Good piece from David Schoenfield. I agree with pretty much every line. I really think NH is a good GM, but his drafting has been abysmal. He should have a better track record if only by accident.
http://www.espn.com/blog/sweetspot/post ... nt-winning
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4A4241766045626D030 wrote: Good piece from David Schoenfield. I agree with pretty much every line. I really think NH is a good GM, but his drafting has been abysmal. He should have a better track record if only by accident.
http://www.espn.com/blog/sweetspot/post ... nt-winning
I can't for the life of me understand how anyone can say NH is a good GM. He has proven that he clearly is not.
http://www.espn.com/blog/sweetspot/post ... nt-winning
I can't for the life of me understand how anyone can say NH is a good GM. He has proven that he clearly is not.
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dogknot17@yahoo.co
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I agree with the article too. Teams that win, for the most part, build that core of young talent. The Pirates have not drafted well. This is my biggest knock on Huntington. Also why I blame him more than Nutting.
Before 2016, people thought Huntington was a very good GM. I guess two down years erase all the accomplishments?
Before 2016, people thought Huntington was a very good GM. I guess two down years erase all the accomplishments?
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rucker59@gmail.com
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While I certainly get frustrated with Neal, the reality is I'm most frustrated at the limited resources he has to work with. Overall I'm actually surprised that he has been able to keep the Pirates even remotely competitive. They have played in an extremely difficult division, have horrible return from within the system, have no money, and yet they will put a surprisingly decent team on the field despite these serious disadvantageous. I have to give Neal credit for somehow doing that. He seems to have created an entire organization by moving around bullpen arms.
-Draft is absolutely awful. No excuses. Literally, an F.
-Management of prospects is also perfectly awful. His unwillingness to move prospects when they have value is frustrating and costly long term.
-Trades, in general, are mostly poor, usually exacerbated by holding the player too long. Using hindsight to judge is really unfair but time after time the Pirates hold onto a player only to watch his value plummet.
-Forget FAs.
So the question is "how the heck has he been competitive at all?" He has pulled rabbits out of the hat that, and it is this reality that makes the Pirate cheap ways so frustrating.
I don't know how he does it, but his end result is better than his "day to day" would seem to indicate; the end product is better than it seems it should be. Even still, being a .500 club is not nearly good enough and should not be the goal.
-Draft is absolutely awful. No excuses. Literally, an F.
-Management of prospects is also perfectly awful. His unwillingness to move prospects when they have value is frustrating and costly long term.
-Trades, in general, are mostly poor, usually exacerbated by holding the player too long. Using hindsight to judge is really unfair but time after time the Pirates hold onto a player only to watch his value plummet.
-Forget FAs.
So the question is "how the heck has he been competitive at all?" He has pulled rabbits out of the hat that, and it is this reality that makes the Pirate cheap ways so frustrating.
I don't know how he does it, but his end result is better than his "day to day" would seem to indicate; the end product is better than it seems it should be. Even still, being a .500 club is not nearly good enough and should not be the goal.
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my feeling is that NH and Pirates management think everything is great.
They have a good plan, they have the right people to execute it and only unforseen circumstances have prevented more success. If they stay the course wins and championships will follow.
They are fooling themselves. The team has to draft a lot better, develop talent better. It also has to do better at evaluating the talent in the system.
They have a good plan, they have the right people to execute it and only unforseen circumstances have prevented more success. If they stay the course wins and championships will follow.
They are fooling themselves. The team has to draft a lot better, develop talent better. It also has to do better at evaluating the talent in the system.
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SammyKhalifa
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I'd wager it's not as good as they think, yet not as horrible and some fans seem to.
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OrlandoMerced
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They have some major difficulty assessing hitting prospects in the draft. I think that is getting better, Kramer, Frazier, Moroff and Luplow look like guys that will contribute with the bat at the major league level, but there have been too many Tony Sanchez's and Conner Joe's over the years to dispel that notion.
They do excel at drafting prep pitchers, and I don't think an article listing 1st round draft whiffs provides a substantive argument that they are bad at drafting. If you assessed drafts on that metric, every team would be bad at drafting.
They do excel at drafting prep pitchers, and I don't think an article listing 1st round draft whiffs provides a substantive argument that they are bad at drafting. If you assessed drafts on that metric, every team would be bad at drafting.
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dogknot17@yahoo.co
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I think there is a lot of pressure on Huntington with how Meadows and Newman/Kramer perform. If these guys don't make an impact, Huntington should be in trouble. If they do make an impact, they can sure up a line up for years to come.
With that said, Huntington still has Tucker in case Newman doesn't pan out. Newman isn't looking like a very good pick at this point. He needs a big year. Craig is another guy. Is he a bad pick (too)?
With that said, Huntington still has Tucker in case Newman doesn't pan out. Newman isn't looking like a very good pick at this point. He needs a big year. Craig is another guy. Is he a bad pick (too)?
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Bobster21
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666D65696C6D763335427B636A6D6D2C616D020 wrote: I agree with the article too. Teams that win, for the most part, build that core of young talent. The Pirates have not drafted well. This is my biggest knock on Huntington. Also why I blame him more than Nutting.
Before 2016, people thought Huntington was a very good GM. I guess two down years erase all the accomplishments?
Maybe he was a good GM then but not now. Things change. As they say, "you can't rest on your laurels."
Before 2016, people thought Huntington was a very good GM. I guess two down years erase all the accomplishments?
Maybe he was a good GM then but not now. Things change. As they say, "you can't rest on your laurels."
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pghpaulatl
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Well you all can jump on me but I think he was average, with good and bad like many GM's throughout the history of drafting in the first round.
Since I've been a fan and lived through DL(nice man) NH has done some very good things and in my estimation the only bad 1st. rounder he picked was Tony Sanchez and that was a bad draft for 1st. rounder's. Taillon has a chance to be a stud, Cole was highly touted and is good, Appel was replaced by Meadows and I think he's going to be good. McGuire still has a chance and the later ones other than Joe are still progressing. The Josh Bell pick changed the draft and I give a lot of credit to NH for that.
As far as the later rounds he's found a few and that's a plus. I also give him loads of credit for what he's done other than the draft with regard to the positioning infielders, Burnett, Martin, JA Happ,Liriano, Melancon, Rivero, etc. I'm sure if I had more time I could come up with more however I have to work.
Overall I'd give him a C+, so hammer me I can take it.
Since I've been a fan and lived through DL(nice man) NH has done some very good things and in my estimation the only bad 1st. rounder he picked was Tony Sanchez and that was a bad draft for 1st. rounder's. Taillon has a chance to be a stud, Cole was highly touted and is good, Appel was replaced by Meadows and I think he's going to be good. McGuire still has a chance and the later ones other than Joe are still progressing. The Josh Bell pick changed the draft and I give a lot of credit to NH for that.
As far as the later rounds he's found a few and that's a plus. I also give him loads of credit for what he's done other than the draft with regard to the positioning infielders, Burnett, Martin, JA Happ,Liriano, Melancon, Rivero, etc. I'm sure if I had more time I could come up with more however I have to work.
Overall I'd give him a C+, so hammer me I can take it.