“Sell the team” chants erupt at annual Pirates Fest

It could be worse, Oakland straight up lost their team and still didn’t get what they wanted.

The baseball season hasn’t even begun, but still fans of the Pittsburgh Pirates are already receiving reality checks, courtesy of the team’s front office.

At the annual Pirates’ Fest that happens every offseason, a Q&A session sparked a conversation of the team’s commitment to winning, with team CEO Travis Williams fielding most of the questions of the behalf of the front office and ownership. Team owner Bob Nutting was not in attendance, and his lack of presence was felt when fans in the crowd started a “sell the team chant” as Williams was on the mic.

Williams and others managed to settle the chant before going on to drop a bombshell on the crowd regarding the Pirates’ ownership moving forward.

“To answer your immediate question that you said earlier, Bob is not going to sell the team,” Williams said. “He cares about Pittsburgh, he cares about winning, he cares about us putting a winning product on the field, and we’re working towards that every day.”

The commitment to winning as an organization from the top down, has been questioned ever since Nutting purchased the team in 2008, having just four winning seasons in that span. Year after year, he is criticized for not being able to put together a winning team, cutting corners with player contracts, and just overall not getting the job done.

2024 was yet another example of a failed season, as the Pirates were 55-52 at the trade deadline. A lack of real moves and just overall poor management saw the team crash back to earth, finishing the season on a 21-34 back half and finishing last in the NL Central.

Still though, Williams made it a point to remind everyone the team’s mission, and that they are working to build a winning team. However, that’s hard to believe, given the state of the roster and the stagnant cult that surrounds the club.

“We know that there is frustration, frustration because we are not winning, with the expectations of winning,” Williams said. “At the end of the day, that’s not due to lack of commitment to want to win.”

Winning hasn’t come easy in Pittsburgh recently, having not made the playoffs since 2015, not even having a winning record since 2018, and since 1992 have a lowly three postseason appearances. The recipe for winning is lost in Pittsburgh and a lot of that is on ownership, the same ownership who couldn’t even show up to answer questions from the fans of his team.