Paul Zeise article

Ecbucs · Post by **Ecbucs** » Thu Dec 08, 2016 7:57 pm

Nutting has to give Huntington the finances to sign or trade for a veteran pitcher with a proven track record who is either in his prime or entering his prime. The free agent market is very tight, and that means pitchers are all being overpaid, so the Pirates will likely have to trade for one. That’s where the tricky part comes in. Trading means giving up some of your assets to get a good return, and the Pirates under Huntington haven’t been very interested in that. McCutchen was and still is obviously a nice trading chip, but the Pirates also have some prospects who could bring back a good pitcher as well.

We’re consistently told the Pirates have the best organization and management team in baseball. If that’s true, Huntington’s nine years here should have been more than enough time for him to build the organization up to the point where trading a few top prospects doesn’t mean mortgaging the future.

If an organization trusts its ability to acquire, develop and draft prospects, there’s no reason they can’t occasionally unload a few of them. If the Pirates traded a couple of prospects for a pitcher and that pitcher didn’t work out, they still have Marte, Polanco and Cole, whom they will no doubt be unloading or trying to unload for prospects in the next few years. In other words, the Pirates’ model suggests they will be able to replenish their minor leagues quickly if they need to, but if this is the best organization in baseball, the minors should be stocked already.

http://www.post-gazette.com/sports/zeis ... 1612080185?

Roberto218 · Post by **Roberto218** » Fri Dec 09, 2016 2:25 am

I agree with your sentiments. For me, the frustration is when the he Bucs develop a comeback pitcher, Volquez, Happ and now perhaps Nova, they don't pay to keep the pitcher. How many times can Searage catch lightning in a bottle. When he does, they need to cap the bottle!

Ecbucs · Post by **Ecbucs** » Fri Dec 09, 2016 2:43 am

112C212631372C71727B430 wrote: I agree with your sentiments. For me, the frustration is when the he Bucs develop a comeback pitcher, Volquez, Happ and now perhaps Nova, they don't pay to keep the pitcher. How many times can Searage catch lightning in a bottle. When he does, they need to cap the bottle!

Sorry I wasn't clear in my post. Everything was written by Paul Zeise, I just copied that part of the article with the link. Should have used quotes.