This past fall, Pittsburgh Pirates owner Bob Nutting shocked the stalwart Pirate faithful when he announced a front office house-cleaning. Out went manager Clint Hurdle, then team president Frank Coonelly, and, finally, general manager Neal Huntington. Nutting showed his human side in describing his thought process for such sweeping changes. Specifically, Nutting alluded to the success of ex-Pirate pitchers such as Gerrit Cole, Charlie Morton and Tyler Glasnow and the success they found in another uniform.
As reported by Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh-Post, Nutting specifically said the following:
“Watching the challenges on the field, on and off the field, in the clubhouse, and, frankly, watching some of our players that we have drafted and developed perform so well for other teams, there’s a certain point that our fans became tired.