In January of 2018, I speculated that Pittsburgh Pirate owner (and Ogden Newspaper owner) Bob Nutting’s business plan for the team was something like this:

• 1. Field an inexpensive team by trading/not signing quality (higher salaried) players.
• 2. Use “building for the future” and “restocking our depleted minor league system” whenever criticized for #1.
• 3. Stand pat at the trading deadline if the team somehow manages to contend.
• 4. Continually point out that small-market teams cannot compete and hope that no one notices the small-market teams that are competing.
• 5. Threaten to move the team elsewhere if heavily criticized.
• 6. Remember that bobblehead nights are always cheaper than paying actual players. *

In the year and half since I wrote this, not much has changed. At this season’s halfway point in July, Nutting’s team was just 2½ games out of first place in baseball’s tightest divisions. Despite the trading deadline that was soon approaching, Nutting and the Pirates made no major moves in order to try to win a division that was certainly within the team’s reach. Since then, the Pirates have won 8 and lost 30 to give them the fourth worst record in baseball. (They are now 14½ games out of the playoffs and the season, for all purposes, is over.)

Obviously, attendance at games has and will suffer but does that really matter that much to ownership? Earlier this year, Richard Dyer in his analysis of the changing economics of major league baseball explained the role that attendance currently plays in a baseball team’s bottom line:

This will seem counterintuitive to the average baseball fan, but stadium attendance is now one of the least significant revenue streams for all 30 MLB clubs.

And so with declining attendance, Nutting may make slightly-less money than what he made midway through the decade when his team contended. And despite being voted Pittsburgh’s most hated sports figure in the spring of this year, he has never suggested any willingness to sell the team to someone who might invest more in the team. Why should he? It makes lots of money even when the team isn’t winning.

Each spring, Forbes magazine does an in-depth look at each baseball team’s finances. DK Pittsburgh Sports explained Forbes’ numbers for the Pirates:

Wednesday, Forbes released its annual baseball team valuation, and to the surprise of nobody, the Yankees lead the way with a value of $4.6 billion. Also, to the surprise of nobody, the Pirates continue to rake in cash under owner Bob Nutting.

The Pirates ranked 20th in the Major Leagues with a $1.275 billion valuation, but the bigger story is the growth since Nutting took over in 2007. Then, the franchise was worth $274 million — 28th in MLB — illustrating a $1 billion leap in his 12 years of ownership. . . .

The Pirates' figures equate to a 365 percent growth.

Not bad. Nutting has figured out how to make a profit regardless of how many games his team wins. What incentive does he have to spend more money in order to make fans happier by winning more games? Next to none. Craig Calcaterra writing at NBC Sports made that very point about baseball’s changing economics at the beginning of this year:

If you own a team and you are getting billions from TV over the next couple of decades, and billions in random windfalls from gambling and internet side businesses and by making such-and-such a company and official partner of Major League Baseball — and if actually drawing fans to the ballpark is less important than ever — why put any money into your team? Why pay ballplayers? Why try to even compete? To do so is to take money out of your own pocket for very little financial reward, relatively speaking. In the past, when winning games and drawing fans was pretty important you had an incentive to field a respectable team. Where’s that incentive now? You can either make $X by winning, oh, 70-75 games or $X-$Y to win 95. Sure, maybe you could add to that $X by winning the World Series, but that’s a long shot even among good teams. Wouldn’t it be better to simply go cheap on the talent and guarantee you that $X than to pay $Y for a 10% shot at a World Series title? And heck, it may not even pay the $Y. It may just pay you in the form of an ego boost.

“Go cheap.” In Nutting’s case, a simple statement of his business plan.

I was a big Pirate fan growing up in the Pittsburgh area. One of my fondest memories of my childhood was the day my father took my grandfather and me to Forbes Field for my first Pirate game. I may not always remember the name of a former student or where I put my cell phone, but I do remember that the Phillies beat the Pirates 7 to 2 that day. The Pirates were horrible that year, but they won the World Series a couple of years later. That boom and bust cycle continued for a couple of decades until the economics of the sport changed and owners like Bob Nutting, realizing that owning a baseball team meant risking little to make a lot, took over.

• *For those interested in bobblehead nights, only two remain this summer. September 7 features Spider-Man and September 28 will be announcer Steve Blass. Both are smart choices by the Pirates since neither will likely be traded away for cash and prospects before then.