////////////////////////////////////////////////////// SPECIAL SECTION MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL PREVIEW /////////////////////// BASEBALL’17 SUNDAY, APRIL 2, 2017 Q&A WITH PIRATES GM NEAL HUNTINGTON KEVIN GORMAN Pirates’ stars must bounce Pirates general manager Neal Huntington back with smiles as he watches batting practice vengeance at George Steinbrenner Field before a game against the Yankees T o explain how the on March 5. Pirates dropped 20 games in one season, from 98 wins in 2015 to 78 CHRISTOPHER HORNER | TRIBUNE-REVIEW last year, requires the ex- pertise of a baseball man. HOPE & Don’t look at me. No, we’re talking about someone who is invested in changing the culture of baseball in Pittsburgh, someone who has promised to field a team that can “con- tend for championships.” Or , you know , just make CHANGE the playoffs as a wild card. After two decades of los- ing baseball, we lowered our standards enough to believe Pirates owner Bob Nutting wants to be a winner — even if he doesn’t want to, you know , pay for one. But Nutting, who watched 10 YEARS LATER, HUNTINGTON’S the Pirates qualify for the National League playoffs three consecutive seasons MESSAGE REMAINS THE SAME from 2013-15, has an interest- ing take on the 2016 Buccos: “We ended up with the season we did because the team and organization BY ROB BIERTEMPFEL underperformed the level of talent that we had,” Nutting Around the time “hope and change” was becoming a hip political slogan, Neal Huntington brought those words said. “I don’t think it was into the lexicon of the Pirates’ front office. nearly so much that we “We will systematically work to change the culture of this organization and to return it to a consistent winner didn’t have sufficient talent for the city of Pittsburgh,” Huntington said after being hired as general manager Sept. 25, 2007. to make the run. We had some very good players who As Huntington begins his 10th season, his message remains the same. did not perform up to the There was a melancholia that shrouded the franchise for two decades — epitomized by the “Welcome to hell” expectations that we had. greeting a veteran Pirate once gave to a guy who had just been traded to the team. That sour mood was snapped by I really think it’s far more three straight winning seasons from 2013-15. execution than what we had put together .” Under Huntington, the Pirates have invested heavily in player development and have been at the leading edge of So, it’s not that the Pirates analytics. The restocked farm system has been ranked the best in the game. Several of Huntington’s lieutenants were pitching poorly , relying have been recruited for prominent roles with other clubs. too heavily on rookies in the starting rotation. It’s Yet, the 2013 wild-card win over the Cincinnati Reds is the Pirates’ only significant postseason victory of the not that they let go of two Huntington era. There remains work to be done. former first-round picks and At the outset of the 2017 season, Huntington looked back on his time with the Pirates during a one-on-one with franchise building blocks Tribune-Review beat writer Rob Biertempfel. in Neil Walker and Pedro Alvarez, whose replace- ments failed to match their production. T rib: When you started this job, how much of your plan for how to build and run the club was already in It’s that the very good place? And how much has it morphed over the years? players didn’t do their part, a suggestion that the Huntington: A lot of it was conceptualized before struggles fell squarely on we came in the door. After talking with Bob (Nutting) the shoulders of former and Frank (Coonelly), we bought into the concept of let’s All-Stars like Andrew see what the 2008 club could do. They’d done a nice McCutchen, Gerrit Cole and job (in 2007) and appeared to be ready to take the next Josh Harrison. step forward. There were some established position And you know what? players, although most of them were approaching free Nutting is right. agency. There wasn’t much in the farm system other Of course, it’s all of those than (Andrew) McCutchen, (Neil) Walker and Brad things and much, much Lincoln. We knew we were going to have to invest more. The Pirates were heavily in the draft and in the international market. We flawed, especially in com- knew there needed to be some changeover in personnel parison to the World Series and some changes in systems and structures. champion Chicago Cubs. Unfortunately, 2008 did not go well. We were below But if the Pirates want .500 at the trade deadline, so we made the decision to return to winning ways, to move those veteran players who were nearing free if they want to compete for agency and go full force into talent-accumulation mode. the NL Central Division title So much of that first year was about discovering and a spot in the playoffs, what was good and who was good and who could be it’s going to require better part of the future on and off the field. The next phase performances. was talent accumulation, then talent development, McCutchen and Cole are then major league team maturation, then “Let’s the other former first- push this thing forward and figure out a way to win a rounders expected to be the World Series.” So a lot (of the plan) was in place early. cornerstone players for the CHRISTOPHER HORNER | TRIBUNE-REVIEW We’ve evaluated and evolved over time, for sure. But Pirates. Their dropoffs last Pirates general manager Neal Huntington talks with conceptually, a lot of it was in place as we walked in season hurt tremendously , Josh Bell before a spring training game March 15 at the door. Maybe that’s part of the reason why Bob and so bounce-back years are LECOM Park in Bradenton, Fla. Frank offered me the position. necessary . McCutchen’s batting aver- HUNTINGTON · 6 age slipped from .317 in his MVP season to .256 last year , his strikeouts increased INSIDE » A breakdown of Huntington’s history of drafts and trades PAGE 7 by 42 and his stolen bases » How the Pirates must improve to catch the Cubs PAGE 2 decreased by 21. After being shopped in the offseason, McCutchen is GORMAN · 6
Recommend
More recommend
