OnlyBucs

Bobster wrote: ↑Sat May 03, 2025 11:47 pm I think this is due more to the type of free agent they sign. It’s rare that any free agent signs with the Pirates unless he’s trying to resurrect his career after injuries and/or declining performance. The Pirates take a gamble and don’t want to guarantee more than one year. The player wants the chance to revive his career and then move onto a better team after one year. If the Pirates signed better free agents, it would make sense for multi year deals, but I don’t think the better free agents want to sign with the Pirates.

steve 49 wrote: ↑Sun May 04, 2025 1:32 am

Bobster wrote: ↑Sat May 03, 2025 11:47 pm I think this is due more to the type of free agent they sign. It’s rare that any free agent signs with the Pirates unless he’s trying to resurrect his career after injuries and/or declining performance. The Pirates take a gamble and don’t want to guarantee more than one year. The player wants the chance to revive his career and then move onto a better team after one year. If the Pirates signed better free agents, it would make sense for multi year deals, but I don’t think the better free agents want to sign with the Pirates.

That's the point... the Pirates sign stop-gap players and why would that ever be more than a one year deal. As to your contention that good players don't want to sign with Pittsburgh ... why is that. The answer is simply it's a crappy , penny pinching organization. Your post is correct but you sound like it's not ownerships fault that the better free agents don't want to sign here. This team showed its donkey like mentality way back when they forfeited a first round draft pick in fear they would get stuck with a Barry Bonds salary that was probably about half of what he signed for. I would point to KC as a comparison . They are a small market team that had a history of losing and they have made more than 1 significant free agent deals.

Bobster wrote: ↑Sun May 04, 2025 10:17 am

steve 49 wrote: ↑Sun May 04, 2025 1:32 am

Bobster wrote: ↑Sat May 03, 2025 11:47 pm I think this is due more to the type of free agent they sign. It’s rare that any free agent signs with the Pirates unless he’s trying to resurrect his career after injuries and/or declining performance. The Pirates take a gamble and don’t want to guarantee more than one year. The player wants the chance to revive his career and then move onto a better team after one year. If the Pirates signed better free agents, it would make sense for multi year deals, but I don’t think the better free agents want to sign with the Pirates.

That's the point... the Pirates sign stop-gap players and why would that ever be more than a one year deal. As to your contention that good players don't want to sign with Pittsburgh ... why is that. The answer is simply it's a crappy , penny pinching organization. Your post is correct but you sound like it's not ownerships fault that the better free agents don't want to sign here. This team showed its donkey like mentality way back when they forfeited a first round draft pick in fear they would get stuck with a Barry Bonds salary that was probably about half of what he signed for. I would point to KC as a comparison . They are a small market team that had a history of losing and they have made more than 1 significant free agent deals.

To be clear, Nutting is the source of all the problems that make this franchise undesirable for good free agents. He is the reason it's a crappy penny pinching organization. And it's not just that he won't spend money. It's the people he hires to run the operation. The only chance they have to succeed on a small payroll is to have very shrewd people in place such as the GM, the manager, scouts and minor league development people. Some small market teams have enjoyed occasional success that way. But the Pirate organization is bad in all facets of constructing a team. They have little to show for all the years of good draft positions, the players are either poorly developed or misjudged from the start, Cherington's roster decisions are mind-numbing and Shelton's moves seem to show a disinterest in putting his best players on the field. A better owner would spend competitively or at least find people who could succeed on limited payroll. Nutting does neither. So good free agents won't get the money they seek from the Pirates and wouldn't choose such a poorly run team even if the money was right (since they would also be entertaining offers from better teams).