Rodriguez's home run in 9th gives Pirates 3-2 win over Reds

By John Perrotto, The Associated Press

http://www.espn.com/mlb/

August 5, 2016

Pittsburgh Pirates manager Clint Hurdle, left, hugs Sean Rodriguez after Rodriguez hit a home run in the ninth inning of a baseball game against the Cincinnati Reds in Pittsburgh, Friday, Aug. 5, 2016. The Pirates won 3-2. (AP Photo/Fred Vuich)

PITTSBURGH -- Sean Rodriguez stepped to the plate looking to be aggressive.

That approach paid off as he homered to open the bottom of the ninth inning, giving the Pittsburgh Pirates a 3-2 victory over the Cincinnati Reds on Friday night.

"When I try to be too passive, that's when I swing and miss a lot," Rodriguez said. "When I take my swing, it's because I'm getting in my ready position and able to get my swing off. I was able to get a pitch I was able to get my swing off and hit it as good as I needed to."

Rodriguez connected off Ross Ohlendorf (5-7), a 413-foot drive to the left-field bleachers that gave the Pirates just their second win in seven games in the midst of 12 straight games against teams who are at least 10 games under .500.

It was Rodriguez's second career game-ending homer and his 11th home run of the season.

"It's another cool thing for him this year," Pirates manager Clint Hurdle said of the utility player. "He's done a lot of good things for us. He's tough on himself. He expects a lot of good things to happen."

The Reds tied the score 2-2 in the top of the ninth on pinch-hitter Ramon Cabrera's sacrifice fly off Tony Watson (2-3), who blew his first save in two opportunities since All-Star closer Mark Melancon was traded to Washington last Saturday.

Rodriguez's home run was the 23rd given up this season to the first batter a Reds reliever has faced.

"You can imagine how I feel about that at this point and I'm going to walk away from it," Cincinnati manager Bryan Price. "I'm obviously very frustrated by it."

Pirates rookie Jameson Taillon gave up only one run in six innings with six strikeouts and one walk in his fifth consecutive quality start. He has not factored in the decision in any of his five career home starts.

Reds starter Anthony DeSclafani allowed two runs and two hits in six innings with six strikeouts and three walks, and has yet to lose in 11 starts this season. He began the season on the disabled list with a strained oblique before being activated June 10.

The Pirates scored twice in the fifth inning to take a 2-1 lead as David Freese walked and John Jaso doubled before Francisco Cervelli hit a tying sacrifice fly. Jordy Mercer followed with a squeeze bunt to bring in the go-ahead run.

DeSclafani allowed fewer than three runs for the eighth time in nine starts as the Reds, last in the NL Central, began a nine-game road trip.

The Reds took a 1-0 lead in the first inning on Brandon Phillips' RBI single. He had two of Cincinnati's six hits and is 7 for 11 in his last three games.

Slumping Pirates center fielder Andrew McCutchen returned to the lineup after being given a three-day "mental break" and went 0 for 2 with two strikeouts. The 2013 NL MVP is 1 for 14 in his last four games, dropping his batting average to .240.

TRAINER'S ROOM

Reds: RHP Alfredo Simon (strained right trapezius) and RHP A.J. Morris (strained right shoulder) are scheduled to begin rehabilitation assignments Sunday with Triple-A Louisville. ... SS Zack Cozart returned after missing the previous three games with a bruised right ring finger.

Pirates: RF Gregory Polanco (left shoulder discomfort) was not in the lineup for a second straight game. ... C Cervelli returned after being hit the head Tuesday by a pitch and sitting out two games.

UP NEXT

Reds: RHP Homer Bailey (1-0, 3.18 ERA), who underwent Tommy John elbow ligament reconstruction surgery last year, will make his second start of the season. He won at San Diego on Sunday, allowing two runs and 5 2/3 innings.

Pirates: RHP Ivan Nova (7-6, 4.90) will debut for his new team after being acquired Monday from the New York Yankees in a trade. He had spent his entire seven-year career with the Yankees.

Hall of Famer Kevin Greene was born to be a Steeler, former teammates say

Jeremy FowlerESPN Staff Writerhttp://www.espn.com/blog/pittsburgh-steelersAugust 5, 2016

LATROBE, Pa. -- Newly minted Pro Football Hall of Famer Kevin Greene played three seasons with the Pittsburgh Steelers more than 20 years ago, but his name still comes up around these parts.

