Friday, July 8, 2011

DK calls on Nutting to Step Up to the Plate

Very Good, Very Fair article from DK in the Trib this morning calling for the Nuttings and their minions to step forward and be bold this summer in pursuit of winning and possible contention.

I don't know what others feel about DK, but he in my opinion, is one of the cities most level headed, hard working, and objective sports reporters.

Some money quotes from DK:

"Let's see how Nutting handles this modest success, whether he rises up or shrinks from it. Let's see not only whether he authorizes general manager Neal Huntington to add significantly to the payroll via trade but also whether he pushes for it."

"Hope won't cut it this summer either, unless hope can bat cleanup."

And there was even something from the Nuthouse himself that we will certainly hold him, and his general manger, to if they don't come through and add some help to this lineup by the trade deadline:

"We're just a couple games out, close to the All-Star break. It's a great opportunity. And we aren't going to make decisions based on restrictions of financing. We're absolutely in that position where Neal can, right now, be out there aggressively looking at options. He needs to do that."

Well said Mr. Nutting, now, as we the fans have wanted for the past decade plus, since your family has begun to sink their dirty claws into this once proud franchise, you had better put your money where your ever praise gushing mouth is.

22 comments:

  1. I had just read that article before I opened your blog.

    It all sounds great but will the FO actually be buyers or are they just blowing smoke up our butts?

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  2. Sunshine, lollipops and rainbows,
    Everything that's wonderful is what I feel when we're together,
    Brighter than a lucky penny,
    When you're near the rain cloud disappears, dear,
    And I feel so fine just to know that you are mine.

    My life is sunshine, lollipops and rainbows,
    That's how this refrain goes, so come on, join in everybody!

    Sunshine, lollipops and rainbows,
    Everything that's wonderful is sure to come your way
    When you're in love to stay.

    Sunshine, lollipops and rainbows,
    Everything that's wonderful is what I feel when we're together,
    Brighter than a lucky penny,
    When you're near the rain cloud disappears, dear,
    And I feel so fine just to know that you are mine.

    My life is sunshine, lollipops and rainbows,
    That's how this refrain goes, so come on, join in everybody!

    Sunshine, lollipops and rainbows,
    Everything that's wonderful is sure to come your way
    'Cause you're in love, you're in love,
    And love is here to stay!

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  3. I raise a practical question...

    Based on the nature of this article, if the Pirates go out and do NOT acquire someone of value at the deadline, who is to blame, Huntington or Nutting?

    Follow-up question: if the Pirates do not acquire someone of value at the deadline and Huntington is let go at the end of the season, does that change your opinion?

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  4. @Sharky: We will have our answer soon, can you imagine the outrage if they just proceed with their business as usual salary dump mode and deal off Maholm or Hanrahan this season?
    I think people's heads will literally explode. I don’t trust a single rotten thing that comes out of this management team’s mouth, so they can blather all they want, the proof will be in the results of any deals they do, or do not in the end, make.

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  5. Let's see what happens over the next few weeks. Honestly, there is no reason no to have money to spend right now. There should be flexibility, there should be cash available. This team hasn't spent for the last however many years, so there's no better time than the present.

    Right now, there is a great opportunity to win the division and if they don't seize a chance to make the team better, then I will continue to have doubts.

    If they do bring somebody in, I will say 2 things:
    1.) Way to do your job, you know, putting together a winning team
    2.) It's about freaking time.

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  6. @SeanAy: There will be plenty of blame to go around if the Pirates just try to hold steady and don't make a move. It’s impossible to predict the exact circumstances of how the trade deadline will play out, and we will never know the exact details of the internal workings of the front office.

    Just because the Nuthouse claims he is authorizing an increase in spending to bring in talent, won’t necessarily make it so. They have talked a lot about competing at the major league every season. We have seen the results.

    So I won’t just blindly accept Huntington as the fall guy if the team doesn't make a move.

    And as I fully expect them to at least do something, even if it is just a token measure, I will judge him on the quality of the moves he makes. So far there have been plenty of missteps for “Bad Deal” Neal. But if he pushes the right buttons to get this team into the playoffs, or even has them making a legitimate run for them in September, a lot of credit does have to go to him.

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  7. Pucks--

    Yeah, that's how I feel. I threw out the name Jason Giambi yesterday on SmizBlog, because he's cheap, he's hitting well in limited time this year (9 HR in 93 PA, 20 RBI, OPS over 1.000), etc. It seems like the kind of move they could point to as, "look, we made a move!" even though he doesn't really solve that many problems. I'm still skeptical something of earth-shattering impact will get done.

    For the record, if they could swing a way to get Cuddyer and Giambi, I'd totally be OK with Giambi. He might be re-invigorated by (potentially) meaningful baseball.

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  8. I agree that the move must make sense and be of value and not a move as you said that doesn't solve the problems.

    I don't follow the AL at all so I have no idea as to who may be available from one of those teams.

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  9. SeanAY- If Giambi was all they did, I would be disapointed. He seems pretty old and broken down, but like you said he may provide some spark, if only in short bursts. (Think Gary Roberts after he came to the Pens from a going-nowhere Florida Panther team)
    Cuddy would be AMAZING, but I don't really see the Twins dealing him, unless the Bucs include some of their top notch pitching prospects, which I would actually be against.
    My big move would be Carlos Beltran, five years younger than Giambi so he could still provide that middle of the lineup bat on a more day to day basis. I think he can still handle everyday rightfield, so you can move G. Jones to 1B.
    Derrek Lee would be another possibility from the Orioles, and could let you keep the RF platoon, but I think Lee has seen better days.
    If the Nutting regime is looking to "right" past wrongs, the biggest splash they could make would be to reacquire Aramis Ramirez from the Chi Cubs. That would be a helluva statement that the Bucs are back in business, wouldn’t it? It would also be a put up or shut up moment for Kdro at 3B. And if the young buck does actually come around, I don’t see Ram having a problem moving over to play some first. So that would be the move I would definitely enjoy the most.
    Huntington is the GM and the supposed best General Manger in All of Sports however, so lets see what he actually does.

