The point being, Art Rooney II isn't Dan. Mike Tomlin is a dumb fuck. Colbert hasn't drafted a premier player in a decade+. Fans keep feeding into it, shoveling the shit into their mouths because it's Pittsburgh, and if you're a yinzer, there's nothing to your life besides sports. The guy here with 100,000 posts is already priming his fingers to give me an angry response.
Simply put, can you trust any of these fucking idiots to be successful?
Anyway, we know the Steelers front office is mentally retarded now. Well, today was quite a doozy for the general manager of your favorite local hockey team, as GM Jim Rutherford doubled and tripled down on his signing of Jack Johnson in the offseason.
Today, he blamed the softball Pittsburgh media...and the fans...for not giving Jack Johnson a fair shake.
“Jack never got a fair shot from the first day he got here, and it started with the (first) media scrum,” Rutherford said Wednesday morning. “I really couldn’t believe the questions that a newly acquired player was asked through that media scrum, and that’s what started the ball rolling toward the fans.”
Jesus Fucking Christ.
The softball Pittsburgh media actually did a fairly generous job at the time of making excuses for Johnson. They acknowledged his shortcomings, but at least they would try to look at the bright side.
Here's an overly optimistic article from Jason Mackey in June.
Five reasons the Jack Johnson signing just may work.
https://www.post-gazette.com/sports/penguins/2018/06/30/Jack-Johnson-signing-Mackey-reasons-it-may-work-Penguins/stories/201806300071
Jason Bombulie said in an August Q&A that "A change of scenery should do him good."
https://archive.triblive.com/sports/penguins/penguins-predictions-how-well-will-jack-johnson-fit-in-with-his-new-team/
An article by Dejan Kovacevic says "Always Trust Rutherford, Crosby"
https://www.dkpittsburghsports.com/2018/06/27/penguins-johnson-trade/
So, Jim Rutherford, a man who traded a first round pick for Ryan Reaves, may have had a nice little narrative going now had Johnson shut up "the critics" and played well for 60+ games this year.
Oh.
So, why is Rutherford so diligent in defending Johnson? Why is he unwilling to admit a mistake? A mistake, like Reaves, that was obvious to both fans and analysts alike?
https://archive.triblive.com/sports/penguins/columbus-coach-john-tortorella-rips-penguins-jack-johnson-jim-rutherford/
Oh.
When you're headstrong and a fucking dumbass, this is what happens.
The Steelers can't handle their players. The Penguins play their bad players and get rid of their good ones to prove points.
So, I didn't think I could see a front office absolutely embarrass human existence much more today. That was until I read what the Pirates owner said. Let me preface this.
I've been around this site for as long as it has been online. I remember when the mods actually posted informative football talk. I remember heated debates between logical minds. As that inevitably digressed into a whinefest devoid of football insight and commentary and ripe with yinzer yammerings, I retreated to the Pittsburgh Sports section to discuss the Penguins and laugh at the Pirates. Some fat lard "journalist" tried to convince everyone that Huntington was the messiah around 2010ish. Journolard was better than everyone else because he had the distinct pleasure of making coffee for the other journalists during games. After I was right about everything, he never showed his face in this section again. Ya'll know who it is.
We also have the retard steel, who declared the Pirates pretty much were God because they had the "best OFFSEASON in years" and labeled the Charlie Morton trade as the best in baseball history. My god. He doesn't show around here anymore because, again, I beat him into submission with an ounce of brain power.
The point being, please listen. Because it's people like steel and lardo journo that will still go out on a Saturday, spend the money on the beer, the food, and shit to get even fatter, and add a Styx or Huey Lewis & the News after-game concert inbetween jerk-off sessions. Stop. spending. money. to. see. the. Pirates.
Here's what ol' Bob Nutting said today. Winner of the most ridiculous front office comment of the week. Hard to do!
"You get an imbalanced payroll, that you have much more challenging team dynamic, much more challenging clubhouse dynamic, much more limitation in crafting an overall roster that can bring a championship," Nutting said Wednesday. "I'm not sure that that necessarily makes a team a team more competitive and more ready to win a championship."
Jesus. In layman's terms Bobby is saying here "I don't believe spending money on good players means you'll be more competitive because that means I would have to spend my own money."
