Bob Nutting is among the worst owners in the league for the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Pittsburgh Pirates fans have done their fair share of complaining with Bob Nutting as the team’s owner, and rightfully so.
The team hasn’t won a playoff series since the Nutting family took over in 1996, and fans have become impatient towards their lack of desire to spend money towards building a successful baseball team.
Bleacher Report writer Zachary D. Rymer ranked all 30 owners in the league and placed Nutting at No. 29.
The Pirates are about to head into the 30th season of the Nutting era, and it’ll take nothing less than a World Series title to redeem the first 29.
Only the Kansas City Royals have sustained more defeats since 1996, and they at least won a pennant in 2014 and a championship in 2015. In addition to those three playoff appearances, the Bucs somehow only have four winning seasons to show for the last three decades.
The Pirates’ value and revenues are more or less in line with their market size. From these angles, at least, you can make excuses for Nutting’s refusal to consistently invest in payroll.
It becomes harder to do so when you notice that his net worth is measured in billions. He ought to be treating the Bucs like his pride and joy, whereas he never spends in free agency and otherwise skimps on everything. Fans are right to want him to sell.
The only owner to finish worse than Nutting was Bruce Sherman of the Miami Marlins, who has driven his team into the ground even after a surprise playoff appearance in 2023.
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