For Pittsburgh Pirates, payroll is not everything in Baseball, but it will surely help
Last week when the Pittsburgh Pirates arrived for spring training in Bradenton, Florida, their owner Bob Nutting was interviewed by several different media members from the Pittsburgh market. The elephant in the room was the Pirates' extremely low payroll as the 2019 baseball campaign approaches. That payroll is projected to be right around $70 million to start the season.
The Pirates stepped out of their comfort zone last year after a torrid pace of wins leading up to and following the All-Star Break. They went out and acquired Chris Archer of the Tampa Bay Rays as the deadline came and went while shipping off some highly touted prospects in pitcher Tyler Glasnow and outfielder Austin Meadows.
Archer struggled in the month of August when he first came over but showed much promise in September to close out the season. Unfortunately for the Pirates and Archer, September was just a little too late.
According to many in the Pittsburgh fan base, the Pirates' payroll is too little. When speaking with Mr. Nutting, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette's Bill Brink was able to receive some comments on the payroll.
One thing Nutting stated was that there will always be limitations for the Pirates. It is quotes like these that have made Nutting and his team lose many fans over recent years. If he keeps doing too little, it may be too late to win back some of those fans.
While I must say that Nutting's comments are not completely off base, there still is room to fill voids. Pittsburgh won 98 games back in 2015 and saw a massive turnout in attendance all season long. According to Spotrac, the Pirates had a payroll of right around $100 million that season. That $70 million mark they currently sit at will just not be enough unless the guys on their current roster play above their heads at least a little bit.
One thing that rings true about this team heading into 2019 is that they have quality pitching all the way around. They have a nice core of starters with Jameson Taillon, the aforementioned Archer, Trevor Williams and Joe Musgrove. They have depth which they can use to finalize and fill the fifth rotation slot.
They have signed guys such as Rookie Davis, Jordan Lyles, and Francisco Liriano. While I do not have the answer as to which one of these guys will fill that spot, the depth is there. They also have that same depth and talent within their bullpen. The biggest question to be answered is: where will they find run production from?.
Perhaps upping the payroll from $70 million to about $100 million as they had in that 98-win 2015 season could make this team a contender. I have never been a proponent of the Pirates needing to spend money such as teams like the Dodgers, Red Sox, Yankees, etc. However, there is definitely room to add to this current team and the core of talent they do have.
The Archer move last year was nice and it brought some buzz to the city when it first happened. But that buzz has worn off. Fans want to see a winner and until Nutting dips into that payroll and spends closer to the $100 million threshold, he is going to have to hope that guys play above their heads. Otherwise, it may be too late to save the fans he has lost.