I am done with Bob Nutting and his press conference pity parties. Every year, it’s the same song. He calls the season “unacceptable,” says he’s going to fix everything, promises urgency, and then does literally nothing. Nothing. Fans buy it for a second because who doesn’t want to believe their team can be competitive, but this has been going on for years. Words mean absolutely nothing when your wallet is still closed. Bob, this is Pittsburgh. We know your game. We know you are perfectly happy collecting a paycheck every year, filling the stadium with cheap giveaways and bobbleheads, and pretending that counts as progress.

Calling a Season Unacceptable Means Nothing When You Do Nothing

Bob Nutting called the 2025 season “unacceptable” and said the organization “fell well short both on and off the field.” Okay, great. That’s a headline. That’s a press photo. But what happens after that? Nothing. The same old story. No real spending, no real plan, no respect for the fans who sit in the stands, hope for a real team, and watch this clown pocket the money instead of investing in the club. Every time he opens his mouth, it’s performative, and every time he closes it, nothing changes.

Payroll Shows Exactly Who He Cares About

Let’s be honest. Payroll tells the story better than words ever could. The Pirates flirted with relevance during the playoff window in the mid-2010s, then payroll tanked again. In 2025, Opening Day payroll was roughly $86.5 million, solidly in the bottom third of MLB. That’s not an accident. That’s a choice. The owner signs the checks. If Bob wanted to win, he’d spend where it counts. He doesn’t. He’s perfectly happy letting the team rot while collecting revenue sharing and ticket money. That’s what’s happening, and fans see right through it.

Stop Hiding Behind the Small-Market Excuse

I keep hearing it from the apologists: “small market,” “TV deals,” “CBA,” “revenue sharing.” Really? Other small-market teams figure it out. They spend smart, they keep their core pieces, and they build a real team. The Pirates pull in hundreds of millions over multiple years and still rank near the bottom of spending. Where’s the money going Bob? Into your pocket while fans get giveaways and press conferences? Because that’s exactly what it looks like.

Trades That Kill Any Chance of a Contender

Bob Nutting doesn’t build teams. He builds feeder systems. Every prime player that could have made this team competitive gets flipped. Gerrit Cole, Andrew McCutchen, Starling Marte, all developed in Pittsburgh and all gone to be stars elsewhere. The pattern is obvious. Harvest the value, cash out, reset the farm, repeat. Fans bought into playoff runs thinking Nutting saw the potential to build something. Instead, he saw it and decided that was good enough for him. That’s why the team is garbage.

Bobbleheads Do Not Win Pennants

There are two ways to get people in the stadium. One is to build a team that actually wins. The other is to give out a bobblehead and a discount ticket and hope people forget the team is awful. Guess which one Nutting prefers. Promotions are cheap, they fill the seats for a weekend, and they make money that could go straight into payroll. But he pockets it instead. He is more focused on selling a $3 bobblehead than a team that can compete. That is why Pittsburgh baseball sucks and will keep sucking.

Bucco Bricks and the Clemente Ad Prove He Doesn’t Care

Respect? Not in Bob Nutting’s vocabulary. Fans paid for personalized Bucco Bricks expecting a permanent piece of PNC Park. During renovations, thousands of bricks got tossed in a recycling facility. Then the team apologizes, promises replicas, but the damage is done. That’s betrayal. Then they replace Clemente’s tribute with a beer ad. The disrespect is staggering. He clearly thinks fans are stupid. And honestly, that might be the only thing keeping him in business.

The Clemente Wall Fall Shows How Broken This Team Is

A kid falls over the Clemente Wall, gets hurt, and the organization barely responds. Optics are awful. Safety protocols are ignored. This is not a one-off problem. When you combine this with Bucco Bricks and the Clemente ad disaster, it becomes obvious: this organization doesn’t prioritize anything important. Operations are sloppy, decisions are cheap, and fans are the ones paying the price.

Free Agency Is a Complete Joke

The Pirates treat free agency like a yard sale. One-year deals. Cheap guarantees. That is it. The last multi-year deal was Ivan Nova in 2016. Nine years of renting players and tossing them aside. Adam Frazier, Tommy Pham, Andrew Heaney – all one-year contracts in 2025. The message is clear: if you succeed, we trade or cut you. Continuity is dead. Chemistry is dead. Fans are dead inside. Stop pretending this is a strategy. It’s lazy, cheap, and predictable.

One-Year Deals Kill Trust, Chemistry, and Fan Faith

Look at Andrew Heaney. One-year deal. DFA’d midseason. That is not smart management. That is cheap, lazy, and insulting. Baseball is a team sport. It requires chemistry. It requires trust. Free agents look at this and laugh. Fans feel manipulated. Nutting’s default is to pay nothing, flip everything, and act like he’s doing the city a favor. It’s pathetic.

Paul Skenes Is the Future or the Next Payday

Paul Skenes is a generational talent. You either build around him or you trade him for prospects and start the cycle over. Every report in 2025 shows trade rumors. If Nutting’s default is collecting cash, Skenes becomes another payday instead of the core of a competitive team. If he actually wants to compete, he keeps him and builds the team around him. That choice will decide if Pittsburgh sees October baseball in the next decade.

Show a Plan or Sell the Team

I’ve done the math. Ticket revenue, concession revenue, and promotions bring in millions that could fund meaningful payroll increases. Fans deserve to see:

• A payroll floor tied to revenue. Make it real.
• A five-year roster plan. Show which homegrown pieces are staying, which free agents get multi-year deals, and how payroll rises each year.
• Full transparency on Bucco Bricks and Clemente. No excuses, no spin, no lies.
• A clear plan for Skenes. Build around him with money or explain why he’s being traded and how it creates a real contender.

If Nutting wants to keep collecting money while whining about small-market excuses, he should sell the team. Fans aren’t asking for miracles. We want a team that competes in September and maybe gives us a shot in October.

Giveaways Do Not Replace Roster Spending

Let’s do real numbers. A single bobblehead night can bring mid-six figures in ticket revenue. Across a season, that could fund $10 million in payroll. That is real money that could buy wins. Instead, Nutting pockets it, fans get cheap promotions, and the team stays bad.

The Trust Is Gone

Look at the pattern: occasional playoff runs, payroll rollback, trade away stars, PR spin, repeat. Fans are angry because they invested in this team and watched it get gutted while Nutting cries about a losing season. That is hypocrisy and incompetence rolled into one. Either spend like you mean it or sell to someone who will.

Final Demand

Bob Nutting, stop saying “unacceptable” and doing nothing. Fund the team properly. Commit to multi-year plans that keep stars and build around them. Return the Bucco Bricks. Restore Clemente’s legacy without cheapening it with ads. Show us payroll numbers and a multi-year plan with measurable outcomes. Fans are done with performative statements. We want receipts, decisions, and a team that actually tries.

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