Even now, when inside linebackers coach Jerry Olsavsky evaluates pass-rushers in the NFL draft, he wonders whether they'll rush with power or finish plays like Greene once did. Greene mastered this move, Olsavsky might say in a film study.

"We still reap the benefits of that today because that's what we're looking for," said Olsavsky, who was teammates with Greene in Pittsburgh. "KG was always on fire."

As Greene enters the Hall on Saturday in Canton, Ohio, he might be best remembered as a Steeler despite playing just one-fifth of his 15-year career with the team. With a combined 13 sacks in his last two seasons with the Los Angeles Rams, Greene needed a safe landing strip. He found it in Pittsburgh, and responded with 35.5 sacks in three seasons for the Steelers' loaded defense. Greene recently called his time in Pittsburgh the "pinnacle" of his career, and he has chosen the Steelers for his Hall of Fame ring ceremony.

Greene's 160 career sacks place him third in NFL history, but in 1993, Steelers players didn't know what to expect.

Until they saw him in action.

"He far outdistanced our expectations for what we expected," said Carnell Lake, now the Steelers' defensive-backs coach. "No one at the time knew he was going to be a Hall of Famer. He came in and established himself right away with double-digit sacks. He had a great work ethic. His focus and attention to detail was good."

In 1996, Greene followed former Steelers assistant Dom Capers to the then-expansion Carolina Panthers and recorded 14.5 sacks.

But for a time, Greene was like something built out of a Steelers lab. He was known as physical and accountable. He would outwork anybody but still treated the game with the joy of a Pop Warner player, Olsavsky said. Sack numbers were personal because they meant he knew how to finish plays. The Steelers didn't try to change him. They put him on the left edge opposite Greg Lloyd and let them both go off.

"KG was one of the rare people who can come in and it's like a blood transfusion," Olsavsky said. "His blood is the same as ours. When he came here, he was like, 'Oh,' and it kind of revitalized him a little bit. [Offenses] knew what they were getting. They were getting fastball. They couldn't stop it."

Lake would have loved to share a Super Bowl XXX victory with Greene. Most Steelers defenders from that 1995 team feel they should have defeated the Dallas Cowboys that year. But Lake is proud that Greene identifies as a Steeler first, even though he played his first eight seasons with the Rams.

"There's something special about the Steelers," Lake said. "The atmosphere, the environment, the history, the legacies that the players of the '70s, Super Bowl teams, they kind of got it started for us. ... The game is changing and the Steelers have to change along with it, but for some of the fundamentals of the game, hard-nosed, tough football, I don't think that will ever change."

Saving a few bucks won’t save these Bucs

By Mark Madden

http://www.timesonline.com/sports

August 5, 2016

Nothing the Pirates did in the 48 hours or so prior to Monday’s MLB trade deadline should have provoked outrage, or even surprise.

It was all in keeping with the Pirates’ goals, and how they do business.

The Pirates saw themselves on the fringe of wild-card contention, and with poor starting pitching that wouldn’t enable the team to make much noise if it did make the playoffs. Bolstering the rotation would have likely meant sacrificing significant prospects and adding significant payroll.

That was out of the question.

Firstly, it would offer no guarantees. The Pirates have three teams to jump over to grab the measly morsel that is the second National League wild card. Lots of bats are in hibernation: Andrew McCutchen, Jung-Ho Kang, Josh Harrison, John Jaso, etc. Too many factors point against the Pirates mounting a charge.

More important, the Pirates are never going to venture far from the bottom third of MLB payrolls.

So the Pirates chopped approximately $7.5 million off their payroll for the remainder of this season. The Pirates gave Toronto two prospects to take the $17m-plus they still owe Francisco Liriano off their hands.

The Pirates did sacrifice significant prospects, but did so to drop significant payroll.

The prospects in question weren’t A-listers Austin Meadows or Josh Bell. But Reese McGuire and Harold Ramirez are both 21 and have promise.

A team stripping a few assets with an eye on the future doesn’t make that deal. A team stripping a few assets with an eye toward trimming expenses does.

The Pirates won’t trade prospects for established players by way of trying to win now. They will trade prospects to save money.

