By Kevin Gorman
September 1, 2017
Neal Huntington and Bob Nutting during spring training.
September baseball is here, but instead of raising the Jolly Roger, the Pirates waved a white flag.
Argue all you want over whether the final straw came Tuesday, when the Pirates placed reliever Juan Nicasio on outright waivers, or a day later, when they lost to Jose Quintana and the Chicago Cubs, 17-3, at Wrigley Field.
Pirates general manager Neal Huntington settled the debate with a statement saying “the unusual step” was made because of their “recent record and regression in the standings.”
The worst part was the Pirates acknowledging “the minimal amount of money saved by making the move.”
All of $600,000.
“It was a weird move, in my book,” Pirates catcher Chris Stewart said.
Weirder still is Huntington's exasperating explanation of why the Pirates didn't trade Nicasio, the second-best pitcher in their bullpen this season. Huntington said Nicasio was claimed by a “playoff-caliber” team, but “rather than help a direct competitor,” the Pirates placed him on waivers in hopes he would end up on a contender, preferably in the American League.
That strategy didn't stop the Pirates from dealing Tony Watson to the Dodgers, who have baseball's best record.
Instead, Nicasio was claimed by the Phillies, the worst team in baseball and one to which the Pirates previously dealt a former first-round pick for 40-year-old reliever Joaquin Benoit at the trade deadline.
Presumably, the Pirates didn't want Nicasio to end up with another NL Central team, especially given they play only division foes between now and Sept. 24.
“If we would've seen him six games in September, it would have been a little weird,” Stewart said. “It's just weird to not have him here.”
What's even weirder is how the Pirates are trying to spin it moving forward.
“It's another example of the game does revolve around performance and can be pushed by performance, team performance,” manager Clint Hurdle said. “There's always opportunity for somebody else when somebody exits, the next-Pirate-up mentality taking place.”
The Pirates have leaned heavily on that next-Pirate-up mentality this season, reaching into the minors for help when Jung Ho Kang was denied a visa, when Starling Marte was suspended for 80 games, when Jameson Taillon had testicular cancer surgery and especially when Gregory Polanco pulled his hamstring July 21, amid a run of 12 wins in 14 games, and again Aug. 12, after they moved to within three games of first place.
Yet now that they can expand to a 40-man roster, the Pirates aren't promoting their prospects because their minor-league affiliates in Triple-A Indianapolis and Double-A Altoona have qualified for the playoffs.
That's priceless.
Even so, Pirates players won't criticize the front office for not delivering help, despite when affordable options were available in starter Quintana and outfielders Jay Bruce, Melky Cabrera and Curtis Granderson.
“We had our moments. We had our spots. We had our chances,” center fielder Andrew McCutchen said. “But we've got to go with what we've got. That's what we've been all about this whole season, trying to go with what we've got and going out there and playing as hard as we can play, man.”
Pirates owner Bottom-Line Bob Nutting and his front office already are laying the groundwork to pin their unwillingness to spend this season on declining attendance.
The Pirates' per-game average dipped from a PNC Park-best 30,847 in 2015 to 27,768 last season to 24,307 this year, a decline of 12.5 percent over a year and 21.2 percent over two. Never mind that Pirates fans averaged 29,621 in their three playoff seasons, following a 20-year losing drought.
No wonder there is an air of resignation inside the clubhouse from players who know that, win or lose, no help is coming.
“We always feel like we've got our backs against the wall,” Stewart said, “whether we're in first place or in last.”
Don't take this personally, but the Pirates are going to blame you, the fan.
Clear the deck. Cannonball coming.
Kevin Gorman is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach him at kgorman@tribweb.com or via Twitter @KGorman_Trib.
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