The Pirates aren’t exactly playing inspired ball at 28-30, but they remain in the hunt in a densely packed NL Central. GM Neal Huntingon indicated that he’s on the look for acquisitions in an interview with 93.7 FM The Fan (as covered by Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette).
The club has had a number of tough injury breaks, though that’s true of plenty of other teams as well. But missing some notable roster pieces has only left Huntington feeling more determined. He says the “continued fight in this club is something to appreciate and love.”
While the Bucs are a notoriously light-spending outfit, Huntington isn’t just counting on getting a boost from already-paid-for, rehabbing players such as Corey Dickerson, Jung Ho Kang, Jameson Taillon, and Keone Kela. The long-time front office leader isn’t necessarily saying the pocketbook or farm system will be opened wide to make additions, but does say he’s “got to find a way to get some reinforcements here.”
Unsurprisingly, pitching is the focus. While the Pirates have a few position players nearing returns, the group of hurlers has longer to wait for its own injured assets to make it back to the roster. Collectively, the Bucs have an ugly 6.17 ERA over the past thirty days.
It’d obviously be nice to score a high-end starter, though that isn’t necessarily in the cards. The focus now is on smaller game. Huntington highlights the middle relief corps, saying he has not “done a good job in getting the right guys at the right times from the right spots.” Picking up reasonably interesting, potential bounceback relievers in the middle of the season is something the Pirates have pulled off in the past, so we can safely anticipate some efforts in that regard.
That’s not to say that more significant moves won’t ultimately be pursued. It’s just hard to foresee it happening in the near-term with the deadline still two months off and the Pirates’ position still unclear. Huntington did acknowledge there could be a “potential scenario” where the team moves a position player for pitching, though he did so in the vaguest possible terms.
Phillies2017
Wow, this is horrible, you would think they would have learned after last year
Brassroo
Tigers will trade you Matt Boyd for your best two or three prospects!
quantomoffandom
Al will not require that kind of haul for Boyd. He would be fine with your 12 and 18th best prospects. He might even take less. It is how most of his trades have gone.
mlb1225
For the love of god, something needs to be done about the pitching staff. So many injuries, inconsistent performances, and straight up unexpected nose-drops in performance have crippled this staff. Except for like 3 or 4 pitchers, it’s been downright hard to watch. There has to be at least a few rental pitchers on the market they can go after.
mlb1225
Also, we cannot keep marching out 8.91 ERA, 2.010 WHIP Nick Kingham.
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In defense of Kingham his WHIP has just now gone over 2.0.
NH is excited now.He had the chance to sign two or three pitchers this off season for little money,and said that signing free agents is not a good thing to do.He put his trust in Brault and Kingham.See where that got him.
This last month may have permanently ruined this season,which would be a shame since it is a very competitive division.
mlb1225
Well his ERA has been right around or above 6 since May 8th. They need to do something. I really do believe that like you said, Brault and Kingham have really messed things up for this season.
Mendoza Line 215
First sentence on Kingham was tongue in cheek.
He needs to be sent to AAA and allowed to pitch for one year.
His progression was hampered by the TJ surgery,
They should be able to get him through waivers now so it is an opportune time to make the move.
Clay Holmes can take his place and not pitch any worse,although the same thing could be said for you and I.
Alextemplin
Kingham is out of options
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That is why I said that they need to get him through waivers.
spinach
Yea perhaps they should buy high on a quality pitcher who isn’t even pitching all that well and perhaps in the process trade away a former high-end prospect whose value is low (like Kingham) in the process. That always works out well for them. If only Bell’s value was still at a low point, they could have included him in the deal, too.
Goku the Knowledgable One
How about we trade our #1, 2, & 3 prospects for Chris Archer?
Oh wait, he already made that boneheaded move.
How about we trade former #1 ovrl pick Gerrit Cole for 2 known busts Joe Musgrove & Colin Moran, and completely useless Michael Feliz?
Oh wait he already made that boneheaded move too.
Let’s sign arguably the worst GM ever to an extension..
Oh wait Bob already made that boneheaded move too.
Let’s use a majority of our minimal off-season payroll on Lonnie ChisenDL.
Oh wait he already did that too.
Let’s say we’re def gonna rip ourselves off adding pitching depth to a .500 team.
Oh wait he just did that.
