I’m a massive Pittsburgh fan. The Steelers are my favorite football team. I think the city itself has mayhap the most beautiful skyline—in the world. I even kinda like the Penguins (despite not liking hockey) and the Pirates (despite them sucking for the entirety of my life, save the mid 2010s, when they made the playoffs and were quickly eliminated).
Well, whether you follow America’s pastime or not, you might have heard about one Paul Skenes. The rookie phenom who can throw 102 mph in the 7th inning, led the league in strikeouts the last time I checked, and even started as the pitcher in the all-star game as a rookie.
Skenes has so much starpower that he might be Pittsburgh’s best athlete in my lifetime (and I’ve seen guys like Big Ben Roethlisberger, Troy Polamalu, and Sidney Crosby).
And yet…
The Pirates are just atrocious.
And plenty of it is their own doing.
Last night, they lost 18-8. And giving up 18 runs isn’t even the most embarrassing thing they’ve done. They also let 8 stolen bases happen. And they recently moved their stud shortstop, Oneil Cruz, to centerfield—a position he has never played.
Now, why would they do this?
Are the Pirates just an elaborate ruse covering up a drug cartel and the better they get, the better chances they have of getting caught in this cartel?
Well, no. I don’t think so. But I wouldn’t be surprised with the pisspoor management from the top down they’ve “enjoyed” my entire life.
The real reason?
Well, for some reason, they value position versatility more than winning or even creating value.
As it relates to Cruz, moving him to center—again, a position he has never played… and no, this ain’t little league baseball—devalues him in trade talks. Shortstops are a prized position. Especially shortstops who can swing the bat like Cruz can. And yet, they’re putting him at center to finish this miserable disaster of a season (save Skenes).
This ain't the first time the organization wanted a jack of all trades, master of none either.
They had another guy, Henry Davis, a catcher with another big bat (which is unusual for the position, just like it is for shortstop) that was their #1 prospect. Well, last year, they let Davis have his MLB debut. And instead of putting him in as a Designated Hitter or at catcher, they decided to stick him in right field—another position he had never played in his life, outside of a few instances in the minor leagues.
He played miserably. And has spent the entirety of this year in the minors again.
His bat could’ve helped, maybe. But the Pirates are also terrible at developing young players. This guy was the #1 prospect and known as a catcher who could hit. And he’s spent the season in the minor leagues.
To add insult to injury:
The Pirates fatal flaw this year was their bats. Heck, they have the #1 pitcher in the league. And they’d routinely lose games 1-0 because they just can’t hit.
(This is a problem with their hitting coach, who values walks as much as he does hits because that’s what the analytics say—but coaching a team based on analytics is like basing an email marketing strategy around open rates instead of revenue.)
Moral of the story?
There are a few:
First, if you’re a jack of all trades, you’re a master of none. This applies as much as it does to baseball as marketing.
Second, being overly analytical—especially when those analytics don’t result in your end goal, for the Pirates, wins, for an email marketing strategy, revenue—can cause you to make foolish and unnecessary mistakes.
Third, to help you if your business is acting like the Pirates, which is to say:
If you’re not scaling your business as much as you oughta.
Take Skenes for example. Having Skenes alone should be enough for the Pirates to land a playoff spot. (They won’t.)
Are any of your products a “Skenes” product?
If so - and you’re not treating it like the gold on a silver platter it is, then mayhap I can help.
But you have to help yourself first—something the Pirates absolutely refuse to do.
How can you help yourself?
By hitting reply.
John
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