problem with the Pirates looks to be long term. Nothing much in the farm system (How did that happen?) and no trade parts to replenish it. Throw in poor draft evaluations and/or player development, and this is what you have. A seemingly very bleak future. Were you to ask me several years ago, I would have never predicted this.
Ha the team isn’t good and a rebuild is now necessary, but way to cherry pick a time period. The pre-Coonely and Huntington era has been very different than post. They’re a small market, that means there will be small windows followed by rebuilds, it’s true of all the small markets (except STL which is a unique situation). They just had a good window, but Nutting failed to make the move to put them over the top.
No worse franchise, “PERIOD.” Give me a break, There are dozens of sports franchises whose fans wish desperately that their team had 3 playoff appearances in the past 6 years.
Easy on the absurd hyperbole.
Pirates had 1 playoff appearances the last 6 years.
4 appearances in 38 years.
ZERO PENNANTS/TITLES/SERIES WINS in that timeframe!
They are a disgrace, PERIOD!
The wild card game is the playoffs. More manipulation to make your invalid point.
Generally agree with you on this. My concern is with this management team's ability to properly execute a rebuild. They just either haven't hit on draft picks or haven't shown the propensity to develop what talent they have. I've sort of lost faith in them.
Invalid point of what?
Listen......I’m probably a bigger Pirates fan than most.
This team has not cared about winning for pushing 3 decades now.
Not a winning season for what 18-19 consecutive years?
That is beyond disgraceful!
At least other franchises at least make an effort to try to win(though they may not be successful at it).
This crappy franchise would rather make a few bucks, then win.
Sadly, it ain’t gonna get better until MAJOR changes are made.
As a fan of this shi$&y franchise, we’ll agree to disagree.....This franchise has been a joke since the early 80s.
10 winning seasons since the 1979 World Championship.
On the whole they have sucked for 40 years. The suckitude is more pronounced now thanks to Nutting, Coonelly, Huntington and Hurdle, aka The Best Management Team In Baseball (TBMTIB).
On the whole they have sucked for 40 years. The suckitude is more pronounced now thanks to Nutting, Coonelly, Huntington and Hurdle, aka The Best Management Team In Baseball (TBMTIB).
I hate Nutting as much as the next guy, I just think its unfair to place blame at the feet of Coonely and Huntington. Their hands are obviously tied by what Nutting is willing to do, and I think they've done well in light of that. There have been a lot of solid finds that helped make the team as decent as it was during that window: Russell Martin, AJ Burnett, Francisco Liriano, Mark Melancon, JA Happ, etc. My only complaint with them is not trading McCutchen a season sooner.
Being a small market is always going to mean short windows, followed by prolonged rebuilds. You see it in every small market. Unfortunately, with Nutting at the helm, the Pirates will never make that big signing or 2 to put them over the top during those short windows. That's rather depressing.
Agree with wbcincy. Nutting looks at the Pirates as his cash cow. Other owners are more interested in winning than turning a profit. Dickerson and Moran seem to be good pickups from the trades. They really got hurt by Kang's DUIs. He looked like a really good bat for the next 5 years. This years troubles are that the bullpen has been atrocious other than the closer. Also, stardom was predicted for Marte and Polanco, but neither has made the step forward from good to great and the window for that ever happening is closing fast. Polanco seems like he he must be a moron based upon his mental mistakes running the bases and in the field.
If we're being real--the wild card is a play-in game...playing 163 games may technically be "making the post-season" but unless you make the divisional round I consider it a failure. The Bucs haven't won a division since 1992...how many other MLB franchises can say that? Honest question.
The last time the Bucs were a 500 team or better for an entire decade was the 70s...although, admittedly, we were close in the 90s.
The last time the Bucs were a 500 team or better for an entire decade was the 70s...although, admittedly, we were close in the 90s.
You're giving NH far, far too much credit.
He's been GM for 11 years. Eleven drafts. The next impact player, All-Star caliber player, that they develop will be their first.
The most important thing a small market GM has to do is talent acquisition and development. Huntington sucks at that. There are two guys in Indy, Newman and Kramer, who absolutely positively need to be in Pittsburgh RIGHT NOW. You send Harrison and Mercer on their way TODAY. It's not like you're trading Alan Trammel and Lou Whitaker. Make room for the kids and see if they can play. And by the way, the kids are 25, which makes them the oldest kids in the history of baseball.
Hurdle HATES young players. Instead of Newman and Kramer (or Osuna, or Luplow), we get treated to Sean Rod and Max Moronoff. That is a firing offense right there to give AB's to Sean Rodriguez. Hurdle needs told in no uncertain terms that he starts the young players every day, and leaves them out there no matter what, or he's done. Then fire him anyway.
But none of that will happen - all of these slappies have brand new 4-year contracts. Nothing would rather give a live press conference than pay guys for not working. I think the technical term for this situation is - we're screwed.
A - Frickin men..... They are all yes men to Nutjob.
The way Hurdle handles his pitchers kills me. Taillon example from the other day was perfect show of his incompetence handling in game pitching. I cant completely pick on the pitchers though as system wide they have a style they want and with todays hitting approaches to bat angle at contact and such, it doesnt work. Look at Morton and Cole, they now work up in the zone more with 4 seamers and more curves than sliders. K numbers shot way up. With this lousy defense (bottom 5 in the league) they need more strike outs, not pitching to contact.
As pointed out a couple posts above, Marte and Polanco have not been as good as expected. Marte is good, not great and Polanco is the worst base runner in MLB. JV kids run the bases better. Bell and Dickerson (though he has maybe been their best player all year) have had down years with power, the team is middle of the pack in avg/runs/OBP/OPS but near the bottom in bombs. As bad as Hurdle is, if a couple of those guys had been just a little closer to expected power numbers they would be 500. My only assumption is that as long as they were close to 500 Hurdle was figuring the power guys would revert more to their mean totals and eventually keep the team at that level.
Oh and unfortunately Newman and Kramer are not on the 40 man yet. Why Moroff and Rodriguez are IDK, but yes get them up here.
The Flyers haven't won anything since 1976, at least the Pirates won it all in 1979! Just sayin'
You make some great points I can’t refute. My hope is Harrison and Mercer are gone for the guys you mention in the next month.
I'd take some Jim Leyland late 80's to early 90's coaching attitude. Hurdle is a buddy, they need a tyrant and a kick in the rear given some of the elementary mistakes witnessed and noted above. Very frustrating to see continued mistakes, repeated mistakes on cut off's, which base to throw to, base running (really, really maddening), same pitcher doesn't cover 1st base properly (misses easy throw) and then misses catcher's return throw allowing the man he should have put out at 1st, to score. Incredible.
I try to be upbeat but they won't sign top talent in the draft to avoid paying more and you just know they play with one hand tied behind their backs. You can't make mistakes playing with that encumbrance yet coaching sinks the ship, where is the correction of simple mistakes made by the same player. The cheerleading of the PR boys is wearing thin. Ownership castration appears as the sole solution? Nip it, nip it in the bud.
I try to be upbeat but they won't sign top talent in the draft to avoid paying more and you just know they play with one hand tied behind their backs. You can't make mistakes playing with that encumbrance yet coaching sinks the ship, where is the correction of simple mistakes made by the same player. The cheerleading of the PR boys is wearing thin. Ownership castration appears as the sole solution? Nip it, nip it in the bud.
