Deep Thoughts on the Diamond - Evaluating Neil Huntington's Performance

With the present-day Pirates heading toward another 100-loss season, fans are left, yet again, thinking about the past or dreaming about the future.  Problem is; they need a photographic memory to remember anything worth remembering and closing the eyes is likely going to lead to a nightmare.  Sorry folks, I just don't see the longest losing streak in the history of the four major North American sports ending any time soon.  I have lost all trust in the not-so dynamic duo of Frank Coonelly and Neil Huntington.  Coonelly, the Pirates President, recently admitted, after "deceiving" fans and reporters for months, that the franchise has extended the contracts of Huntington, the General Manager and John Russell, the skipper.  Why?

Huntington has so much egg on his face that you could put him on a burner and cook the remaining Pirates die-hard's breakfast.  Lets take a look at a few of his moves. 

Matt Capps

Pittsburgh let Matt Capps walk this winter because the reliever wanted more money than the franchise was willing to pay.  Or so Huntington said.  Capps, after an arbitration raise, was likely to make roughly $4.5 million for the 2010 season.  Pittsburgh is likely to pay new closer Octavio Dotel (9 years older than Capps) roughly $4 million (with performance bonuses) by the end of 2010.  That's a $500,000 difference.  Big-time green to me and you, but pocket change for a professional franchise.  Washington gobbled up Capps, plugged him in as closer and watched as he spit out some healthy numbers.  26 saves in 30 chances, 2.74ERA and better than a 4:1 K/BB ratio.  Oh yeah, he also picked up the win in the All-Star game (NL's 1st since '96) while the Pirates' representative, Evan Meek, picked splinters out of his rear.  With Capps' value at an all-time high, the Nats spun him like Gordon Gekko.  Yesterday, they dealt the right-hander to Minnesota for Wilson Ramos.  Baseball America lists Ramos as the 58th best prospect and scouts say he is the best defensive catcher in the minor leagues.  This is the same Ramos guy that Minnesota refused to give up in a potential deal for Cliff Lee last year.  Not bad, especially when you consider Capps didn't have a job less than 7 months ago.  Not bad, unless your name is Neil Huntington.

Jose Bautista

The Pirates traded utility man Jose Bautista to the Blue Jays for a player to be named later on August 21, 2008.  Word on Carson Street is that Huntington and Pittsburgh didn't want to pay Bautista his impending arbitration raise.  New one.  Bautista leads MLB with 30 home runs, (Pittsburgh is 25th in HR) he has a .366 OBP, .951 OPS and 75 RBI.  The player to be named later turned out to be Robinzon Diaz.  Diaz is no longer with the Pirates.  Ouch! 

Akinori Iwamura Trade

In November of '09, Pittsburgh traded reliever Jesse Chavez to Tampa Bay for 2nd baseman Aki Iwamura and his $4.5 million dollar salary.  Mistake...big mistake.   Iwamura was paid $150,000 for each of his 30 hits with the Pirates this season.  Ok, not really, but that is one way of looking at it.  He accounts for roughly 1/7 of the teams payroll.  Aki hit .182 in 165 AB's.  The plus is; he was such a disaster that he was sent to the minors and the club was forced to promote and play youngster Neil Walker.  Neil is the real deal. 

Jason Bay trade

On July, 31 2008, Pittsburgh dealt its most recognizable face, Jason Bay, to the Red Sox in a 3-team deal.  The Pirates received Brandon Moss, Craig Hansen, Andy Laroche and Bryan Morris in return.  Moss is no longer on the 40-man roster after hitting .222 in '08, .236 in '09 and smacking just 13 long balls in 601 at-bats with the Pirates.  Hansen has been on the shelf with an elbow injury since April of '09, which is probably a good thing for the Buccos.  The guy has a 6.35 ERA in 93IP in the big leagues.  Laroche is now a seldom used utility guy with less than 20 HR's in more than 800 at-bats with the Pirates.  Morris is showing promise with AA-Altoona, but scouts don't see him as a front of the rotation starter. 

Xavier Nady trade

Ahhh.  Finally a move that Huntington can proudly put on his resume when he looks for a new job.  He sent OF/1B Xavier Nady and reliever Damaso Marte to the Bronx and received pitchers Ross Ohlendorf, Daniel McCutchen and outfielder Jose Tabata in return.  Nady has amassed just 404 AB's in the 2+ seasons since leaving the 'burgh and doesn't appear to be anything more than a 4th OF/pinch-hitter moving forward.  Marte is simply a situational lefty at this point in his career. Ohlendorf is a decent back of the rotation option and McCutchen, although he looks like a classic 4A player, provides the organization with pitching versatility and depth.  Tabata has the chance to be an everyday outfielder for a long, long time.  He transformed his body over the winter, making him a big time threat on the bases and an above-average left fielder.  He is a great contact hitter with good discipline and a solid recognition of the strike zone (just 24 k's, 18 bb's in 172 major league AB's).  He has gap power and scouts claim he'll eventually drive more balls out of the park (I have my doubts).  I think he can become a consistent .300 hitter for years to come. 


