Frank Coonelly needs to shut up

By Jeff

This blog is one of the rare places out there where the Pittsburgh Pirates' management and ownership is defended to some degree. Mike and I think the organization is finally on the right path to bring a successful baseball team back to Pittsburgh with their focus on the draft and improvements to their International scouting.

Too bad there is no defending what team president Frank Coonelly told Piratesprospects.com. Coonelly was asked if the team could afford a $70 to $80 million payroll. His response came off as blaming the fans for the team's low payroll. "Today, no, but we will be able to support that payroll very soon if our fans believe that we now have a group of players in Pittsburgh and on its way here in the near future that is competitive," Coonelly said. "We need to take a meaningful step forward in terms of attendance to reach that payroll number while continuing to invest heavily in our future, but I am convinced that the attendance will move quickly once we convince our fans that we are on the right track."

The whole interview is here.

How can the Pirates ask more people to attend more games at this point? The team hasn't had a winning season in 18 years. For the majority of those 18 years, the team did nothing to try and improve. No. 1 overall picks were spent on players with a ceiling of fourth of fifth starters, while other top 10 picks were used on bullpen arms. Any player the fan base has grown attached to has been traded, and usually for very little.

If only fabulous hair translated to wins.

Even if the majority of fans think the team and management are righting the ship, which they don't, telling fans they need to come to games and watch a mediocre team in order for the team to improve is ridiculous. Does any successful business operate in this fashion? Imagine if restaurants said they would only improve the ingredients and food if more people came. It would go under very quickly.


Coonelly is right about one thing, though. Attendance will jump when fans are convinced the team is on the winning track. The people of Pittsburgh love baseball and want to cheer the Pirates. They just don't want to spend their money on a team they think is going nowhere. This team will need to spend money at some point if they want people to believe again and come to PNC Park.

The biggest criticism the Buccos face is that ownership only cares about a profit. Just listen to the local talk shows and you'll hear countless fans rip into owner Bob Nutting for never spending on the team, while he makes money. The only way to bring those fans back is to spend some money.

I'm not saying the Pirates need to go out and overpay on big free agents. That's a recipe for failure. What they need to do is lock up the good talent they have right now. Until Andrew McCutchen and the others receive nice extension, fans are constantly going to fear these players will be traded to the New York Yankees.

That's just the beginning. The team must then develop at least one top of the rotation starter. Once these objectives are done, the team can then complement it with free agents that will actually help the team win, not simply fill out a starting lineup.

Coonelly is a fool if he thinks a rise in attendance has to happen before the above three objectives are completed. This organization has already asked too much from its fan base. At some point, the fans need results if they're going to spend the money and time to attend Pirates games.

U2 - I Will Follow