BRADENTON, Fla. – Pirates chairman Bob Nutting addressed the club’s high expectations for this season, attendance and projected payroll, fans’ perception of ownership and more in a lengthy interview with reporters on Wednesday.

Nutting answered questions for 48 minutes in a conference room at Pirate City, repeatedly expressing his belief that the Pirates can contend this season despite carrying a lower payroll than last year in the loaded National League Central.

“The expectation of the fan base should be that we put a competitive team on the field that is built to win. That’s what their expectations deserve to be,” Nutting said. “Frankly, I think that a seven-game improvement last year was a meaningful step forward -- and we are absolutely positioned to take another meaningful step forward and get us back into that range where we have a very good shot at [the] playoffs and, once you get into the playoffs, of moving down the pike.”

The Pirates finished last season with an 82-79 record, their first winning season since 2015, but placed fourth in the division. Over the offseason, they shed payroll and general manager Neal Huntington made modest moves to upgrade their roster. Their biggest acquisitions of '18 came prior to the non-waiver Trade Deadline, when they picked up starter Chris Archer and Keone Kela.

“I think that was a significant addition into the ’19 and ’20 clubs,” Nutting said. “I think the additions that we did make fill the needs and the gaps. That certainly was what Neal was charged to do. I think Neal was very strategic in trying to build on the core that we have and supplement where needed.”

The Pirates ended last season with a 40-man roster payroll of $89.8 million, according to the Associated Press. They are projected to begin this season with an Opening Day payroll at or around $75 million. Nutting said that they are “strategically and opportunistically ready to add where we can make an impact” and added the organization believes the club can compete.

“We need to focus on the things we believe are controllable. Absolute payroll dollars are never going to define this club,” Nutting said. “It’s not foreseeable that we’re going to have a $200 million payroll. We’re always going to have limitations. It’s about, how do we maximize the impact of every dollar that we spend? How do we make sure we have the right mix of very talented young players who are early in their [career] cycle and supplement with players around them who can have a real impact? I think we’ve found that balance, and that’s what’s driving the absolute dollars more than anything else.”

Asked to clarify his comment about what is controllable, Nutting said, “I think payroll scale and range, broadly, is not controllable. We’re going to have certain resources. That’s the reality of the marketplace.” He said he views the “baseball operations payroll” as a broad classification that includes Major League payroll as well as spending on player development resources, analytics and more.

“I think we’re spending appropriately in order to achieve the goals that we’ve set out, which is to win a championship,” Nutting said. “I think we’re allocating between the multiple buckets that we need to allocate dollars in a smart, efficient way to be able to drive the very best team on the field that we possibly can. All of those, the performance and the intent and the desire, absolutely are there. If I need to do a more effective job communicating that and allowing people to see that, and allowing people to have the same faith in the organization that I have, the same faith in our baseball leadership team that I have, the same faith in the coaching staff and this young group of players that I have, then that would be the ideal.”

For instance, Nutting revealed on Wednesday that the Pirates are breaking ground on a “major” expansion of their facility in the Dominican Republic. He said the upgrade will double the size of the current complex, “dramatically” enhancing their nutrition and workout facilities, while providing housing for twice as many players.

“Those are areas where we can be really competitive, and the dollar-for-dollar impact of those investments have and will continue to really pay off for us,” Nutting said.