Great Scot: I am Pittsburgh Pirates GM Neal Huntington
By Eric Scot
April 1, 2013; Pittsburgh, PA, USA; Pittsburgh Pirates center fielder Andrew McCutchen (center) receives his 2012 silver slugger award from Pittsburgh Pirates general manager Neil Huntington (left) and his 2012 Rawlings gold glove from Jerry Williams (right) before the game against the Chicago Cubs at PNC Park. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports
Good morning Pirates faithful,
In efforts to maximize the team-fan relationship, I will be sending out periodical memos to you in hopes you will trust and have faith in the Pittsburgh Pirates ownership, front office and decision makers. Frank Coonelly and I have been working very hard to make sure the 2013 team is realizing our goals of a championship-caliber ballclub. I will be speaking with our scouts very soon on all of the players we are scoping out to potentially add to the team and then with manager Clint Hurdle to see if and how these players could fit.
I will let you know up front that we have been scouting many players, some of which you’ve read about, guys like Nate Schierholtz of the Chicago Cubs and Alex Rios of the Chicago White Sox. Chicago, WHAT A TOWN! We have also heard the rumors of Miami’s Giancarlo Stanton. Let me please address Mr. Stanton as it’s important to get that monkey off of my back. We WILL NOT trade for Mr. Stanton because we believe in our future pieces of Jameson Taillon and Gregory Polanco too much to give both of them up. Not to mention, it may take another player or two so we feel that will not be the best direction to go.
We will speak internally and see if either Mr. Schierholtz or Mr. Rios would fit our team need in the best manner or if we believe that Mr. Jose Tabata will work out for right field moving forward. We also may an internal option in Mr. Andrew Lambo, provided that Mr. Tabata doesn’t work out and Mr. Lambo can continue to show he’s made improvements well enough to contribute at the big-league level. Since we do not want to mortgage the future of the franchise but also make a serious run at the World Series in 2013, we must find a balance of what we give up to what we get back in return.
July 24, 2012; Pittsburgh, PA, USA; Pittsburgh Pirates president Frank Coonelly (left) and Pirates general manager Neal Huntington (right) observe players at the batting cage before playing the Chicago Cubs at PNC Park. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports
Mr. Schierholtz could be here for a few years and I don’t believe that we’d have to give up Mr. Polanco to get him so he could definitely be a good option for us moving forward to bridge the gap. Mr. Rios would probably cost us Mr. Polanco so that will be an internal discussion. We do understand that we’ve built our minor-league system up to provide the team with pieces to get us over the hump, however we want to make sound baseball decisions as well. Some other guys we are looking at should include: Alejandro De Aza from the White Sox, Marlon Byrd of the Mets, Alfonso Soriano of the Cubs, Andre Ethier of the Dodgers, Norichika Aoki of the Brewers and even Logan Morrison of the Marlins who profiles more of a first basemen.
We believe that if we can find the right move for the right player for the right price, we will certainly move forward and make a move to help better the team. However, personally I feel as though we have enough pieces for the starting lineup, starting rotation and bullpen that the biggest area of concern is our bench. It’s long been known that Brandon Inge, while a great guy in the clubhouse, really doesn’t fit the bill of a guy to come and hit in a clutch situation. We will look to see if there are some guys out there, almost like the Russ Canzler move that could help us for the stretch run. We will most certainly hold on to Clint Barmes for the rest of the season unless an alternative comes to us that we don’t see currently and the rest of the bench will include Travis Snider, Gaby Sanchez and Josh Harrison.
One last item that I would like to touch on and that’s the last bench player in catcher Michael McKenry. We recognize Mr. McKenry as a very likeable guy, one who plays hard and will give it everything he can each time he is out there. The biggest problem with Mr. McKenry is that his bat has really weakened and his defense has become a liability. Despite working very hard, we are having discussions internally about bringing up Mr. Tony Sanchez in hopes of strengthening our bench as well as a defensive replacement for days that we need to give Mr. Russell Martin off.
We promise you, the great Pittsburgh Pirates fans, that we will work very hard and diligent to put the best 2013 Pittsburgh Baseball Club we can on the field, the best rotation to start each game and the best bullpen anyone has or will ever see. Have faith in us and I am putting my reputation and job on the line this season to make it all happen. We will talk again soon.
Thank you,
Neal Huntington, Executive General Manager
Pittsburgh Pirates
(Note: This article was not written by Mr. Huntington. Everything written has been done by the author of the article and has no direct affiliation with the Pittsburgh Pirates.)