Huntington trading report card: F

By Bob Smizik
http://community.post-gazette.com/blogs/bobsmizik/default.aspx
Friday, 12:15 a.m.

The Pirates jettisoning yesterday of Dana Eveland, whom they acquired for a prospect at the start of the month, once again brings into question the player evaluation skills of general manager Neal Huntington.

It’s entirely possible that Eveland, 26, will go on to have a decent career and a better one than the player the Pirates gave up to acquire him, Ronald Uviedo. But Huntington has whiffed on so many chances in the trading area that no one would be surprised if Eveland is never heard from again and Uviedo, 23, becomes a competent MLB pitcher for the Toronto Blue Jays.

Huntington took the job in late in the 2007 season and pretty much began shredding the roster.

He traded the entire eight-man lineup he inherited. That would be Ronny Paulino (C), Adam LaRoche (1B), Freddy Sanchez (2B), Jack Wilson (SS), Jose Bautista (3B), Jason Bay (OF), Nate McLouth (OF) and Xavier Nady (OF). He’s also traded two starting pitchers, Tom Gorzelanny and Ian Snell, and relievers John Grabow, Sean Burnett, Damaso Marte, Salomon Torres and Jesse Chavez. He’s also traded another starting outfielder, Nyjer Morgan, and a backup Eric Hinske.

All of them except Torres, who retired, and Chavez and Snell, who recently were sent to the minors, are still in the majors.

I’m not going to suggest that was Grade A talent because it wasn’t. But some of those players had good resumes and some continue to do very well.

* Paulino is starting for Florida and batting .309 (all statistics through Wed.).

* LaRoche has 10 homers and 50 RBIs, tied for fifth in the National League, for Arizona.

* Sanchez is batting .317 for San Francisco.

* Bautista leads MLB with 20 home runs with Toronto.

* Bay and Morgan are having disappointing years but starting for the Mets and Washington, respectively.

* Hinske is batting .314 in a part-time role with the Braves.

* Wilson and McLouth are having disappointing years with Seattle and Atlanta but were starting before going on the disabled list.

Here’s what the Pirates have on their roster in exchange for the players Huntington traded:

* Right fielder Lastings Milledge, who has no homers and a .270 average.

* Catcher Jason Jaramillo, a backup hitting .180 who is in danger of being sent to the minors.

* Third baseman Andy LaRoche, who had a extended chance to start and failed. He’s batting .232 with 12 RBIs in 181 at bats.

* Shortstop Ronny Cedeno, batting .232 and recently benched.

* Starter Ross Ohlendorf, who is 0-6 with a 5.43 ERA.

* Starter Jeff Karstens, who is 2-2 with a 4.72 ERA.

* Reliever Joel Hanrahan, who has been more effective than his 4.40 ERA would indicate.

That is not an even exchange, not even close to an even exchange. Huntington stripped the parent club bare and thus far has failed to bring in equal replacements. That‘s why the Pirates are on pace to lose 106 games, which would be their worst season in 58 years.

The only way Huntington’s record could be remotely be considered successful thus far is if he had a wealth of minor-league talent as the result of those deals. He does not.

He has one high-end prospect, pitcher Bryan Morris. The two Pirates named to the All-Star Futures Game are catcher Tony Sanchez, a draft choice playing at Class A, and outfielder Gorkys Hernandez, a Huntington acquisition, who is batting .245 with two homers in 261 at bats at Class AA.

There are a handful of players who might become major leaguers but none looms as a possible All-Star caliber player -- as Bay, McLouth, Sanchez and Wilson were.

Most significantly, some key acquisitions have failed miserably: They would be Aki Iwamura, Charley Morton, Jeff Clement, Brandon Moss and Kevin Hart. All were given extensive starting time and did not come close to measuring up.

Some extreme fans are heartened by the four new players on the roster -- third baseman Pedro Alvarez, second baseman Neil Walker, Tabata and pitcher Brad Lincoln. Only Alvarez has an extremely high ceiling. There is little or nothing in Class AAA and Class AA in terms of position players.

It’s too early to fully judge all the trades Huntington has made. It’s possible, for example, Morris will become a top-of-the-line starter and remove the ``F-'' from beside the trade of Bay, who was one of the top offensive outfielders in baseball when he was dealt and who should have fetched far more than Huntington received. Hart and Jose Ascanio, who came from the Cubs in exchange for Gorzelanny and Grabow, might recover from their major arm injuries and be productive players. Might not, too.

But that’s in the future. For the present, the recently extended Huntington have been a major failure in the trading area.