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  10. Pucks--

    Agreed, if Giambi (or someone of that particular ilk) were the only move made, it would be very disappointing. I was just bringing him up as an example of a person they could hold up as an example of "making a move" that wouldn't actually do much.

    Ramirez is a 10-and-5 guy, which means he's got a no-trade clause, and indications I've seen are that he won't waive said clause. So while it would nice to have him around, I'm afraid to say it's not going to happen.

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  11. Aramis Ramirez has 10 home runs in his last 15 games. Pretty sure the timing couldn't be worse in trying to make a bid for him.

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  12. The timing couldn't be worse cause the guy is jacking it out of the park? How does that make any sense? Is there some rule that the Pirates can only bring in scrubs and has beens trying to ressurect their career?

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  13. Boy, I tell ya, after last nights game I'm starting to wonder if we really need to make a trade. Maybe we should just stick with what we have, they've taken us this far. Why risk messing with the chemistry. I suppose if we can add a bat for some prospects that would work, but I would be careful about moving any starters at this point. This team has something special going on right now, why mess it up.

    Also, I really hope Nutting isn't full of bull. I'd really like to move on from this whole ownership issue, bury the hatchet, and just focus on the game. I really hope Dejan is right about the guy when he says "he is nothing at all like the B-movie villain that’s become commonly accepted in Pittsburgh. And I mean absolutely nothing at all like that." and he turns out to be a good owner. I have my doubts, but time will tell.

    Go Bucs!

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  14. You gotta be kidding me Pucks. It's a horrible time to trade for Ramirez! you better be ready to give up Alvarez with how hot he is - of course you'd rather write him off and call him KKKKKKKKKKKKKKdro so what the hell do you care? Anything to pursue your agenda of bashing the Pirates.

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  15. @anonymus (by the way, if you could at least sign your posts, just for conversation purposes, I'd appreciate it) Actually, if you look at what I wrote above, one of the reasons I gave for going after Ramirez would be to light a fire under Kdro. I think the kid has got some tremendous talent, and I wouldn't advocate dealing him off for short term help. But for a middle of the lineup guy right now Kdro flat out sucks. And I put 42 Ks in front of his name in the Smizik article (the huge # of strikeouts he had this year while he was healthy) to illustrate that point. And I think you miss my point on Ramirez: he is exactly the proven, big time talent that the Nutting regime has refused to ever consider as an option. If the Cubs want Huntington to fork over the world, he should move on to other players. But if the Cubs want to dump his salary off their books for some prospects, that is exactly the kind of move I'd like to see the Bucs jump on. Its not like Ramirez is a flash in the pan this year either, his presence in the cleanup spot would most certainly help us out.

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  16. Well said Pucks_and_Pols, well said indeed!!

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  17. Need I remind everyone that Ramirez has a no-trade clause that he has already stated he will NOT waive? Until I hear differently, I'm assuming he will NOT be coming to the Pirates in a trade.

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  18. Fair point SeanAy. If Ramirez doesn't want to come here, that is his call, according the established collective bargaining rules.

    But to not even consider the option of bringing in a proven power hitter, whether it is Ramirez or some other guy, because he has recently teed off a bunch of homers is what I considered a ridiculous argument to make.

    “Oh no, we can’t do that; it might mean too much *gulp* success!”

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  19. how about it's probably gonna cost you Alvarez and a top 5 prospect plus fuck with the chemistry on the team plus his 2012 option is a mutual option. there's a million reasons it won't and shouildn't happen but hang on to your pie in the sky ideas. it's great how people rip the Pirates for shit they haven't even done yet. if you wanted Ramirez, last offseason was the time to do it, not right after he doubles his return value.

    Dog.

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  20. Well hey, I never claimed to endorse crazy opinions. Just stating the point haha. I would love to have Ramirez back in the line-up. "Team Chemistry" be damned. I think if he started depositing balls into the stands, the team would probably warm to him fairly quickly!

    I got the chance to watch the Pirates play for the first time in a few months (what with WGN and all), and I was really upset by Harrison's plate approach. It seemed like it didn't matter where the first pitch went, he was taking a cut at it. If you think having Harrison in your line-up is better than a guy like Ramirez because of "team chemistry," you're nuts.

    But as I said, it probably won't happen for a myriad of reasons, primarily Ramirez's reluctance to leave CHI.

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  21. you totally failed to acknowledge what it would cost to get him, assuming he was even on the market. what do you think he would command?

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  22. Dog: Assuming the Cubs were ready to shed payroll, and Ram was willing to waive a ntc to be dealt to a contender, my starting offer would be Brad Lincoln, Starling Marte, and any other non-elite prospect that piqued Chicago's interest. I'd be willing to work with them on the deal, but if the Cub's pricetag is indeed to high, there are 28 other teams to work with, so I'm not fixated on ARAM or Bust here. The essential point is that after years of cut-rate fire sales, I'm hungry to see a 'bizzaro-world' Pirate move where they TAKE ON salary and elite talent for some potential laden guys who may or may not work out. I'd like to see them bring IN a proven power bat to help them WIN games, and if the chips fall right, contend; let some other team take on our problem prospects, save money, and dump on their fans. We've seen OUR team take that road FAR to often. Lets Go Buc(k)s! Be bold and seize the day!

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