PITTSBURGH -- As the Pirates prepared to take on the Yankees Friday afternoon and open PNC Park for its 25th season, Pirates chairman Bob Nutting took questions from MLB.com and The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette on the ballpark, the direction of the team and Paul Skenes. Below is a full transcript of the conversation.
The home opener is always a special day. Does it ever get old for you?
"Opening Day really is [special]. It's one of the great days of the year. I think it should be a national holiday. Particularly here in Pittsburgh, to be able to see PNC Park filled back up with fans again, to see families coming into the ballpark, to look across at the skyline and see that summer is coming, I love Opening Day."
The changes that are coming to the ballpark, what's exciting for you for this 25th season of PNC [Park]?
"I think what we continue to try to do is make sure we have the best ballpark in America, stay the best ballpark in America, get better for the fans every year. I think as we're trying to find those little pieces of fan experience, we didn't do some of the big things we did in the last few years with the riverwalk and some of the rebuilding of concessions, special season-ticket holder areas. I think what we really focused on is making sure that all the little details are done right. Make sure that the lines are shorter and people are welcomed and we're doing the basics because it really is our fans’ ballpark more than ours. It really is Pittsburgh's ballpark, and our job is to make sure it stays as [great] it can possibly stay."
Obviously, there was a lot of frustration expressed from fans this offseason. They want to see a winning team in Pittsburgh. What do you say to the fans who are frustrated from this team's lack of success, especially to the ones who have placed the blame on you?
"I think there are really two things there. One, I really do appreciate and respect the passion that the fans have for the Pittsburgh Pirates, and the desire they have for this team to win. What I want them to know is that I share that, working every day to put a winner and a championship team out here on this field. We did a lot of that work over the offseason. Fundamentally, my role is to make sure that we have [general manager] Ben [Cherington] in place, and we have Shelty [manager Derek Shelton] in place, and they have the tools to support our players and provide everything that we possibly can to give them an opportunity to succeed.
“I think the other piece that is important for me to do is to make sure that we're filtering out what is a potential distraction, moving us down the wrong path, and get a laser focus on those things that are going to give us the ability to put a championship team on the field. So, I think this year, Ben understands how important this season is. Shelty understands how important this season is. And, as they rebuild coaching staffs, as they rebuild positions, as we've provided more analytics support, those are the things they believe will put us in the strongest position we can possibly be in to win.
“We had a disappointing start. It's a few games in, and we need to see real performance. I have high expectations this year. The organization knows we have high expectations, and I know the fans have high expectations."
For you, you touched on it a little bit with Shelty and Ben knowing how important this year is. What are your personal expectations like? Do you have a, 'this team has to finish with X amount of wins' or 'make the playoffs' or a benchmark like that?
"I think if we're going to focus on the critical things to build a championship-quality team and bring a championship to Pittsburgh, the only benchmark we can have is we need to win every game we go out to play. We don't look at a seven-game stretch. We look at tomorrow's game, we look at the next month.
“I was just talking to Dan Vogelbach. You can't look at a full season, you can't look at a single game. You play a month at a time. We have to figure out how to get this clubhouse focused on winning the games we can win, staying focused on the things that are controllable and moving on."
Do you feel like this current regime has the resources that are necessary to be competitive?
"Yes. I think that I've done everything that I can to provide the tools and resources to the team. There is a point where it becomes execution. That's why you play the season. That's why you play the games. We talk about winning on the margins. Obviously, Miami was challenging. I know that. Ben knows that. Shelty definitely knows that. We were just talking about it. But it's not productive for him to look back at Miami other than as a way to learn how to get better tomorrow, to make sure that we don't make those mistakes again tonight against the Yankees. You just can't do that."
One more real fast on Paul [Skenes]. What does having a person, a talent like that mean to this organization, and does it impact trajectories or expectations going forward?
"Paul's a special player. He really is a remarkable young man. A combination of leadership characteristics that he brings, whether it's from the Air Force Academy or just who he is. The physical command that he has and just the raw character that he brings every day, it's a unique combination.
“So we really love having him in the clubhouse and looking forward to see how he can impact not only his own performance, but raise the level of expectation and performance for the whole team."