One of the key transactions for the Pittsburgh Pirates during last year’s Winter Meetings was the acquiring of left-handed pitcher Jonathon Niese. That deal didn’t work out very well and entering this year’s meetings, Pirates General Manager Neal Huntington should attempt not to make the same mistake twice.
As trade rumors spread like wildfire and anticipation for the annual winter meetings intensifies, the Pittsburgh Pirates find themselves in a similar situation to one they were in one year ago.
As most of you remember, at last year’s winter meetings, the Pirates dealt their beloved “Pittsburgh Kid” Neil Walker to the New York Mets for starting pitcher Jonathon Niese.
Throughout the 2015 season, rumors spread regarding Walker’s future with the club. With a contract extension not in the plans between the Pirates and the second baseman, General Manager Neal Huntington pulled the trigger on the deal that would send Walker to the Big Apple and bring Niese back in return.
Due to his popularity in the city in which he was born and raised, Walker’s departure from the Bucs was met with heavy criticism from Pirates fans, many who thought the return wasn’t enough. Though even I believed Walker’s trade value wasn’t high enough to bring in a legit number one or two starter, it may have been high enough for the Pirates to go in a different direction and pass on Niese.
At the time in which the Pirates were shopping Walker, even a team like the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim were interested in the second baseman. Not a lot of names were reported in regards to who the Angels could give up in exchange for Walker. However, CJ Wilson’s name did come up in a few reports and some Pirates fans were on board with the possibility of Wilson being the return in a deal for Walker despite the Angels lefty undergoing elbow surgery in 2015.
Walker for CJ Wilson. Pull it off Neal!
— Justin Zerishnek (@therealjz24) December 9, 2015
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@GavWill13 @whygavs I liked the outcome of swapping Walker for CJ Wilson which was mentioned as a possibly a few minutes ago.
— Jim Hammett (@JimHammett) December 9, 2015
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Not sure how I feel about Niese for Walker. Rather Niese than CJ Wilson but it still needs to digest a bit..#pirates #BUCN
— Chase O’Palka (@ChaserevX) December 9, 2015
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Wouldn’t be surprised if cj Wilson is in discussion for Walker, I know they want to part w/him. Surely eat $ … #pirates #angels
— JB (@JustBaseball25) December 9, 2015
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Now, the Pirates did dodge a bullet by not trading for Wilson as he missed the entire 2016 season and underwent shoulder surgery in July 2016. However, names such as Matt Shoemaker and Hector Santiago could’ve been better potential targets than Niese. Shoemaker wasn’t mentioned much in reports, but Santiago, who is currently playing for the Minnesota Twins, was.
#Angels LHP Hector Santiago would be good fit for #Pirates in Neil Walker deal. Projected to make $5.1M in 2016. Walker projected $10.7M.
— Mike DiGiovanna (@MikeDiGiovanna) December 9, 2015
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Wonder if the Pirates could flip Neil Walker for Hector Santiago. Could make a lot of sense for them.
— D.J. Short (@djshort) December 9, 2015
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Despite there being a less than stellar market of teams who wanted to give up a lot for Walker’s services, it’s easy to think the Pirates settled in that deal. While Walker hit .282 with 23 home runs in 113 games with the Mets, Niese posted an 8-6 record with a 4.91 ERA and 1.55 WHIP in 23 appearances (18 starts) for the Pirates before being traded back to the Mets for Antonio Bastardo at the 2016 Trade Deadline.
Let’s cut to the chase. This long spiel has all been about what Huntington can learn from last year’s discussions at winter meetings. In this Huntington quote below that was tweeted by Travis Sawchik of the Pittsburgh Tribune Review and featured in his latest story on Huntington, the Pirates GM says they “will continue to make challenging and potentially unpopular decisions.” Though the deal that sent Mark Melancon to the Washington Nationals did include a decent return, I’m not really sure the Walker trade is something that anyone wants to see replicated.
Neal Huntington today citing Melancon & Walker trades:”We will continue to make challenging and potentially unpopular decisions.” Stay tuned
— Travis Sawchik (@Sawchik_Trib) November 30, 2016
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With winter meetings approaching next week, the trade talks involving Andrew McCutchen are only going to get hotter. In fact, there has been plenty of talk about the Pirates and the Nationals being trade partners once again.
Like the Walker situation, the Pirates find themselves in a position to possibly part ways with another popular impact player. However, this time they have a former National League Most Valuable Player and franchise player whose trade value should be viewed as pretty high despite one less than stellar year.
The point I’m trying to make here is that if Huntington does decide to deal McCutchen, it must be the right deal for the right price. He must refrain from settling for just any deal and learn from last year’s winter meetings deal that just didn’t work out.
In fact, it was Huntington himself who told the 93.7 The Fan’s Morning Show during a radio interview in July that “In hindsight, maybe the two fringe prospects and trying to figure out where to re-allocate the money might have been a better return,” when talking about the Walker deal. That in itself should have been a teachable moment for Huntington.
Though McCutchen had a rough season, he’s still a talented player and one of the best athletes in baseball. It’s not a shocker that other teams are interested in him. However, Huntington must make it known that his services will only be traded if the package coming back, whether it includes top prospects or MLB ready talent, is a quality investment, will benefit the future of the Pirates organization and is worth giving up a guy who has been the Pirates franchise player since he entered the league.
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