Maybe it is the cynical Pirate fan in me, after 15 years of losing who can blame me, but I am getting the feeling signing Pedro Alvarez was nothing more than Bob Nutting taking an opportunity to improve the people's opinion of him.
Every article I have seen, every interview I have heard has praised Bob Nutting for allowing the Pirates to sign Alvarez.
Yes, Nutting controls the purse strings. He has proved a knack of having the ability to pinch every penny possible.
Why now would he change his ways and allow the baseball people go after the best talent and sign him?
Nutting is a shrewd businessman. He knows his product isn't going to sell in it's current form. He knows nearly every fan blames him and his family for the trials this franchise has endured since their ownership group took control in the 90's.
A mere $6 million investment has put blinders on a majority of the fan base, for at least the short term.
One small investment has restored his public image.
This signing should not restore a fans faith in the franchise and the ownership group. It should merely show fans what should have been happening for 15 years.
Ownership has not changed nor improved. Don't be fooled by one minute before midnight on a deadline day signing. The Nutting's are still part of the worst ownership group in professional sports.
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8 comments:
What would you have had them do? Not sign him to prove a point?
Not that a big Nutting fan, but give him the benefit of the doubt for now. FWIW, the Nutting era shouldn't start until the McClatchey era ended a couple off-seasons ago. And don't forget: the Galbreath era started off with what until the last 16 seasons was the worst era for the PBC (1946 - 1957), but then they put up 3 NL/World Series champs and 6 NL titles in 20 years.
While I have to agree with you on the past it has been shown almost 10 Millon times in the past few weeks with the signings with the new management team of FC and NH that there is a renewed commitment to the PBC. Mistakes were made money wasted and in some cases not spent eg Weiters in the past. While I admit that the Nuttings write the checks they also placed trust in THEIR management team of McClatchy, Littlefield, Tracy to provide the best possible information as to how, when and on whom to spend that money. I would like to think as do many other PBC fans that after 15 years this new management team finally is giving the best information to Mr. Nutting. Will it lead to a WS in 1 or 2 years probably not, but you have to start building a foundation sometime and that management and Mr. Nutting has given the fans nearly TEN MILLION reasons and 32 of 50 picks to give him another chance/benefit of the doubt to belive he is willing to try and place a winning product on the field.
@Matt in DC---What would you have had them do? Not sign him to prove a point?
Excellent point. It is unfortunate that there will always and forever be naysayers and uneducated people offering opinions that try to fan the fires of thier own negativity.
It seems no matter what this management team does or does not do short of digging up the corpses of the past Pirates heroes will the few village idiots be happy.
FC and NH were took over a machine that operated broken for 15 years. There was a belief when they left Bradenton that the pitching was to be far better than it has proven to be. The hitting proved to be better than expected but in order to have something to build from after it was evident that the machine was not fixed (they broke Bradenton with largely the same team from the previous year)and the minors did not have the quality replacements necessary to field a competitive team decisions were made a la Bay Nady Marte. Then nearly 10M was spent on trying to make LONG TERM improvements.
I have always said bring the solution not the problem..
I have followed this team since I was 5 years of age in 1968. Am I depressed/upset about the losing? You damn right I am. They are working with what they have been handed. Village idiots like Dave would still find something to cry about if the Nuttings spent like the Yanks or RSox.
Yo DAVE What is your solution???!!!
Other than crying about the past. You big sissy.
Hey Matt--thanks for gettingme fired up. NOT!
You're right. This is one draft. We need about two or three more just like this, then we'll know that Nutting is really as committed to wining as he said he is. I'm willing to compliment Nutting and them for getting Pedro, but it's not over, as far as I'm concerned. It's a good beginning, but they still have a lot of work to do.
Wasn't just one big investment. Alvarez was only 2/3 of the total in bonuses. And, look at the DR academy.
Owner of the year? No. Changed man? Yes.
Will this assure us a winner? No. But, it's a huge step in the right direction.
This is a silly post. In fact, you defeat your own argument: Why would someone who is a penny pincher pay $6 million just so people would like him? How does that make sense?
The fact is things have changed bigtime since Bob Nutting put himself forward last year as the principal owner and guy in charge. He's brought in new front office leadership, and the entire way they do business has changed.
If you're still cynical about that, why would you even bother to follow the Pirates anymore?
I took the liberty to respond to each of the comments in this post, in an attempt to keep the comment section more readable. Thanks for all the insight and kind remarks. :)
Here is the link:
http://www.bucstradewinds.net/2008/08/pr-machine-backlash.html
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