Jon Niese hasn’t had the best season with the Pittsburgh Pirates. Did recent comments by Neal Huntington hurt his trade value?
Neal Huntington is discovering that maybe honesty isn’t always the right policy. It has been widely reported that the Pittsburgh Pirates are looking to shop Jon Niese. But comments Huntington made over the weekend will likely make it much more challenging to get a move accomplished to remove Niese, who has been viewed as somewhat of an albatross this season. Some feel like this move may be necessary to help the Pirates make a final push at the NL Wild Card.
The Pirates general manager made a couple of brutally honest remarks about the starter in an interview Friday, stating that taking on two fringe prospects may have been a better return in the off-season trade that sent second baseman Neil Walker to the New York Mets.
On Sunday, the Pirates executive revealed he regrets making the candid comments in the first place.
Hindsight is always 20/20
“Again, hindsight being 20/20, the words were probably a little bit harsh but I meant to answer the question candidly and honestly,” Huntington said Sunday on MLB Network Radio. “And in hindsight, given the results that we’ve gotten to this point in time we might have been better served with a different outcome. That’s not to say that I regret the decision. I don’t feel it’s a mistake, I never used that word. But in hindsight, I (answered) the question in earnest, and in hindsight, I wish I hadn’t.”
Niese was recently demoted to the bullpen after 20 games this season, with an ERA of 4.89 and a WHIP of 1.47.
His home run totals are quite disturbing this year as 20 long balls have left the yard during his 2016 campaign, which surely adds to the ire of GM Huntington. Niese gave up the same number of home runs in 2015, but that was over 29 starts. With Niese’s overall poor performance, and the comments by Huntington, it will be interesting to see if Pittsburgh will decide to hold onto him and pitch from the bullpen, or cut their losses and trade him for mid-level prospects.
Not exactly a ringing endorsement
But who would be interested in a player that now would be traded for “fringe prospects?”
With the August 1st non-waiver trade deadline looming in two weeks, one team that might have some interest is Niese’s former team, the New York Mets. According to Marc Carig of Newsday, the Mets are not ruling out a reunion with Niese, even though as recently as a week ago, they had “no appetite” for such a discussion. The move of Niese to the bullpen, however, as well as Huntington’s comments have certainly lowered the price on the southpaw.
If Logan Verrett continues yielding runs the way he has, the Mets will have to do something about their fifth rotation spot in the near future. Niese has had his problems as well, but the rate that he’s given up home runs is unusual for someone with a 53-percent ground ball rate. There’s always the chance that he’s able to turn things around and provide quality innings for the rest of the season, but it seems like the Pittsburgh Pirates have seen enough.
That doesn’t make Jon Niese the most attractive option, but he’s not going to cost much, either.
Image Credit – Daniel Decker Photography
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