Courtesy of Westminster College
Warning yinz! This article will have many numbers. Now, I’m not a big numbers guy; I prefer letters myself, but sometimes we have to compromise on our desires for the common good. I’ve written a lot about the Pittsburgh Pirates, how bad they are, and why they may never get better. However, in the past month or so, something shocking has been happening, or at least maybe will happen. The Pirates are planning on spending money.
I know what you’re thinking: Planning is not doing. With a track record like the Pirates, you need to see it to believe it, and I hear you. It seems nonsensical that the Pirates could sign Kyle Schwarber or Munetaka Murakami, but what if? What if the Pirates actually spend money this offseason? Do they even have the money to spend? How can a team like the Pirates from the fairly small city of Pittsburgh compete with the Yankees and Dodgers? Well, here’s where those numbers come in… the Pirates actually have a ton of money.
Baseball teams work on a revenue-sharing system to allow for small-market teams like the Pirates to have similar amounts of money to work with bigger teams. Every team puts in 48 percent of all revenue from ticket sales, advertising, TV deals, and whatever other ways they can eke out a little more cash. That 48 percent gets put into one big pot and split evenly between all 30 teams.
From the 52 percent the team kept and the money from the pool, the Pirates had a total revenue of $326 million, and of that $326 million, they spent $84 million… only $84 million. That comes out to 26 percent of revenue spent. That means that Bob Nutting, the owner of the team, made $242 million. The New York Mets, for context, had $444 million in revenue and spent $342 million, making their percentage 77 percent. Phew, there we go.
What I’m trying to say is that the Pirates have money. If they spent even 50 percent of their revenue on the team, which is around the league average, they would have $80 million more each year to work with. $80 million is enough for four to five really good quality free agents who would greatly improve the team.
Now, are the Pirates going to sign Kyle Tucker, Pete Alonso, or Kyle Schwarber? Probably not. But with the way the Pirates are talking and the money they have to spend, there is a chance that they land someone. Maybe a Mike Yastrzemski or Eugenio Suárez. They haven’t done anything yet — we could still have another season with no improvements from a bottom-five team. But for the first time in a long time, there is a little bit of hope in the Pittsburgh baseball world.