This was from a ridiculous Q&A for the Trib on Wednesday.
https://triblive.com/sports/nine-innings-with-bob-nutting-a-qa-session-with-the-pirates-chairman/
Here are some of the highlights:
Is the payroll not controllable?
I think payroll scale and range, broadly, is not controllable. We’re going to have certain resources. That’s the reality of the marketplace. Do we have opportunities to move dollars? As I’ve said many times, I view the baseball operations payroll as a large bucket and major league payroll is a piece of that. We’ve been in the top five clubs in spending in player development resources for these young players. We’re outspending almost the entire industry in that (area). We’re continuing to reinvest in the support and development of the minor league system, whether it’s mental skills, conditioning, nutrition, sleep.
The San Diego Padres just signed a player to a $300 million contract. Don't worry the Pirates are investing in player's sleep. For all the huffing and puffing Nutting does about player development resources, do ya'll know how much that is? Hint: It's considerably less than $300 million. In fact, it's way closer to $300.
Here's another fun quote.
6. Attendance is down from 2.5 million in 2015 to less than 1.5 last season. Is that affecting payroll?
There is no question the attendance was down. There is no question that there were fewer tickets sold. That’s true. There is also no question we will never use it as an excuse.We will never use it as an issue.
I don't follow the Pirates much. I really, really tried back in the mid-2000s. It didn't take me too long to figure out that what is there will always be. That makes things quite boring and annoying. I remember not even watching half the divisional round from 2013. This was the Pirates in the playoffs for the first time in decades, and I barely cared. I knew the results, and I had no faith. I probably haven't watch a full game since then. It's important I say this because, despite not closely following the team, I remember laughing hysterically last year in disbelief a Pirates front office member stating that the fact fans weren't showing up hurt the Pirates payroll. It surprisingly took me seconds to find. I got hits on my first keyword search tonight. Yes, stupid people won't see these contradictions.
Here's a March 2018 quote from Frank Coonelly
“Double-digit percentage decreases in attendance has some impact on how we can build a roster in 2018 and moving forward,” Coonelly said. “My very poor job of selling Pittsburgh Pirates baseball over the last two years has a meaningful impact on how we can build a roster in 2018."
https://www.post-gazette.com/sports/pirates/2018/03/26/neal-huntington-frank-coonelly-pirates-season-tickets-lunches-dennis-reist-bob-nutting/stories/201803260020
Oh, and this was Coonelly in 2013, when the team was doing well.
2013: “The increased attendance this year allowed us to bring in Justin Morneau, Marlon Byrd, and John Buck at the trade deadline,” Coonelly said. “And the increased attendance and excitement for next year will certainly allow us to increase payroll.”
https://pittsburgh.cbslocal.com/2013/10 ... d-payroll/
Whoops!
The Pirates payroll this year is supposed to be around $74 million. I had to dig for these, because to me, $74 million seems like it'd be a pretty light payroll in the year 2002, much less so in 2019. It was just a random year I picked, but here we are.
In the year 2002, 14 teams had a payroll higher than the Pirates projected total this year. This was SEVENTEEN years ago.
The Penguins, a team on the verge of leaving the city, now have a higher payroll than the Pirates.
Back to the quotes...
7. Every MLB team received a $50 million payout from the sale of BAMTech last year. How will that money be allocated?
I think the important thing for us is we really view that as a return of capital, so we need to think of it how it invests long-term to impact the club. We’re trying to maintain some flexibility. You talk about investing in capital or the club, and I really see those as very closely linked. We just got on a call this morning. We’re breaking ground now on a major expansion in the facility in the Dominican. I think where we really announce that with pictures is when we do the ribbon cutting. I’d much rather announce things we’ve done, as opposed to things we’re planning to do. But it is a good example of investing in the long-term future of the club.
The original facility they are expanding cost $5 million in 2009. https://archive.triblive.com/news/pirates-open-new-training-academy-in-dominican-republic/
So, even if that doubles, where are they going to spend the rest of the $40 million? Yay Nutting's wallet!!!!!
Also, when was the last time the Pirates developed a player worth a damn? Why are they in the Dominican? Just sign all the players other teams developed.
Here's a nice dig at the Pirates owners to end it.
https://www.cbssports.com/mlb/news/pirates-owner-bob-nutting-says-his-teams-payroll-isnt-controllable-following-dormant-offseason/
Keep buying those bobble heads!
