After the 2016 MLB Trade Deadline, Pittsburgh Pirates General Manager Neal Huntington may have painted himself and his team into a corner.
Pittsburgh Pirates General Manager Neal Huntington may have painted his club into a corner.
It will go down as the most divisive trade in his time with the team. It may still go down as the worst, should Francisco Liriano re-find himself. Yet the last-minute trade of Liriano to the Toronto Blue Jays will have long lasting implications for the club, from the front office to the field.
The Pirates Are Now The Most Scrutinized Front Office In Baseball
It is an unusual thought, but the Pirates may now have one of, if not the most scrutinized front office in all of baseball. The salary dump of Liriano and the resulting overpay sent shockwaves through the Pittsburgh Pirates fanbase. Curiously, many national media members see the logic behind it.
Regardless of anyone’s current thoughts on the trade, what it now does is put a spotlight firmly on Huntington. The near-$14 Million in savings from not paying Liriano next season could be the most talked about sum in Pirates history.
Huntington will have to allocate that financial flexibility wisely. The resulting moves don’t have to involve a huge name. Something that has real, tangible, immediate results on the field.
There can be no more half measures.
That John Jaso-type contract? It will not fly going into 2017. Perhaps that’s unfair to Huntington, who will likely have to replace some key pieces in Matt Joyce and David Freese. But from a fan’s perspective, the promise of reallocation needs to be realized, in a big way.
Hurdle Must Now Be Great
Huntington assembles the team, Clint Hurdle manages it. Hurdle must now show the managerial chops that saw him lead the Colorado Rockies to an unlikely World Series in 2007. He will need to pus the right buttons at the right time.
He has already avoided a half measure by benching the face of the Pittsburgh Pirates for three consecutive nights. Andrew McCutchen may have disagreed that he needed the mental break, but taking a firm hand shows that Hurdle knows his season is on the brink.
Hurdle also has taken a half measure by keeping John Jaso in the lineup on Friday night, just one night after Jaso showed the worst display of effort seen in some time.
Perhaps Hurdle’s decision is less about Jaso than it is a function of not having Josh Bell to roll out at first base. Jaso is embattled in a swoon of epic proportions, and has just four hits since the All-Star Break. Put half of the blame for the necessity to keep playing him in Huntington’s column, but the skipper could send a loud message if he would relegate Jaso to a part-time role.
The Players Must Do Their Part
I’ve touched on Jaso, but the rest of the Pittsburgh Pirates must look in a mirror and dedicate themselves to maximum effort. When a team broadcaster – in this case John Wehner – has strong words for you, the time for serious reflection has come.
Wehner had this to say when speaking to the team’s flagship radio station:
[perfectpullquote align=”full” cite=”John Wehner” link=”” color=”#000000″ class=”” size=””]“It appears as though they don’t care. I think that it’s kind of hard to stomach when you’re playing the Brewers and Braves, two of the worst teams in baseball, and you can’t do anything. When you watch, especially this past road trip, it’s hard to say, but are they really playing? Are they really giving it their all? I mean, don’t the fans deserve to see their best? And we’re definitely not seeing their best and that is the frustrating part.”[/perfectpullquote]The team sits at 53-53 as of this writing. A 1-5 record against the lowly Atlanta Braves and Milwaukee Brewers has left the entire fanbase with a bad taste in its mouth. More than anyone, the Pittsburgh Pirates themselves can turn this perception around with improved play.
At the end of the day, the fans want to see their team win. If they can’t have that, they will begrudgingly settle for maximum effort from their heroes.
Right now, the Pittsburgh Pirates aren’t giving them that.
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