Mark Madden: MLB's greed was on display Thursday — Pirates' players should have refused to play

Feel my heat, takin’ you higher, burn with me, these refreshing sports notes are on fire! So is Canada. That’s why we can’t breathe.

• The Pittsburgh Pirates should be canceling games because of unsafe air quality. The players stated their concerns but were forced to play Thursday. It’s MLB’s greed on brazen display, with a local nod to hillbilly thief Bob Nutting, the Pirates owner. Money got prioritized over safety. But shame on the players for not taking a stronger stand. They should have refused to play.

• How the heck was Pirates manager Derek Shelton named a coach for the National League in the MLB All-Star Game after losing 100 games in each of the last two seasons and presiding over his team’s free fall since April? What exactly are the criteria?

• Pitcher Mitch Keller (9-3, 3.34 ERA) should make the MLB All-Star Game. If he wins 20 games with these Pirates and gets his ERA below 3.00, he should be a Cy Young Award contender. By the way, don’t believe rumors that Keller might be traded. That’s the national baseball media hoping Keller goes to a good team because the Pirates don’t count.

• The Pirates should 100% draft pitcher Paul Skenes over outfielder Dylan Crews with the first pick in the MLB Draft. The draft is the only way the Pirates will ever get a No. 1-caliber starting pitcher. (See Cole, Gerrit.) Their budget precludes signing one in free agency or trading for one. Drafting a pitcher is a risk because of potential arm trouble. Skenes has thrown a lot of innings at LSU. But Skenes also could be with the Pirates next year. A rotation with him and Keller at the top sounds good. For once, the Pirates should do something for right now. Even if Skenes gets hurt or leaves at his first opportunity, it’s a risk worth taking.

• Reilly Smith isn’t a team-changing get. But the 32-year-old winger is a solid replacement for the departing Jason Zucker and is on a shorter-term contract (and probably less expensive AAV). Smith brings the Pittsburgh Penguins more versatility than Zucker but a bit less fire. Smith also brings some recent experience at winning.

• Smith only cost the Penguins a third-round pick and is the kind of cap-dump deal new president of hockey ops Kyle Dubas hoped to exploit. A man of his word.

• How does Smith feel about the trade? He just won a Stanley Cup and played in a glamorous city. Now he’s on a non-playoff team in Pittsburgh. The Penguins are far from being the destination team they once were.

• The Penguins are reportedly talking to Calgary about top-pair defenseman Noah Hanifin, 26, who would be the perfect partner for Kris Letang. (The same was said about Jakob Chychrun, who then-GM Ron Hextall failed to acquire at last year’s trade deadline.) But Hanifin will be much pursued, and other teams have more trade capital.

• Seth Rorabaugh of this parish was vilified (mostly in Canada) for not voting Edmonton sourpuss Connor McDavid first on his Hart Trophy ballot, thus denying McDavid unanimous MVP status. But McDavid still won the award. With 61 goals and 113 points for the NHL’s best regular-season team, Boston winger David Pastrnak was a perfectly reasonable choice by Rorabaugh. Fans of McDavid should worry about him, at 26, never playing in a Stanley Cup Final or looking particularly close to doing so. McDavid should also explore getting his charisma bypass surgery reversed.

• The NHL awards never cease to amuse. San Jose’s Erik Karlsson was voted best defenseman. As in defense. But he was minus-26.

• As the recipient himself noted, the Masterton Trophy is a B-list award. But given his health problems and family issues this past season, Letang elevates the Masterton’s status. Letang persevered, came back and was resilient in the biggest way. Two strokes, but Letang is still playing and playing well. We throw the term “warrior” around far too cavalierly. But the description fits Letang perfectly.

• The Penguins’ first-round draft pick, Brayden Yager, has lots of offensive skills to be excited about. But he probably won’t be in the NHL for at least three years. Why is that? Eighteen-year-old first-round picks used to much more often go straight to the NHL. The league’s talent is currently spread thin by 32 teams and a flat salary cap since the pandemic. NHL GMs and coaches are paralyzed by what 18-year-olds can’t do. They should be excited about what they can do and let them learn the rest on the fly.

• Also impeding this notion is the NHL’s agreement with Major Junior hockey that says players drafted out of Major Junior must either play in the NHL or Major Junior until they’re 20. Additionally, said players may play up to nine games in the NHL without triggering their entry-level contracts. This is done to protect Major Junior at the expense of the players’ development. A first-round pick would progress more playing against men in the American Hockey League than against kids in Major Junior.

• Kenny Pickett’s wedding had a Steelers logo ice sculpture, was performed by the Steelers’ chaplain, was attended by many Steelers and featured the bride and groom entering the reception through pyro and dry-ice fog. Pickett is now officially King Yinzer. He should be a yinzer wedding planner in his free time.