Nate McClouth trade

Pittsburgh dealt Nate McClouth to Atlanta for pitchers Charlie Morton, Jeff Locke and outfielder Gorkys Hernadez in June of '09.  McClouth was a fan favorite and moving him coming off a 20HR-20SB season at the ripe old age of 27 was a bit controversial.  Turns out, at least presently, moving him was the right move.  McClouth is in the MINORS after hitting just .168 while battling through injuries with the Braves this season.  However, Pittsburgh failed to land quality players in return for the outfielder.  Morton is 6-18 with a 6.03ERA with the Pirates and the guy appears to lack the mental toughness to fight through the struggles.  Hernandez is stuck in AA where he's hit just .276 and 5 HR's in 1016 AB's over the last 2 seasons.  He can run, but he has a hard time reading pitchers (36 SB's, caught stealing 19 times in AA).  He doesn't draw walks, has poor recognition of the strike zone, can't bunt for base hits and strikes out a lot for a guy without pop.  Other than that...he's great.  Locke is putting up solid numbers (10-3, 3.22ERA in A-AA), but he doesn't project to be anything more than a bottom of the rotation starter with the big league club.

Other 2009 trades

In July of '09, Pittsburgh sent outfielder Nyjer Morgan and reliever Sean Burnett to Washington for outfielder Lastings Milledge and reliever Joel Hanrahan.  This deal looks like a wash.  Morgan is hitting .291 with 52 SB's in 569 AB's with the Nats.  Milledge is hitting. 279 with 7 HR and 11SB in 516 AB's with the Bucs.  Hanrahan is dominating out of the pen for Pittsburgh (3.43ERA, 60k's in 44IP).  So too is Burnett (2.78ERA, 33K's in 36IP).   The Pirates also sent Adam Laroche, Freddy Sanchez, Jack Wilson, John Grabow and Tom Gorzelanny and $3.3 millino (to Mariners) packing last season.  Sanchez and Wilson were a solid double play combination, but they made a lot of money (Huntington overpaid Sanchez) and were getting long in the tooth.  Moving the guys was a good idea, but once again, it looks like they didn't get enough in return, especially when you consider how desperate teams are around the trade deadline.  Pittsburgh picked up; Jeff Clement, Ronny Cedeno, Kevin Hart, Jose Ascanio, Tim Alderson, Josh Harrison, Argenis Diaz, Hunter Strickland.  The Pirates moved Garret Jones to the outfield and spent the entire spring smacking grounders at Clement, a former catcher, in an effort to turn him into a slugging 1st baseman.  We figured his glove wouldn't be major-league worthy, but, it turns out, neither is his bat.  He hit .189 with 34 strikeouts in 127 at-bats before being demoted this season.  Cedeno is no Ozzie Smith, but he is a steady glove guy at short.  However, he makes Ozzie look like Honus Wagner.  Cedeno is not a slugger (5hr), but thinks he is ( 69 k's in 286 AB's), he won't take a walk (14BB) and rarely hits the ball hard (.242 career avg.).  Hart pitched so poorly over the last few months of last season (6.92ERA, 1.88WHIP in 10 starts with Pittsburgh) that he tore his labrum (out for the rest of this yr.).  Ascanio is also sitting out the year with an injury.  Tim Alderson, who the Pirates thought they stole from San Francisco for Sanchez, is now slinging batting practice in Single-A (13ER is 5.2IP).  He was demoted from AA-Altoona after coughing up more than 5 runs an outing and hitting just the mid-80's on most nights with his fastball.  Diaz is turning into a Cedeno clone (.246 career AAA hitter), and Strickland isn't fairing well in A-ball (2-5, 5.53 ERA).  Harrison (AA All-Star) is the only youngster showing any promise and he might have a hard time making it as an everyday player because he struggles big-time with the glove. 

2010 Free-Agent Signings

The team signed reliever Brendan Donnelly to a 1-yr., $1.35 million dollar deal.  Donnelly didn't make it through that one year.  The Pirates cut him and his 5.58 ERA last week.  Pittsburgh inked outfielder Ryan Church to a 1-yr., $1.5 million dollar contract.  Church could join his buddy Donnelly in the coming weeks.  He is hitting just .183 with 3 HR's in 169 AB's.  Bobby Crosby (1yr., $1 mil, .224 avg), Javier Lopez (1yr., $775,000) and Octavio Dotel have put together respectable seasons, at least by Pirates standards.  The 2009 signing and dumping of Ramon Vazquez cost the bucks some green too.

I'm not saying it's time for Neil Huntington to go.  The man deserves at least the rest of this season to show he has a vision, even if he can't see it himself.  But, I can't think of one reason why the man deserves a contract extension...extension...not a new contract...an extension.  Why not wait until his current deal expires at the end of this season to make that type of decision?  It's hard to believe in the future of a franchise when it's led by a man who loses on the field and in the boardroom.