DK’s Daily Shot of Pirates: Can’t be motivated

15 comments

1. My first time on your Pirates Daily Shot platform.

2. Well time to switch back to the Pirates….

3. DK tell me what you think of my idea. With starting pitching being touted as one of the best. I proposed that the position players and coaching staff make a commitment to the pitchers and fans that we will get at least one run a game. Schedule one whole day of Spring Training for nothing but bunting, fielding the bunt and base running. 2 inter squad games all hands on deck. Let's get better at this aspect of the game, bunting can be taught. What makes me think of this is when watching games in past seasons I have heard the commentators say several times that players don't bunt and are not very good at it. From a lifelong fan always wanting our team to get better. Thank You.

4. The response to the J1Q just has me flashing back to mid last season when it felt like the topic on here for weeks on end was that the team had obvious needs and there was no rule that they had to wait until the deadline to make moves to meet those needs. It changed slightly when other teams made moves leading up to the deadline while the Pirates sat on their hands. I would argue THE figure that matters for a team that has shown no urgency for winning, is the one the one you are looking at right now, right now being whenever you are looking at it until they prove they are actually trying.

   It's a lot easier to justify not getting to a certain payroll level at the end of the season, if you don't invest enough to win at the beginning of it.

5. To get to 100 by the end of the season, of course they don't need to be there on opening day….. but like… they gotta get close than 80ish!

6. What does "all in" even mean? To me it sounds like "sell every single prospect for mlb guys". I mean maybe it's the right strategy, but nobody actually does that

7. I don't think Cherington will lose his job at the end of the season. He isn't working like a man in trouble at all. A desperate executive would have taken chances. He stayed the safe path again.

8. What I've noticed in the past few months are two streams of commentary from the outside regarding the Pirates since Skenes joined the rotation. There are people like Jim Bowden who are imploring that Nutting go "all in" given the caliber of Pirates' current rotation. The second stream of commentary is actually laughable (to me) because those comments are coming from serious baseball fans of other teams who are already predicting that the Pirates have a very good chance of winning the NL Central in 2025 because of the starting rotation. They're not taking into consideration: 1) the team’s subpar offense; 2) the lack of impact players acquired in the offseason; 3) the frighteningly poor attitude of the owner; and 4) the ironclad desire of the front office and field manager to keep doing the same things over and over again because they just want to be comfortable through minimal effort.

   It's as if the starting rotation might be viewed by those on the outside as the elixir that will magically resolve this organization's very entrenched resistance to change. The visible lack of a competive spirit or a strong motivation to win by the "leaders" of this franchise are also somehow being missed or even ignored.

   This is only my opinion, but defense mechanisms seem to be the driving forces behind the actions and decisions of the Pirates' organizational leaders. As a result, critical thinking can't really be achieved in such an unstable and always-shifting framework. When denial, suppression, intellectualization, rationalization, avoidance, etc. have become the primary lens in which situations are viewed and business decisions are made (or not made), then this Pirates team will continue to be in trouble.

   A lack of motivation may also be a defense mechanism that's being collectively utilized because Nutting, Williams, Cherington, and Shelton may be unconsciously trying to avoid ongoing internal anxiety. They want to be seen as highly competent and intelligent, but the team outcomes each year brutally suggest otherwise. Unfortunately — and to the detriment of the team — a lack of motivation is also a barrier to learning. That may be why the Pirates' decision-makers haven't appeared to learn a single thing over the past five seasons.

9. What about the penguins

10. Nice to hear you giving props to Noll DK.

11. Anyone that still believes the pirates are trying to win are delusional.

12. 100 million? HA

13. My early intuition. This rotation isn’t going to be as good as everyone thinks. Then they’re in trouble again.

14. Thank you DK, The best way to un motivate. Great listen DK

15. Why not start Skenes in RF when not starting,and why not bring him on RF starts to relief as needed.He can be our four day a week star like Otani?