tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6207200414495313452.post137429954402443905..comments2023-10-10T12:46:47.186-04:00Comments on The Green Weenie: Rainy Day NotesUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6207200414495313452.post-81282240100057039712011-04-24T13:13:11.637-04:002011-04-24T13:13:11.637-04:00I really don't have any complaints yet, Will, ...I really don't have any complaints yet, Will, now or past. A pricey free agent without a nucleus and pitching staff is just throwing money away.<br /><br />And you're right that the payroll is more a function of service time than penny-pinching to date. But contracts keep escalating, and so does the cost of business.<br /><br />The time of ponying up is approaching, and I agree with you that the way they handle McCutch will probably be an indicator of how they plan to deal down the road.<br /><br />In the next two or three seasons, they'll have to come to grips with paying their players big-boy money...or letting them go, and that, of course, is the big question. Which road will they choose?Ron Ieracihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08784507810080514099noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6207200414495313452.post-15041742684504377822011-04-23T14:41:50.172-04:002011-04-23T14:41:50.172-04:00They do have to loosen the purse strings to some d...They do have to loosen the purse strings to some degree. Surely Andrew McCutchen is the first big test case for the current regime. That said, it's not true that the Pirates never pay somewhat larger dollars for their own players; Ryan Doumit, Ian Snell, and Nate McLouth---all homegrown---were all given fairly lucrative contracts to buy them out of their arb years, though McLouth was of course immediately traded. Believe it or not, I have no problem, in principle, with the Pirates being careful with their money, PROVIDED they prove that they are still willing to spend appropriately when doing so would give them a legitimate shot at making the postseason. Otherwise, I have very little time for the insane greed of the MLBPA. While their entertainment value is off the charts and while I greatly enjoy being entertainted by them, the fact is that, at the end of the day, these guys are playing a kids' game and being paid obscene amounts of money to do it. Even at the lowest end of the pay scale.WilliamJPellashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12774466220683142262noreply@blogger.com