Pirates' front office spews absolute BS

[NYgiantsfan5689]

Manager John Russell, who summoned players into his office to hear them out on Thursday, said trading away McClouth should not be taken as a sign the Pirates aren't serious about winning, according to the report, echoing what general manager Neal Huntington and team president Frank Coonelly earlier said about the deal. He also said the team still had a job to do, despite the players' feelings.
"The players lost a friend, a teammate and a good player," Russell said, according to the report. "They might be thinking that we've thrown in the towel, but it's time to turn the page and play baseball. It's time to move on."

That is the biggest load of absolute crap I have ever heard from a baseball front office. It's so clear they don't want to win this year, why can't they at least be honest about it instead of blowing smoke that everyone in the world can see through?

Here was the players' reactions:

"Wow," second baseman Freddy Sanchez said Thursday of the trade, according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. "I think the biggest thing was the shock factor. It's obviously a tough pill to swallow. Our No. 3 hitter just got taken away, the guy who leads our team in home runs and RBIs, and we were 6½ games out. We could still have been right there. I think we still can. But we're all just kind of wondering right now ... wondering what it is."

"There ain't a guy in here who ain't [ticked] off about it," said first baseman Adam LaRoche, according to the report. "It's kind of like being with your platoon in a battle, and guys keep dropping around you. You keep hanging on, hanging on, and you've got to figure: How much longer till you sink?
It's fine. Heck with it. We're not the GM. We don't run the team. If they feel like it's the best move for three or four years from now, great," LaRoche said, according to the report. "Unfortunately, that does me no good. I've still got to be in here telling guys it's going to be fine with Nate gone. Well, you can only do that for so long until guys just kind of ... well, they know."

I think the overriding question from this is when will the Pirates ever actually try to win? When will they come out of this eternal sell-off and actually try to compete? I really do feel bad for Pirates fans, because they have to put up with this year after year, and there is no end in sight. And the front office just continues to alienate fans. You know...a lot is made about "small-market" teams not having enough money to compete, yada yada yada. And yes, there is merit to the fact that their fan base isn't large enough to compare to bigger cities and it hurts them. HOWEVER, teams like the Pirates can't really argue this fairly, because they continue to alienate fans, which doesn't do anything to garner more money. We all saw how many fans now come out to teams that perform well, even in small markets. The Rockies got huge numbers of fans to come out when they were doing well. The Marlins get large numbers of fans when they play well. Look what the Rays have done. They live in freakin Tampa Bay. But they get large crowds because they compete now. They've had a successful rebuild process, made a competitive team out of it, and now they sell tickets like wildfire. If teams like Pittsburgh would get out of this endless cycle of selling off players, maybe they could make some money to compete. It's just a thought.

And I really, really do feel bad for Pirates fans. Genuinly. Because I know I would never, ever want to go through this.

[cjkalt]

The Pirates are starting up the Devil Rays plan... rebuild until your system is so stacked you have a lineup full of amazing talents... it sucks for 5 years but then you get a good team... so hang in there... its almost over

[Kingdom]

They don't have amazing talent. And whenever they do happen upon an allstar, he's shipped out for Brandon Moss or Bobby Hill.

[Doppelgänger]

Unlike the Rays the Pirates sell their goods for pennies on the dollar!

[Kingdom]

And they draft relievers with top ten picks. That don't pan out.

[RoxFan9]

I see the Pirates spiralling out of control downward for the remainder of the season. With the clubhouse looking like they aren't happy that can only mean bad results.

I also see attendance plummenting even more so for the Pirates.

[catman]

The fans will be missing one of the nicest ballparks in the bigs, from what I've heard. PNC is a classy ballpark. Unfortunately, the management seems willing to part with their best talent before it reaches peak value.

[cjkalt]

Nate McLouth's value was never going to be higher... he had 1 great season and wasn't off to the hottest start this year... perfect time to trade him save 4 mil so you can sign Sano and get specs... makes too much sense for me

[catman]

I'm not sure about that. If McLouth has another good season or 2, his value increases quite a bit. Many players have had a very good season, just to drop and never be seen again. The truly great ones have seasons like these on a regular basis.

[love_that_reefer]

Thing you guys are forgetting is McCutchen is better than McLouth and the Pirates just got three players for Nate. The Pirates made a great move IMO and are essentially in the same position they were before, just a little younger.

[realmofotalk]

McCutchen + McLouth > McCutchen + Brandon Moss

[madsheep]

Why not have both McCutchen and McLouth. They trade their players away every year, freddy sanchez and jack wilson are next, then next year malholm will get traded too, this is how its been, the pirates believe in quanity rather than quality, the would rather have 5 shitty players than 1 good player, everyone in the front office needs to go, they have been in the same spot as the rays for awhile and the rays are good now, pirates have not hit on any of their picks and when they do they trade them away. AWFULLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL

[love_that_reefer]

McCutchen + McLouth > McCutchen + Brandon Moss

McCutchen+Morton+Locke+Hernandez > McCutchen+McClouth and its cheaper. Not hard to figure out.

[realmofotalk]

McCutchen+McLouth > McCutchen+Morton+two minor leaguers

plus it's better for the Pirates' chances of winning games. That is not hard to figure out.

[love_that_reefer]

Yeah its looks like trading McClouth for Morton, Locke and Hernandez was well worth it. McCutchen shined and Morton showed a lot of improvement. Plus is what a LOT cheaper and better benefits the ballclub. At the time of the trade, the Pirates were 5th in the division. They finished in 6th. OMG!!!Again, not hard to figure out.