Posted first on my blog - Nachos Grande.

If you've paid any attention to sports news today, you already know that the Pittsburgh Pirates' internal books got leaked somehow.  Furthermore, you know that the Pirates have "won by losing" as so many talking heads have spouted on radio and TV today.  In fact, they've "won" by a tune of about $29.4 million in 2007 and 2008.

Apparently, most people are up in arms about the Pirates.  I listened to MLB Radio on Sirius today on my way home from work where Jim Bowden (I think) said that the Pirates' spending pocketing of all that revenue sharing cash would end up being a huge problem in the next collective bargaining agreement.  While Bowden may be correct in his conclusion, he (and many others whom I heard or read from today) is completely off base when it comes to how they feel about the Pirates.

The Pirates are not the devil.

At least, they aren't the devil any more than the Yankees or Red Sox are the devil.

Here's why:  Pittsburgh, according to MLB representatives, has fully complied with the rules governing spending*.  As such, they are playing by the same set of guidelines as every other club, including the big boys like New York, the middle guys like St. Louis, and the so-called poor paupers like Florida.  Pittsburgh, however, has taken a different route to the ultimate goal of every professional sports team.  Making a profit.

Sure, it's an ugly way to get there - jettisoning players such as Jason Bay, Jack Wilson, and Matt Capps to keep payroll at a bare minimum, but it's a legitimate way to earn money.  And, as the leaked numbers prove, Pittsburgh is making money.  

Of course, many people (and most pundits) aren't willing or able to understand that.  Instead, they've been focusing on the sentimentality and illusion of playing the game "the right way."  The Yankees, they all say, play the game the right way.  They abide by the rules and pay their luxury tax so that they can acquire the best players to help them win.  The Yankees play to win they say.  

Wrong.  Well, not wrong in so much as not correct enough.

The Yankees don't play to win - they play to win so that they make money.  By the transitive property, the Yankees play to make money - and I'm not begrudging them of that in any way.  Going back to the Pirates, most say the Pirates play to lose.  I say the Pirates play to lose to make money - once again meaning, the Pirates play to make money (just like the Yankees).  

In short, neither the Yankees nor the Pirates are living up to the sentimental "play the game for fun" idea.  Both teams, like every other professional franchise, are playing to make money.  Do you honestly believe that there would be a professional league in any sport if the teams/players/owners etc. didn't make money?  If you do, look no further than the XFL or the women's soccer league.

Finally, going back to the Pirates one last time, consider the following:  If you were offered two jobs, one where you worked 5 days a week for a decent salary, and the other where you worked 2 days a week for a salary slightly hire than the first job, which would you take?  I'm guessing the second choice - which is essentially the same choice the Pirates made.  

You see, the Pirates aren't the devil; they are simply too much like us.  We'd rather our sports players be heroes and our sports teams live up to lofty goals like "playing to win" rather than dealing with the bottom line.  Unfortunately, it's the bottom line that keeps sports going - and because of that, the Pirates aren't the devil, they just aren't any better than you or I.

*There is some debate about this point.  If it is eventually discovered that Pittsburgh has somehow circumnavigated the rules and lined management's pockets with cash, well, then Pittsburgh might be the devil after all.