Mark Madden: Pirates might be fun if not for Bob Nutting

When no single topic stands out, it’s time for refreshing sports notes! (Problem is, that kills a gaggle of column ideas in one fell swoop.)

• The Pittsburgh Pirates almost could win me over. They play hard, aggressive baseball and have a modicum of talent. But I don’t trust owner Bob Nutting to not yank the rug out when things get expensive. (Bryan Reynolds’ contract was merely throwing a bone.)

• The Pirates have the first pick in the MLB Draft on July 9. Should they take LSU outfielder Dylan Crews or his teammate, right-handed pitcher Paul Skenes? Pitchers are a risk, but the Pirates won’t ever trade for a No. 1-caliber starter or sign one via free agency. Their only chance to have that kind of pitcher is to draft and develop. But Crews is a devastating hitter. His path to MLB might be shorter. The Pirates should take Crews.

• The Pirates don’t really need Skenes. Rich Hill is only 43. He has another 10 good years left. Hill isn’t Warren Spahn. He’s a mid-rotation starter at best. But watching Hill’s guile make the most of his aged skills is fun. Especially in today’s era of 99 mph.

• Andrew McCutchen reaching 2,000 hits is great. He was the key figure in the Pirates’ resurgence of 2013-15 and now provides glue as that starts to happen again. His 2013 MVP and five All-Star Game berths speak loudly. But he’s no better than the sixth-best outfielder in team history, trailing Roberto Clemente, Barry Bonds, Ralph Kiner, Willie Stargell, Paul Waner and Dave Parker. Recency bias provides a boost.

• Dalvin Cook is 27, in his prime, and has made the last four Pro Bowls. He just got cut by the Minnesota Vikings. Interest in him seems minimal. There’s a ridiculous clamor for running backs to form their own union or negotiate their own CBA. But the NFL is a passing league. Running backs are disposable and don’t matter. Get them cheap, squeeze out what you can, then discard and repeat. Supply and demand. Play receiver instead.

• Pandering media members whenever a Cook or a Chase Young becomes available: “THE STEELERS SHOULD GET HIM!” Sane media members: “Not going to happen.”

• Steelers tight end Connor Heyward said, “There is not a linebacker is this league that can cover me.” A) I bet one probably can, and B) if that’s true, why doesn’t Heyward play more? Right now, Heyward looks like the third-string tight end. At best.

• Joey Porter Sr. has been at Steelers OTAs to watch his son, second-round draft pick Joey Jr. That’s not a problem as long as Senior keeps quiet. Which hasn’t always happened.

• The XFL lost $60 million. The NFL is the only pro football league that matters. It’s time to permanently give up on pro football played outside the NFL’s window.

• It has not been a good Stanley Cup playoff, or a sexy final. The NHL has gone from speed, skill and star power to depth and physicality. The flat salary cap since the pandemic has spread talent even thinner. Goaltending is random. Hockey seems to be in a rut.

• Seattle paid a $650 million expansion fee to the NHL. Vegas paid $500 million. So, the notion that expansion rules allowed those teams to be too good, too fast is absurd. Early success for Vegas and Seattle has allowed those teams to establish a thriving fan base. Had they been terrible, as old-timey expansion rules dictated, there would have been an initial spark, then a fizzle. New franchises merit bang for their considerable buck.

• Speaking of initial spark, then a fizzle, that’s what will happen with Lionel Messi in MLS. He might be soccer’s G.O.A.T. But he’s 35. He’s just another past-his-prime soccer legend taking a retirement job in America. His salad days will be electric. Social media metrics will sizzle. Messi will lead “SportsCenter” a few times. But David Beckham was a bigger star (not a better player) when he went to MLS in 2007, and that buzz was brief. England’s Premier League gets much bigger TV ratings in America than MLS. Messi won’t change that.

• I just started watching “Ted Lasso.” It’s very good, extremely funny and captures the legit love and joy involved with English football. I’ve been to Liverpool FC’s Anfield stadium a dozen times, and very few arrive late or leave early. There can be an undercurrent of dissatisfaction, but the home team doesn’t get booed. There’s little public drunkenness. English football fans love their team, not themselves. On match day, the focus is the game. Compare that to Acrisure Stadium on a Steelers Sunday. Also, “You’ll Never Walk Alone” is better than “Renegade.”

• The FIFA Women’s World Cup starts next month in Australia and New Zealand. Buzz is minimal despite the U.S. being two-time defending champ. That’s probably because the U.S. team has politicized itself from being America’s sweethearts to being disliked by half the country. As they are free to do. But that’s what happened.

• ESPN has a round of on-air talent cuts happening, including anchor Neil Everett after 23 years. Everett is very good. But ESPN hasn’t allowed “SportsCenter” anchors to be stars since Keith Olbermann and Dan Patrick. Too expensive, too hard to replace. (Scott Van Pelt is, to a degree, a late-night exception.) ESPN is giving Pat McAfee lots of cash. Why? Because he draws money. Same with Stephen A. Smith, bloated self-parody though he may be. Reading scores and narrating highlights doesn’t draw money.