Pirates front office in turmoil after Bob Nutting commits to spending for a change

The Pittsburgh Pirates have not made the postseason since 2015. Early in 2024, they were showing signs of potentially breaking the curse. With the recent call-up and major success of All-Star starting pitcher, Paul Skenes, you would think Pirates fans would have a lot to look forward to. However, Bob Nutting, the owner of the club, has ruffled some feathers. 

Back on June 21, Nutting addressed the media and gave Pirates fans a sense of what has turned out to be false hope. This comment in particular implied Pittsburgh would be exploring the trade block: “It’s an incredibly interesting year when you look at the number of teams that are just packed within a couple of games of each other. More than half the league is within striking distance. I think it’s a really interesting time and we’re absolutely evaluating a wide range of alternatives.”

Just a few weeks later, Nutting's tune changed. 

Now that the Pirates have fallen to third place in the National League Central at 8.5 games out, Bob Nutting seems to have no interest in making his club buyers at the trade deadline. Fans are furious as are some front office employees about the change of heart. They feel that their team is still within striking distance for an NL Wild Card spot as they are only three games out of that last postseason spot with half a season to play. 

Thoughts from the Pirates front office

One anonymous member of the Pittsburgh Pirates organization had this to say regarding the situation, per Pittsburgh Baseball Now: “Bob implied we’re going to have money to spend and he got the fans excited. But he told us we don’t have money to make significant additions.” 

Now it makes sense to think about the Pirates not having a ton of money to add big-name players but the Buccos entered 2024 with the second-lowest payroll in the entire MLB (only behind the Oakland A’s). The issue is that the majority of the Pittsburgh payroll is going to four players. 

Aroldis Chapman has a $10.5 million salary, Bryan Reynolds is on an eight-year, $106 million deal, Ke’Bryan Hayes inked an eight-year, $70 million contract and Mitch Keller agreed to a five-year, $77 million deal. For the Pirates to add a significant player at the trade deadline, at least one if not more of these contracts would need to be dumped. The team may be willing to do this but it would be in preparation for the future, not for 2024.