Neal Huntington was a terrible ML General Manager.
Take away Cutch, Marte, Walker and even Tony Watson and Jared Hughes (all players that he inherited) and NH's teams would never have broken .500.
Is NH just getting bashed now?
Moderators: SammyKhalifa, Doc, Bobster
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ArnoldRothstein
Is NH just getting bashed now?
Neal Huntington was a terrible ML General Manager.
It'll be interesting to see where he turns up next. A lot of GM positions are going to quants in their 30s from elite schools. That's just about what NH was 15 years ago, but he doesn't seem cutting edge now. It seems his contract ran through 2021, though of course he can take something new whenever he wants.
He has one pretty compelling selling point: he made the postseason three times with Nutting's Pirates. His next interview:
Interviewer: What do you think you could accomplish with a league average payroll?
NH: I'm sorry - I'm not familiar with the term.
I: Like, if you had as much to spend as most of the other GMs.
NH: ........
I: Neal - are you crying?
It'll be interesting to see where he turns up next. A lot of GM positions are going to quants in their 30s from elite schools. That's just about what NH was 15 years ago, but he doesn't seem cutting edge now. It seems his contract ran through 2021, though of course he can take something new whenever he wants.
He has one pretty compelling selling point: he made the postseason three times with Nutting's Pirates. His next interview:
Interviewer: What do you think you could accomplish with a league average payroll?
NH: I'm sorry - I'm not familiar with the term.
I: Like, if you had as much to spend as most of the other GMs.
NH: ........
I: Neal - are you crying?
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Bobster21
Is NH just getting bashed now?
0A392524272F19243F23383F2E22254B0 wrote: The 2010 draft had added only Taillon to the pipeline. Kingham was the only other player of note in that draft and he was grossly overrated. 2011 was a good draft with Cole, Bell, Alex Dickerson, Holmes and Glasnow. But NH traded Dickerson for Jaff Decker and Miles Mikolas, who he then traded for Chris ("Who?) McGuiness
This is near the crux of what I'm thinking about. Obviously, in the long run talent didn't reach the majors. But what I'm seeing quite a bit of lately is: (a) NH was focused on collecting major league-ready guys; and, (b) that he neglected the lower minors or young prospects. I think that when breaking down the 2007 team, his trades brought in a mix of failed prospects and blocked guys, but he also brought in legitimate (younger) prospects.
While Cherington is currently filling up the lower part of the system by trade, NH did the same thing by drafting. It's true that Taillon might be the only MLB value in the 2010 draft. But they also signed Stetson Allie for $2.2 million, which was mid-first round money that year. And then there were five guys, including Kingham, who got between $400k and $485k. That was equivalent to supplemental second or high third round money. The 2008 draft missed signing Tanner Scheppers, but gave Robbie Grossman and Quinton Miller supplemental first round money. The 2009 draft had 9 guys that got paid equivalent to mid-third round or better. 2011 only had six of those guys, but one was Bell, whose signing was one of the main reasons MLB and the union decided to end competition via the draft. So I think it was clear that NH was trying to get high-ceiling talent into the lower minors, though most of it actually topped out as lottery tickets.
Stetson Allie is a good example of the NH woes. A 2nd round draft pick given a huge signing bonus. So apparently they had high hopes for him as a pitcher. He began in low A making 7 starts and 8 relief appearances. He walked 29 in 26 innings. Also struck out 28. But instead of working with him to improve his control, they decided that their high priced, 2nd round pitcher was not a pitcher after all and moved him to 1B, 3B and OF, ending his pitching after 1 brief season. So much for development. He recently signed with an independent league team in KC. A waste of a 2nd round pick and 2.2 million for a team short on money and in need of prospects via the draft.
This is near the crux of what I'm thinking about. Obviously, in the long run talent didn't reach the majors. But what I'm seeing quite a bit of lately is: (a) NH was focused on collecting major league-ready guys; and, (b) that he neglected the lower minors or young prospects. I think that when breaking down the 2007 team, his trades brought in a mix of failed prospects and blocked guys, but he also brought in legitimate (younger) prospects.
While Cherington is currently filling up the lower part of the system by trade, NH did the same thing by drafting. It's true that Taillon might be the only MLB value in the 2010 draft. But they also signed Stetson Allie for $2.2 million, which was mid-first round money that year. And then there were five guys, including Kingham, who got between $400k and $485k. That was equivalent to supplemental second or high third round money. The 2008 draft missed signing Tanner Scheppers, but gave Robbie Grossman and Quinton Miller supplemental first round money. The 2009 draft had 9 guys that got paid equivalent to mid-third round or better. 2011 only had six of those guys, but one was Bell, whose signing was one of the main reasons MLB and the union decided to end competition via the draft. So I think it was clear that NH was trying to get high-ceiling talent into the lower minors, though most of it actually topped out as lottery tickets.
Stetson Allie is a good example of the NH woes. A 2nd round draft pick given a huge signing bonus. So apparently they had high hopes for him as a pitcher. He began in low A making 7 starts and 8 relief appearances. He walked 29 in 26 innings. Also struck out 28. But instead of working with him to improve his control, they decided that their high priced, 2nd round pitcher was not a pitcher after all and moved him to 1B, 3B and OF, ending his pitching after 1 brief season. So much for development. He recently signed with an independent league team in KC. A waste of a 2nd round pick and 2.2 million for a team short on money and in need of prospects via the draft.
Is NH just getting bashed now?
784B5756555D6B564D514A4D5C5057390 wrote: Neal Huntington was a terrible ML General Manager.
It'll be interesting to see where he turns up next. A lot of GM positions are going to quants in their 30s from elite schools. That's just about what NH was 15 years ago, but he doesn't seem cutting edge now. It seems his contract ran through 2021, though of course he can take something new whenever he wants.
He has one pretty compelling selling point: he made the postseason three times with Nutting's Pirates. His next interview:
Interviewer: What do you think you could accomplish with a league average payroll?
NH: I'm sorry - I'm not familiar with the term.
I: Like, if you had as much to spend as most of the other GMs.
NH: ........
I: Neal - are you crying?
Here's the thing, though. He's still unemployed in baseball, in any capacity.
That doesn't bode well for him.
It'll be interesting to see where he turns up next. A lot of GM positions are going to quants in their 30s from elite schools. That's just about what NH was 15 years ago, but he doesn't seem cutting edge now. It seems his contract ran through 2021, though of course he can take something new whenever he wants.
He has one pretty compelling selling point: he made the postseason three times with Nutting's Pirates. His next interview:
Interviewer: What do you think you could accomplish with a league average payroll?
NH: I'm sorry - I'm not familiar with the term.
I: Like, if you had as much to spend as most of the other GMs.
NH: ........
I: Neal - are you crying?
Here's the thing, though. He's still unemployed in baseball, in any capacity.
That doesn't bode well for him.
Is NH just getting bashed now?
0424372A2B450 wrote: Neal Huntington was a terrible ML General Manager.
Take away Cutch, Marte, Walker and even Tony Watson and Jared Hughes (all players that he inherited) and NH's teams would never have broken .500.
We had those dudes in 2011 except Marte and finished 18 games under .500.
NH was a decent GM given no budget to work with.
He did some panic selling to save his job late that will cost us for a decade.
Take away Cutch, Marte, Walker and even Tony Watson and Jared Hughes (all players that he inherited) and NH's teams would never have broken .500.
We had those dudes in 2011 except Marte and finished 18 games under .500.
NH was a decent GM given no budget to work with.
He did some panic selling to save his job late that will cost us for a decade.