Neal Huntington, the ball is in your court

After defeating New York Mets ace Jacob deGrom Saturday night, the Pittsburgh Pirates sit just six games behind the Chicago Cubs in the National League Central and just 2.5 games out of the final wild card spot.

The pressure is now on Pirates’ general manager Neal Huntington to go out and make this team better.

And truth be told I wouldn’t want to be in Huntington’s shoes right now.

He’s really in a no-win situation when it comes to Pirates fans.

If Huntington stays pat at the deadline, which I don’t think is the worst move in the world, he’s going to get roasted by the fan base. A lot of that fan base is in the “let’s just go out and get player x” camp.

That same portion of the fan base just doesn’t understand why Huntington didn’t get Manny Machado straight up for Jordy Mercer. They are still wondering why Mike Trout hasn’t been acquired for Shane Baz (hey he’s a prospect right?).

If Huntington decides to ride it out with the guys that got him to this point, the entire “Pirates are cheap” crowd has all the ammunition to roast the Pirates front office once again.

If they do nothing, it won’t be because they are cheap, it’s because the right baseball trade isn’t out there.

What one or two guys on a very weak market right now really makes this team that much better?

I know, we can get Bryce Harper from the Nationals for Steven Brault, right?

Is it worth sacrificing a part of the future to get in a winner take all game?

There has been time where Huntington should have gone out and dealt prospects to make the team on the field better. I’m just not so sure that this is the time.

One month doesn’t make a season and while the Bucs have had one hell of a July, it doesn’t make up for the awful May and June.

But here’s the problem.

The Pirates are right there and another piece or two could put this team over the edge. I still feel like six games is too much to catch the Cubs, but they could make the Wild Card with the right moves.

What are those moves though?

The Pirates need another controllable starting pitcher, but those guys are going to cost an arm and a leg. Does a Chris Archer type, who’s only going to be able to impact the standings every fifth day make sense considering the price?

Does overpaying for a Keone Kela to improve the back end of the bullpen make sense?

Now he may have to look at the offense too with Corey Dickerson and Josh Bell on the DL.

Here’s the other part as well.

Every single team the Pirates are in contention with has made a move or two to get better this week.

The Arizona Diamondbacks acquired Eduardo Escobar and Matt Andriese.

The Chicago Cubs picked up Cole Hamels.

The Colorado Rockies picked up Seunghwan Oh.

The Milwaukee Brewers got Mike Moustakas and Joakim Soria.

The Philadelphia Phillies picked up Asdrubal Cabrera.

Need I continue?

Huntington has a little over two days to make this team better.

While I understand if he decides to stand pat, I also think this team doesn’t get over the hump without a couple of upgrades.

Are those guys even out there though?

I will be an interesting 48-plus hour for sure for Huntington.

And I for one don’t envy him.