Big Poison
Dude. Give it a rest.
ronnsnow
How is Colin Moran a bust? He’s not spectacular but he’s been a pretty solid hitter as a Pirate with a 105 OPS+.
Also, its funny how you leave out all the good trades Huntington has made. Like getting Felipe Vazquez and Taylor Hearn for Melancon, and then Hearn was flipped for Kela.
Also, the Cutch for Crick & Reynolds deal has been an absolute steal for the Pirates.
Did NH botch the Archer trade? Absolutely. But let’s not pretend every move he makes is a miss.
Robertowannabe
At the time of the trade, Glasnow was looked at as a bust by most of the fandom and the supposed experts in the Pittsburgh media. Meadows never had shown any power and looked like Bryan Reynolds. Baz has had control issues since become a pro. Did not look like a total bust of a deal for the Pirates at the time. No one would have expected what Glasnow and Meadows had done this season when the deal was made.
mlb1225
Moran has been a solid bat for the Pirates since arriving, and Musgrove, although he was inconsistent for May, was one of April’s top pitchers. Plus, the Astros could lose Cole in FA this off season. Not every move is going to work out well, but keep ignoring Melancon for Rivero/Vazquez and Taylor Hearn, Cutch for Kyle Crick and Bryan Reynolds, Daniel Hudson for Corey Dickerson, and Tony Watson for Oneil Cruz.
66TheNumberOfTheBest
How about we move the team to another city?
bighiggy
I’ll trade you Michael wacha and dominic Leone for an old pair of aramis Ramirez cleats and some Nate mclouth batting gloves
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The Pirates should get Wacha just so he cannot pitch against them again.
Topshelf Nick
Learn from the past please. Sign players but for god sake, don’t trade for some
mlb1225
Well who are they gonna sign that can help them now? Keuchel isn’t really an immediate solution.
Robertowannabe
Keuchel will not be an immediate solution to any team that signs him. Will take him a good month to start rounding into form.
realgone2
This probably isn’t a wise direction
Goku the Knowledgable One
Logic has never stopped him before.
Zach725
Pirates mine as well just blow up the rest of their farm. Looks like they are a team that will win 70-75 games a season for the next decade.
joedirte4life
How this GM has a job is beyond me he somehow managed to trade Gerrit Cole and got none of the Astros elite prospects and gave away a kings ransom for Archer. That’s Miami Marlins level of incompentence.
Robertowannabe
Well, you could have said that last year but looks like Cole is back to where he was as a Pirates pitcher. The only real positive is his SO numbers but his HR rate is the highest of his career, he is a .500 pitcher and is now looked at as the 4th starter for the Astros by some. Not quite the numbers he is wanting to show going into Free Agency……..
azcrook
Baumgarner for Brian Reynolds and a decent prospect
mlb1225
Lol
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That was way more than just funny.
jimmyz
I bet the Giants would love to still have Reynolds and crick for that matter.
bus035
Pittsburgh receives: Marco Gonzalez
Seattle receives: Ke’Bryan Hayes and Cal Mitchell
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That one too.
Robertowannabe
@ buso35 And betting you would be first in line to complain when Gonzalez is still a midling pitcher and Hayes and Mitchell turn out to be very good if not better. smh
66TheNumberOfTheBest
Trade Dickerson for a rental pitcher. Reynolds deserves to keep playing.
And while he’s at it, Huntingdon should wait until DiPoto goes 30 hours or so without making a trade and then offer Erik Gonzalez for Dee Gordon. If he’s bored, you never know.
mlb1225
They might also need to throw in a mid-ranking prospect with Dickerson. I don’t know how much a team would like a straight up rental for rental trade.
Mendoza Line 215
DePoto gets bored way before thirty hours has elapsed since his last trade.
Dickerson is the obvious trade player inasmuch as his contract is up at the end of the year.
I hope that NH does not deplete the farm system.He is not good at those trades.
Reynolds is going nowhere.He is ROY material.Marte could go,however.
jimmyz
Though the Pirates seem to have some outfield depth at the moment there really isn’t a true CF other than Marte so I’m pretty sure he isn’t going anywhere this year.
NuckBobFutting
Marte has looked terrible in the field. Might help if he put the glasses on his eyes and not his hat
Kang Ho Polanco
We get it, already–you hate the Pirates. Give it a rest.
slash78
How about Bryan Reynolds and two minor leaguers for Madison Bumgarner and Pillar plus cash. And yes, you have to take Pillar.
