Pittsburgh Pirates CEO Travis Williams said the organization is committed to winning but announced to frustrated fans that owner Bob Nutting will not sell the team.

Williams addressed fan dissatisfaction with Nutting's ownership during a question-and-answer session at the Buccaneers' annual offseason fan fest on Saturday.

When Williams answered the first question, a fan shouted "Sell the team," sparking applause from the crowd. At this point, some fans started chanting "Sell the team!"

Greg Brown, the Buccaneers' longtime television play-by-play announcer, asked fans to stop chanting and "be respectful." Another fan then asked Williams, who was seated next to Buccaneers general manager Ben Cherington and manager Derek Shelton, why Nutting wasn't in attendance.

"We know that, ultimately, all the passion turns into the frustration associated with winning," Williams said, according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. "I think the point you're making is 'Where's Bob?' That's why he has us here, we're here to execute and make sure we win."

Williams added that Nutting, who has owned the Buccaneers since 2018, plans to attend the event and interact with fans sometime later Saturday.

"To answer your direct question earlier, Bob is not selling the team," Williams said. "He cares about Pittsburgh, he cares about winning, he cares about us putting out a winning product on the field and we work hard on that every day."

Nutting has been widely criticized by fans and local media in recent years as the Pirates have finished at or near the bottom of the National League Central standings.

The Buccaneers went 76-86 last season and were the fourth last-place team in the past six seasons. They haven't had a winning record since 2018, haven't made the playoffs since 2015, and have only made the playoffs three times since 1992.

"We know people are frustrated and frustrated because we didn't win and the expectation to win," Williams said. "At the end of the day, it's not about a lack of determination to want to win."

The Pirates went 55-52 at last season's trade deadline, fueled by the arrival of ace pitcher and NL Rookie of the Year Paul Skenes, but over the final two months, Pittsburgh lost 21 A 34-loss plummet left Pittsburgh in last place in the NFC Central.

"We can look at last year," Williams said. “That was a big positive throughout the middle of the season, we went into August with two games above .500, but unfortunately we went through a tough stretch in August and that tough stretch in August got us The opportunity to find a wild card was passed up...from myself to Ben, to Derrick, to so many others here today and the entire organization, but it wasn't for a lack of commitment or desire to win.

"It's from the top of the organization all the way down to the bottom. We're absolutely committed to winning, and what we need to do is find a way to win."