Pirates owner Bob Nutting spoke to the team before the first full-squad workout of spring training.
‘We’re here to win,'” Pirates general manager Neal Huntington said. “We’re here to bring World Series championship No. 6 back to Pittsburgh. We’re here to help these guys be great. We’re here to provide them with resources and to help them do their jobs to the best of their ability. We’re all in this thing together, with one vision and one goal.”
Pirates players had openly questioned the direction of the franchise after trading pitcher Gerrit Cole to the Houston Astros and five-time All-Star center fielder Andrew McCutchen to the San Francisco Giants.
OTHER BASEBALL NEWS
Major League Baseball imposed stricter limits on mound visits by players in an effort to speed games but decided against 20-second pitch clocks for 2018.
After more than a year of negotiations, the Major League Baseball Players Association refused to agree to the changes but also signed an agreement that it will not oppose the rules.
The amendments to the playing rules announced Monday include a general limit of six mound visits per nine-inning game without a pitching change, whether by a manager, coach or player.
MLB is eliminating the rules guaranteeing eight warmup pitches before a half-inning in an effort to keep between-inning breaks to 2:05 for most games, 2:25 for regular-season games on national television and 2:55 for tiebreaker and postseason games. There are exceptions relating to injury and if the pitcher or catcher finishes the previous half inning on base, at bat or on deck.