At the team’s annual Piratefest fan convention, the Pittsburgh Pirates president and general manager reiterated the team’s approach to competitiveness.
The men in charge of the overall direction of the Pittsburgh Pirates news they were going to be in for some heavy questioning as Piratefest 2016 drew near.
With the club remaining static throughout MLB’s winter meetings and seriously considering trading fan favorite Andrew McCutchen, team President Frank Coonelly and General Manager Neal Huntington faced the sometimes-venomous crowd’s questions during the management Q&A session.
Though several quotes were particular illuminating, Coonelly and Huntington stayed close to established principles when answering fan’s questions. Here now are some highlights.
Right Out of the Gate
First question already lit! "When are we gonna get serious about winning a championship?"
— Jason Rollison (@jrollisonpgh) December 10, 2016
Coonelly in particular seemed to be chafing under the weight of “the narrative,” even commenting on it directly at one point.
"The goal is to win a championship, not allocating resources or turning a profit. The narrative we don't care is flat out wrong." – Coonelly
— Jason Rollison (@jrollisonpgh) December 10, 2016
For the most part, however, Coonelly seemed to reiterate many of the previous comments he has made regarding how the Pittsburgh Pirates must operate to remain competitive in today’s MLB.
"Teams from similar markets can and have won the World Series in recent years." – Frank Coonelly
— Jason Rollison (@jrollisonpgh) December 10, 2016
Return of the Liriano Debate
As the questions continued, talk turned back to the Francisco Liriano trade of last summer, a topic that is still hotly debated among fan and observer circles alike. Huntington gave a bit of a twist in his answer:
"We felt like the league figured out Francisco Liriano. The trade was for salary relief." – NH
— Jason Rollison (@jrollisonpgh) December 10, 2016
Huntington quickly followed that up with clarification.
"We liked Drew Hutchison too. Wasn't JUST a trade for salary relief." – NH
— Jason Rollison (@jrollisonpgh) December 10, 2016
Huntington also offered a familiar refrain that many Pittsburgh Pirates fans have heard before.
"The goal is to get there every year. That maximizes our chance at winning a World Series." – NH
— Jason Rollison (@jrollisonpgh) December 10, 2016
However, the winter meetings inaction by the Pirates was still felt by fans, and it made its way into a question at the podium. Huntington had this to say regarding the team’s lack of activity:
"The winter meetings aren't the time clock we're working on. We are in touch with free agents and potential trades." – Neal Huntington
— Jason Rollison (@jrollisonpgh) December 10, 2016
What to Take Away
So what would serve as the takeaways from Huntington and Coonelly’s comments?
One, it would appear that the club feels that its current model of player acquisition and player development will remain the status quo. Despite a down year in 2016, the club is perhaps just one or two starting pitchers away from truly contending again in 2017.
Second, Coonelly’s comments – and the one below in particular – show that the organization has full confidence in Huntington’s approach. A unified front office and ownership/upper management group can be a hard idiom to break away from, and this fact alone likely means the organization feels no need to change its approach.
"What makes Neal the best GM in baseball is he understands the value of the eye. But he still trusts all the new info available." – Coonelly
— Jason Rollison (@jrollisonpgh) December 10, 2016
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