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It seems to me that you are hallucinating.
Why in the world would the Pirates trade a ROY candidate for a couple months of a #3 pitcher,include two more minor leaguers,and take Pillar in return.
Perhaps it is because the Giants once had Reynolds and they really want him back.
slash78
He’s only a RoY candidate if he gets playing time. Once Corey Dickerson gets back, he’ll lose quite a bit of it. And if Cabrera continues to hit and Reynolds struggles in the slightest, then there goes the rest of his playing time.
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You are correct in that assessment.The Dickerson and Chisenhall injuries have opened up his playing time.The Melkman is also playing beyond their dreams.But Reynolds is hitting .350 with some power,and plays a good field.They will trade Dickerson first and try to get something for him as this is his contract year.I hope that they keep Melky.
If NH trades Reynolds after the Meadows trade he will be run out of town on a rail.And he should be.
It seems that Reynolds will be a good player even if he does not meet this standard going forward.
I think that if they do anything drastic it will be to trade Marte.He has not quite met his potential,and the drug suspension has raised doubts about him.
Goku the Knowledgable One
Huntington was so confident in Reynolds that he spent the whole budget on Chisenhal who he’s trying to pretend doesn’t exist.
Robertowannabe
There was confidence in Reynolds but since he missed a bunch of time to injury last season, he was not expected to be in Pittsburgh this soon and not playing as well as he has. Chisenhal was a bridge.
panj341
Mid-Season Acquisitions translates to daily checking the waiver wire.
Robertowannabe
Pretty much. Even the talking heads in Pittsburgh complain that the Pirates have not made a significant trade when not a team has made a significant move to pick up even a decent pitcher let alone a quality starter. No moves have been made yet except for guys that have been put on waivers or are being considered for it like Bruce.(and the Pirates have no need for him)
holecamels35
James Shields???
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I thought of him too and it is in desperation when that happens.
He was a good pitcher at one time but not anymore.
It would take at least a month to get him up to speed.
NH needs to get Kingham off the roster so Hurdle cannot use him.
Addition by subtraction.
Start Davis or Holmes.They could not be any worse.
joew
holding to Maddison is a great fit here. lefty starter who could benifit greatly with Ray taking a look at him and get his stock up for free agency next year.
Madison woudln’t be blocking anyone he’d be filling in for injuries and once those people are back you play the best 5/6 available until next season when hopefully everyone is healthy and all the starters are back including Kuhl who is missing all this year.
His salary is on the cheap side.
and his cost in prospects should not be overwhelming. maybe lower top 100ish or a couple higher end but not top prosepects and maybe ptbnl/international money or something along those lines.
Madison’s performance hasn’t be bad over all… but not near the potential cy-young type of a few years ago, and has had some decline the past couple seasons including this season.
He can hit pretty well for a pitcher and enjoys it(?)
Adding madison would give the pirates a rotation of Musgrove, madison, lyles, archer right away… not the worst.. williams gets back in a few weeks and Taillon back at the end of july… they should be set and have some quality depth with a 6 man rotation when healthy to hold the injury prone rotation and hope that the injury bug goes away.
there are others available too.. but i’m stuck on Madison lol.
If the pirates suffer another major injury for a fair amount of time… probably not worth throwing much at anyone and just hope people get healthy to make a run after the break.
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Bumgarner is still a good pitcher,but as you are aware he is very popular,and will have many suitors.
I do not think that it would be easy to get him,and the Pirates would have to overpay.
I do not think it worth it for a rental.
joew
yeah.. probably.
bigdaddyk
Marte is the guy they will move for pitching Cleveland can throw in Martin whose a FA next year to give us a defensive CF. I am sure we contacted Toronto for Giles and stroman. I would have signed Ervin Santana already and given Keller the entire month of June up here. Maybe white Sox give us nova back. Shields or 2 year deal to Dallas for 30 million 15 per
Oxford Karma
They have made some pretty puzzling moves the last couple years and shouldn’t be fooled by this teams wary start. Cubs got out of the gate slow, and they aren’t close to as good as the Cardinals or Brewers. Even Cincinnati probably has more talent. Trade guys who are in walk years, extend A few of the younger guys and try to sign a SP or two in the winter.