Frustrated Pirates fan launches petition urging 'greedy owner' to sell team
Having watched the Pittsburgh Pirates trade away Gerrit Cole and franchise cornerstone Andrew McCutchen in the span of three days, one frustrated fan recently started an online petition urging Major League Baseball to force principal owner Bob Nutting to sell the team.
"Pittsburgh is a baseball town that is being destroyed by a greedy owner," the petition reads. "There are so many loyal fans who truly care and support this team through thick and thin. We deserve better. I, like many others, endured so much pain watching a losing franchise from 1993 until 2013 when we saw playoff baseball return to Pittsburgh. You could see and hear the pain we kept inside all those years being released that October night. If you have had a chance to witness that glorious night, you know Pittsburgh is a baseball town. We've had enough! There needs to be change from the top of the organization down."
As of Wednesday morning, the petition - hosted on Change.org - had received more than 22,000 signatures.
"Bob Nutting needs to sell this team, so that we can see a competitive baseball team year in and year out," it continues. "It is obvious that he doesn't want to spend the money to make that happen. We need an owner who has a competitive spirit and loves the game of baseball!"
At this point, a change in ownership appears highly unlikely. Though the Pirates' attendance declined for a second straight season in 2017 - they haven't finished better than ninth in the National League in attendance since 1992 - Nutting made it clear in December that he's not thinking about selling the club.
"No one has approached us (about selling)," Nutting told Rob Biertempfel of the Pittsburgh Tribune. "I haven't heard any rumor. I haven't had any discussion. I'm not aware of any buyer. And I have no interest in selling the team."
Meanwhile, the Pirates' roster will probably be purged further. On Tuesday, Josh Harrison - now the club's longest-tenured player - foreshadowed an imminent end to his own time in Pittsburgh, saying that "if indeed the team does not expect to contend this year or next, perhaps it would be better for all involved that I also am traded."