Pirates’ Wilson sorry for panning deals
July 2, 2009
PITTSBURGH (AP)—Shortstop Jack Wilson(notes) apologized to the Pittsburgh Pirates onWednesday for criticizing the team’s latest trades, saying his frustration atlosing three more teammates made it seem as if he were angry at his own club.
Wilson was clearly upset after the Pirates traded outfielder Nyjer Morgan(notes)plus two other players on Tuesday, saying he was “beyond tired of such moves”— including last month’s deal that sent All-Star outfielder Nate McLouth(notes) toAtlanta.
“It’s tough for the guys who’ve been here and have seen these trades happenand absolutely do nothing,” Wilson said several hours after the deals weremade. “I’ve seen these trades two or three times a year and we still haven’thad a winning season.”
Wilson expressed disappointment before Wednesday’s game against the Cubsthat his remarks appeared to be overly critical of management.
“Some of my comments were pretty harsh,” he said. “I definitely don’twant to be the guy who is butting heads with the organization or trying to causeany type of negativity, so I apologize.
“When you are here in the moment and you’re talking to guys and everyone isbummed out, you maybe lose your head a little bit and vent. A lot of the thingsI said, I thought about … and they were pretty inaccurate,” he said.
The latest trades—the Pirates also shed backup outfielder Eric Hinske(notes) andreliever Sean Burnett(notes)—were unpopular among the players, though not as much asthe McLouth deal. That trade—McLouth for three prospects—caused firstbaseman Adam LaRoche(notes) to say every player in the clubhouse was furious.
The Morgan deal upset players who wondered why a productive outfielder witha good attitude who brought speed to the top of the lineup was being traded foroutfielder Lastings Milledge(notes), a failed prospect with the Mets and Nationals.
“I had strong feelings about it,” Wilson said. “But there definitely wasa better way to talk about it rather than going against our team. For me, I wasso focused on losing a guy like Nyjer, a guy like Nate, the reaction was morenegative.”
Wilson has yet to play for a winning team during his nine-season career, andhe acknowledged the losing sometimes gets to him. He did not relay Wednesday’scomments to team president Frank Coonelly or general manager Neal Huntington,choosing instead to summon reporters to his locker to express his feelings.
“I just felt like that’s not the person, the player I want to be for thePittsburgh Pirates,” he said. “I am definitely passionate about winning, aboutbeing a Pirate and I think sometimes it comes out in a negative way.”
Wilson has been a regular since 2001 and is the Pirates’ more tenuredplayer, although he could be dealt before the end of the month. The team has an$8.4 million option on Wilson for 2010 that is unlikely to be picked up.
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