Comments on: Neal Huntington Reveals His True Nature, Once And For All

By: Kevin Creagh

Kevin Creagh — Tue, 21 Feb 2017 02:49:26 +0000

I guess they could have tossed a short-season lottery ticket in there. The Sox wanted to get all these trades done this offseason and progress on one new timetable. There’s no way they’re thrilled to still have Q, Frazier, Robertson.

By: Blackmax

Blackmax — Sun, 19 Feb 2017 18:48:50 +0000

I agree with you, Kevin. The window is open now. (With this metaphor, what are the Pirates supposed to do? Jump out? Look out? Breathe in?)
Because the Sox’s system is weak in OF prospects, of course they want Meadows. The Bucs should also be willing to trade either Glasnow or Keller because the Pirates would be getting back 4 mature years of the pitcher that we hope Glasnow and Keller grow into during their 1st 6 major league seasons. If the Sox want Meadows, Glasnow and Keller, then I can understand how Neil would hesitate to depart from his plan to have a low cost, sustainable pipeline of talent for a decade to come. But that doesn’t mean Neil should not make the deal. I suppose that I would need to have a better understanding of Keller’s true ceiling before I would know for sure. Could the White Sox add a sleeper prospect to the trade to make it palatable to the Bucs?

By: Gehrig

Gehrig — Sun, 19 Feb 2017 15:28:06 +0000

What’s the point of stashing MiLPs if you’re never going to use them? Huntington has a long, predictable pattern of making the Pirates the toughest club to actually give deserving MiLP studs their shot at the majors. Happened with Marte, Polanco, has been happening with Glasnow and Kingham (sp?), and will just keep happening. What’s the point of bottling up all your talent for too long when your MLB product is mediocre? I’ve seen a lot of upper management like Huntington in so many businesses and public entities in my long life: They’re above their competence level, so they “manage” by trying to be least open to criticism rather than being proactive. .500 is OK for the Pirates, their established norm. In our longtime fantasy league in KC filled with SABR vets in the age 55-80 range, drafting a minor leaguer in the Pittsburgh organization is the kiss of death.

By: Kevin Creagh

Kevin Creagh — Sun, 19 Feb 2017 15:09:48 +0000

In general, I do trust NH. But in recent seasons, he has frittered around the edges of roster construction rather than get a key cog that will take the Pirates from peripheral WC contender to division contender.

By: Kevin Creagh

Kevin Creagh — Sun, 19 Feb 2017 15:08:00 +0000

Quintana is the level of pitcher that we hope Glasnow becomes — high end #2/low-end #1. He’s been doing it for 4 years. Glasnow has a long way to go to even dream of that type of consistent production. I’d estimate an additional 3-4 wins more than with Glasnow.

By: Kevin Creagh

Kevin Creagh — Sun, 19 Feb 2017 15:06:30 +0000

At no point have I said that getting Quintana would make us better than the Cubs. But what it would do is take an 85-win caliber team and make them an 89-90 win team. That gets you in the wild card discussion.

Adding Quintana gives the Pirates a formidable rotation that matches well against the Cubs, Giants and Nationals. It makes them better than the Cards and Dodgers overall rotations. It’s a rough ride in the NL this year to get to the WC game up top.

And just because the Cubs are defending WS champs, doesn’t mean that they aren’t prone to regression or injuries. In particular, I think their rotation is shallow after their top 3 (I’m not a believer in Lackey at his age) and they have little depth in the minors.

Quintana is one of 25 players, but he’s a very important player. He’s a lot better than most Pirate fans realize.

By: m

Sun, 19 Feb 2017 05:22:21 +0000

When will people finally put some trust in Neil’s decisions?

By: Squigs

Squigs — Sun, 19 Feb 2017 04:17:50 +0000

Sad reality is they will likely have 40-42 wins at the All Star break this year and some team will overpay for McCutchen’s resurgence and a newer rebuild will ensue. We will always contend for a wild card but will never have the ace that is needed to win and win consistently in the post season.

By: Adam

Adam — Sun, 19 Feb 2017 01:46:16 +0000

Completely agree with this. Love Quintana but he’s not Randy Johnson. We have no idea what the ask is. If Glasnow is part of it how much better could Q be than him? Its only around 30 games with tons of luck sequencing etc involved.

By: Nate

Nate — Sun, 19 Feb 2017 01:29:43 +0000

So we are one player away from beating the Cubs and the Cardinals? Quintana will do that? Man, never knew one pitcher would make or break a season.

In all seriousness, I like Quintana and want him on the Bucs but we need much more than one great pitcher to contend. Right now, I think we are the second best team in the central behind the Cubs. The dodgers will be good, and the mets/nationals will too. But, to say that Quintana will put us above the cubs is unrealistic. We need a lot of things to drop to beat them, not one pitcher. We need our outfield to produce greater then what they have done in the past, we need our pitching, mainly Cole, to live up to their potential, we need Watson and company to be better than they were last year, Bell needs to be consistent on offense and average on defense, Harrison needs to be his all star caliber. We need our whole team to step up and not just one player. Again, not trying to pick a fight about prospects or Quintana, but taking a look at a bigger picture that isn’t defined by one player.