While most experts and myself thought the Pirates did well in this deal, all were not happy in the land of steel. Pirates’ shortstop and longest tenured Bucco, Jack Wilson, was none to pleased with this trade.
“It’s tough for the guys who’ve been here and have seen these trades happen and absolutely do nothing,” Wilson said several hours after the deals were made. “I’ve seen these trades two or three times a year and we still haven’t had a winning season.”
Wilson is 100 percent right. He has been on the Pirates since 2001 and every year the Pirates have stunk. If you are him, why would you think these trades would be any different or yield better results than the horrible trades that the Pirates have made in the past?
Wilson signed a three-year extension with the Pirates in February of 2006 in hopes that things will turn around. He wanted to be a Pirate when the worm turned, sort of speak. I would think we all would agree there is no problem with that. A guy sticking with his team in hopes of the front office building a winner? Sounds good to me.
But things haven’t changed. The Pirates have been awful for what seems like 30 years in a row. It’s really been 16 years of futility, but you get my point.
Wilson wants to win, and just like any other organization, whether you work for a media company, a law firm, or a clothing store, you need your upper management to make smart, sound, and wise decisions in order to be successful. The Pirates have done anything but.<!-- my page break -->
Wilson, being the “good soldier” issued an apology for his comments.
“Some of my comments were pretty harsh,” he said. “I definitely don’t want to be the guy who is butting heads with the organization or trying to cause any type of negativity, so I apologize.
“When you are here in the moment and you’re talking to guys and everyone is bummed out, you maybe lose your head a little bit and vent. A lot of the things I said, I thought about … and they were pretty inaccurate,” he said.
Wilson, if you are out there and are reading this post—YOU DIDN’T NEED TO APOLOGIZE TO ANYONE. Why should you apologize for wanting to win? Why should you apologize for saying what is on your mind and for all intents and purposes, being right?
Nothing you said was inaccurate. When a team has 16 losing seasons in a row, and you have been involved in nine of those seasons—you have the right to be critical of management. If a clothing store or any company for that matter was considered failing by their standards, they would be out of business.
You didn’t “want to cause any type of negativity?” Don’t worry, that negativity was already caused when the Pirates drafted Bryan Bullington, a projected No. 3 starter with the first pick in the 2002 draft.
Wilson has a club option with the Pirates for 2010 for $8.4 million. That option will 100 percent not be picked up, thus making him a free agent. Perhaps Wilson will go to a team where he doesn’t need to apologize for wanting to win.
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