When looking at our Favorite Black-N-Gold Baseball's Teams offseason, Mrs. Black-N-Gold is reminded of a sign that would hang in one of her favorite drinking establishments. It said "Free beer tomorrow." Now I'm sure that there is the "In Neal We Trust" crowd that is ready to string me alive. How dare Mrs. Black-N-Gold imply that "Bottom Dollar" Bob Nutting and his band of merry men are fleecing us Pirates fans. Put the rope away for a minute and let me finish.
Yes, the Bucs signed RH Daniel Hudson to help out in the bullpen and brought back RH Ivan Nova (at what may be a steal for 3 years and $26 million). But don't forget the "financial flexibility" they were afforded with the Liriano salary dump of last year. Yes, the Buccos "obtained" RH Drew Hutchison in that deal. However, when the subject of this year's starting 5 comes up, Hutchison is not even mentioned in that conversation.
Mrs. Black-N-Gold did hear the rumor that is being bandied about, the one about the Pirates going hard after White Sox LH Jose Quintana. Mrs. Black-N-Gold supports this move wholeheartedly. The problem is, she questions the validity of said rumor. We've been teased with such tasty morsels in the past. The Bucs were said to be in pursuit of LH Cole Hamels, LH David Price, RH Chris Archer, blah, blah, blah. Yes, it was ESPN's Buster Olney who broke the Quintana story from a supposed credible White Sox source. But the conspiracy theorist in me can't help but wonder if Chicago planted that seed to see if it may spark interest from other teams. Besides, word on the street is if the Pirates do nab Quintana, they'll only do so if they are able to unload CF Andrew McCutchen. What is the point of getting Quintana if you're going to trade your face of the franchise instead of going all in and hope for a bounce back year of MVP caliber from Cutch?
The Pirates also let valued bench players such as UTIL Sean Rodriguez and OF Matt Joyce go. That's their prerogative but the options to replace them internally are suspect, at best. Adam Frazier has the offensive tools to get on base but has nowhere near the defensive acumen of SRod. Other possibilities include the light hitting Alen Hanson and the even-lighter hitting Gift Ngope, if he's worked his way out of the Bucs doghouse. Perhaps GM Neal Huntington is waiting to catch late lightening in a bottle like he did last spring with Joyce and INF David Freese. Just remember, for every Freese there is a Cole Figueroa and many more just like him.
And, please, don't even bring up the Pirates budgetary constraints. Those are all self-imposed by the 9th richest owner in MLB. Small market teams such as KC and Cleveland have reached the World Series (and, in KC's case won). The Indians had a lower attendance mark than the Bucs last year but had a higher payroall and they traded top prospects to the Yankees to get RH Andrew Miller, who helped propel them to Game 7 versus the Cubs. The Pirates traded top prospects to get Toronto to take Liriano and his salary off the Bucs books. And the Indians just signed DH Edwin Encarnacion to a 3 year $60 million deal.
Also, look at how the other professional sports teams in the 'Burgh have fared since the Buccos last won a World Series in 1979. The Steelers have been to 5 Super Bowls, winning 3. The Penguins have been to 5 Stanley Cup Finals and won 4. The Pirates haven't even won a playoff series since '79.
Meanwhile, NH and crew continue to preach that they want to be competitive for the long haul. President Frank Coonelly even bristles at the idea that the Bucs are cheap. But Mrs. Black-N-Gold sees the writing on the wall. It's like "Free Beer Tomorrow". As a matter of fact, that should be the PBC's slogan for the 2017 season. Maybe that will put asses in the seats.
Let's Go Bucs!!!!!
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