"The Pirates aren't trying to win"

[jredmo2]

"If they won and were forced to increase their payroll from $34 million to $75 million or $80 million ... how profitable would they be?" Berri said. "There's a ceiling in terms of gate revenues."

Economist Roger Noll, a Stanford University economist, said: "Probably the Pirates would be less profitable if they tried to improve the team substantially."

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=5484947

[davereds24]

many teams are this way, not really surprising.

with that great ballpark they could fill it with a great team, but even $100mil payroll doesn't guarantee that.

[bshall2105]

It's a good thing they're in our division then. I'm fine with playng a AAA team many times for years to come.

[jhc2010]

Agreed. The Reds have got to love 18 games every year against the Pirates and 6 against the present-day Indians.

[jredmo2]

I just hope they try to win the next three games.

[10xWSChamps]

The Pirates are dead last in payroll and have been for almost a decade. They are going on almost 20 years without a winning season.

The other NLC teams are lucky to have a team like the Pirates in their division.

Whenever the Pirates get a good player, they trade him away before arbitration gets too high or before they have to re-sign him. It must suck to be a Pirates fan and know a great young player like McCutcheon (whom they got from trading away another good young player they used to have....) has no chance of being with the team long term. They have a payroll of just over 30m, that is pathetic. I honestly do feel sorry for the Pirates fans and anyone who is a hardcore fan of theirs. It has to be utterly demoralizing as a sports fan to have a team like the Pirates in your hometown city. But then again, Pittsburgh sports fans have the Penguins and Steelers, so they do have their fair share of championship teams.