WHAT PIRATE fans need to know in relation to their baseball club.

August 6: It’s all about Paul Skenes.

August 13: Actions speak louder than words: Ben Cherington.

August 20: Non-actions speak louder than words: Bob Nutting.

Today: A Brave New Pirates World.

Of the four parts in this series, today’s entry is different. All of the other parts rely solely on three people over whom we have no control. And although they are the three most important figures, chants to sell the team, posting billboards, and staging boycotts have no effect on what they do.

Just for a moment, be Paul Skenes: Everyone knows when you were drafted in 2023, you would be with the Pirates for the following three seasons.

In a failed attempt to squeeze another year out you, the Pirates kept you in the minor leagues for their first 39 games of the 2024 season, robbing you of 25 percent of the season in which you made more records that Bing Crosby (Go ask your Granny.)

The team played even worse once you arrived and ended up with a 76-86 record. But do you remember what you told MLB.com last September 25?

“We’re going to be better next year,” you said. “We’re going to win a lot more games next year. So [fans should] just keep coming. It means a lot to us. We’re going to give it back to them.”

You were new then, so we’ll give you a pass. Maybe you believed Cherington’s promise to address the lack of offense over the off-season.

And he did; he made it even worse.

But now you know. This team has problems enticing poor free agents to come to Pittsburgh; they’re here because nobody else wanted them. Ask Rowdy Tellez, cut to avoid paying him $200,000 performance bonus. Ask Andrew Heaney, banished to the bullpen to make it harder to throw 30 innings over the last 40 games, thereby saving the Bucs $400,000 in performance bonuses.

After vowing to make offense the only priority at this year’s trade deadline, Cherington got you not one bat, Paul, while turning two strengths into additional problems. Gone were lefty starter Bailey Falter and his seven wins — more than you at the time — and closer David Bednar.

Now you get it: Cherington says all the right things, but never delivers…except for money to stuff in Nutting’s pockets. With the Pirates $83 million payroll this season already ranked 27th out of 30 teams, Cherington’s deadline moves saved Nutting about $6 million this season, another $18 million in 2026 without Ke’Bryan Hayes, Falter, and Bednar; and another $16 million with Isiah Kiner-Falefa, Tommy Pham, and Heaney gone.

And if Mitch Keller and his upcoming $16.5 million paycheck are traded in the offseason, as expected, that’s about $56.5 million to spend in 2026 without raising the 2025 budget one penny,

It will also rid the Pirates of the $38 million due Keller over the following two years. And shedding Hayes’ 2027-2030 plus buyout or club option for 2031 saves the team another $29-$35.

That’s a lot of money for Nutting to move…from his left pocket to his right. Nutting threatens without following through. Cherington has done nothing better than maintaining a losing team with no improvement in six losing seasons. He has overseen an organizational-wide failure that permeates scouting, drafting, signing, developing, and coaching at all levels. Chances are 2026 will be Cherington’s seventh in Pittsburgh, because he oversees the continuing explosion of Nutting’s wealth. Nutting has no intention of changing anything, and often has said his goal is to hand the golden goose to his daughters when tires of counting money. He cares not a whit what you or I think of him. He’s the epitome of crying all the way to the bank.

So, dear readers, with two of Skenes’ three seasons in Pittsburgh already wasted and the 29th losing season in 33 years and the 46th season without a playoff series win, what gives anyone reason to think the approach will change when the Pirates take Skenes to arbitration after 2026, knowing he’ll be gone the day he wins his arbitration. There is no reason to think that will change.

Get prospects, then trade them when they deserve to be paid more than the team wants.

Skenes wants to win, and the men charged with making that happen just count the money.

The Brave New World? It’s another Pirate hoax; it’s the same old story with no hope of a different ending.

But next week’s final Extra Inning column will offer a different ending for you.