Nutting's world is caving in

I heard the rumor last week and couldn't get it confirmed.

I didn't want to believe it.

Monday someone anonymously emailed me stating the same thing.

I was still in disbelief because it just didn't make any sense. But I couldn't keep refusing to acknowledge that it might be true.

So I dug even further.

Then Tuesday I heard it again, but this time it came from two sources on opposite ends of the continent and in another anonymous email.

It just had to be true.

The Pirates refuse to confirm it and my sources around the team don't want to talk about it which only points me in one possible direction..

It appears Neal Huntington was only given a two-year deal.

That's a devastating blow to Neal Huntington and the Pirates, not to mention the fans.

For one thing, there isn't anyone worth more than a can of corn that is going to toss their job security in another organization out the door to run and play games with Huntington knowing his superiors think so little of him they gave him the shortest deal in the game.

During an entire franchise rebuilding process, no less.

Of course, there has to be someone out there who only cares about the amount of money in their paycheck instead of their career after two years. Here kitty kitty, here kitty.

For another, who wants to be evaluated on turning around an entire organization in two short years when Huntington himself is brand new in the GM role, much less also knowing Shapiro ran him out of his front office years ago?

Talk about a lack of job security. Wow.

Now there's talk that Huntington is being required to hire a babysitter, er, um, I mean, senior adviser to hold Huntington's hand.

Talk about a confidence level blow to diaper wearing Huntington from his CEO.

But guess what? Nobody wants that job either so they might have to turn to a great joke teller who once had a good baseball mind instead of a real honest-to-goodness respected name in the game who could make a difference.

Hey, someone has to keep the place lively for the baby.

Well, just when you thought it could get any worse than all that, along comes the revelation that Shapiro has declared "hands-off" to Cleveland employees leaving Shapiro laughing his butt off knowing he had his cake (getting rid of Huntington) and eating it too (can't touch this).

And just for the fun of it, other clubs are now joining in on the circus act telling Huntington uh-uh-uhhhh.. can't touch this either.

But don't fear Pirate fans. Just think, when Huntington decides to hold his rebuilding garage sale, you can be absolutely sure there will be one trading partner Huntington will have at his disposal.

Yup - Mark Shapiro.

The same guy Huntington owes for maneuvering behind other people's backs to get Huntington hired at the last moment, not to mention Huntington's thankfulness for his astronomical salary increase after he thought he was all but certain to be further demoted in his old organization.

How can Huntington resist such wonderful favors while digging for treasure in a depleted farm system?

The last sentence in the last chapter of the official big blue book on rebuilding an MLB franchise says:

"WARNING TO OWNERSHIP: when you find you have made a mistake in your executive hiring, just remember it's more cost efficient to eat that contract than it is to lose forty times that in short-term assets."

It's not too late to backup and come out smelling like roses Mr. Nutting. Everyone knows you made a mistake - even you have to know it now.

Make the move. Get this club on track. You have an entire group of men just waiting to step in and take control.

Professionals who will do it the right way, and not be shunned around the game.