The Pittsburgh Pirates have a new controlling owner, Robert Nutting, who is replacing Kevin McClatchy. The move is subject to approval by the other MLB owners.
Nutting's father is G. Ogden Nutting, who owns a newspaper in Wheeling, West Virginia, called the Wheeling News-Register. G. Ogden Nutting is a name that demands respect.
This could be a very good thing for the Pirates. It could also be completely irrelevant. Nutting's first move should be to put Littlefield out of his misery and get someone who's less of a bozo. I think whether he does something along those lines in the next year will be the barometer on whether anything has changed in Steel Town.
The Pirates need to stop "building" by stockpiling young talent, because it usually means trading FA-eligible real talent on their team (Ramirez, Giles).
The Ramirez trade:
July 23, 2003: Traded by the Pittsburgh Pirates with Kenny Lofton and cash to the Chicago Cubs for a player to be named later, Jose Hernandez, and Matt Bruback (minors). The Chicago Cubs sent Bobby Hill (August 15, 2003) to the Pittsburgh Pirates to complete the trade.
Now admittedly, 2002 was a horrible step back (.234/.279/.387) from the promise of his age 23 season in 2001 (.300/.350/.536). But at the time of the deal, his #s were about 80% of the way back toward 2001 (.280/.330/.448), and he was only 25. Perhaps the Pirates couldn't tolerate his errors at 3B?
This move doesn't mean much for the Bucs. If anything, it's a bad thing. The Nuttings have been running the team from behind the scenes for at least three or four years now.
Jim Tracy's a pretty crap manager, if memory serves. Yeah, there's a modicum of talent here, but Connie Mack and a squad of Casey Stengel clones couldn't turn this team into a compitetor without some substantial changes.
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GONGED TIN NUT
(the Pirates are so ....)
They just run on the treadmill of mediocrity.
But, looking at the roster, there's some talent there. Bay, Sanchez, Bautista, Paulino, Doumit - and all those young pitchers.
Is is possible that a managerial and coaching staff change could help turn things around as much as anything?
I freely admit I know nothing about Jim Tracy, except that he used to manage the Dodgers and now manages the Pirates.
The Ramirez trade:
July 23, 2003: Traded by the Pittsburgh Pirates with Kenny Lofton and cash to the Chicago Cubs for a player to be named later, Jose Hernandez, and Matt Bruback (minors). The Chicago Cubs sent Bobby Hill (August 15, 2003) to the Pittsburgh Pirates to complete the trade.
Now admittedly, 2002 was a horrible step back (.234/.279/.387) from the promise of his age 23 season in 2001 (.300/.350/.536). But at the time of the deal, his #s were about 80% of the way back toward 2001 (.280/.330/.448), and he was only 25. Perhaps the Pirates couldn't tolerate his errors at 3B?
GOTTEN IN DUNG
"controlling", never "controling".
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