Everything the Pirates do revolves around money. That’s always the first concern. The Liriano trade spelled that out in terms that are absolutely unmistakable. That deal drew a line in the sand – in black ink, not red.

GM Neal Huntington’s other swaps don’t evoke much thinking.

Pitcher Ivan Nova, ex of the New York Yankees, is just a different butt to get kicked. The Pirates could have got more for Mark Melancon, but the return was adequate. Acquiring reliever Antonio Bastardo from the New York Mets underlines how little the Pirates got for Neil Walker, and how badly that situation got mangled.

The Pirates should have kept Walker and J.A. Happ. Don’t sign Jaso and David Freese. Payroll goes up about $16 million. That’s not unreasonable for a team with the Pirates’ recent revenue.

But the Pirates will never make moves like that. The Liriano deal makes the “never” part of that equation fairly evident.

I’m not saying anything I haven’t before. Or anything you don’t already know. But if blind loyalty is your route of choice, your faith won’t waver.

The Pirates’ immediate competitors did more at the deadline. The Los Angeles Dodgers got pitcher Rich Hill and outfielder Josh Reddick from Oakland. The Mets got outfielder Jay Bruce from Cincinnati. He’s the National League’s RBI leader. The Pirates will never keep up with the Joneses.

Bucs news just kept coming, even after the deadline. They got swept at Milwaukee. McCutchen got benched for the entirety of their three-game series at Atlanta.

The goal, presumably, was to let McCutchen refocus, and then break his season-long slump starting with tonight’s home game vs. Cincinnati. Tickets are still available.

But the symbolism is unmistakable, if unintentional: McCutchen, more than anyone, is responsible for the team doing poorly this season. Career lows across the board. If you want to point fingers, point them at McCutchen first.

Benching McCutchen might not help. Dropping him to sixth in the batting order – a long time ago – might not have boosted McCutchen, but would have made sense.

McCutchen doesn’t seem to think anything should change. He could be hitting .140 instead of .240, and would still expect to bat third and play center field every day. For McCutchen, it’s not about what he does. It’s about who he is.

McCutchen personifies the Pirates season: There are no ready answers, so get it over with and hope for better next year.

Mark Madden hosts a radio show 3-6 p.m. weekdays on WXDX-FM (105.9).

As far as Steelers are concerned, Maurkice Pouncey is still the best

By Chris Bradford

http://www.timesonline.com/sports/

August 4, 2016

Keith Srakocic/Associated Press

LATROBE – Mike Munchak can only chuckle when he hears that Maurkice Pouncey isn’t the best center in the NFL.

That kind of talk has been heresy in Pittsburgh ever since the Steelers made Pouncey the 18th overall pick in the 2010 draft. Who can argue against two first-team All-Pro selections and four Pro Bowls in a six-year career?

Well, apparently there’s some in the analytics crowd that think a little less highly of Pouncey, who routinely falls out of the top 10 in some position rankings.

“When we look at things like that, we all laugh,” said Mike Munchak, the Steelers offensive line coach and a Hall of Fame guard as a player. “These people don’t know what’s going on, what’s been asked of him or what he’s doing.

“You see the results. You can’t argue with the results. Watch him on tape. Watch how many times guys touch the back or make a play and it’s not very often.”

Munchak, doesn’t agree, but he understands why some haven’t awarded Pouncey his due respect.

Injuries have hampered Pouncey in two of the last three seasons, including 2015 when he went on season-ending IR with an ankle injury suffered in a meaningless preseason game. The Steelers were hoping to get Pouncey back last November but an infection had set in, turning the 6-foot-4, 304 pounder’s ankle a nauseating color of black and purple, two colors that don’t sit well with the Steelers.

“It went all downhill from there,” Pouncey said.

Those were some dark days for the 27-year-old. He says he never contemplated that his career could have been over, one year after signing a five-year, $44 million contract extension, but he admits he felt out of the loop, if not for a weekly Thursday night dinner at his house with teammates watching football.

Now, after an almost unconscionable seven surgeries, three major procedures and four clean-ups later, Pouncey is coming back off the mat and has declared himself 100 percent ready to go. Pouncey went through spring practice without difficulty and has played without limitation in training camp. Upon arriving in Latrobe last week, Pouncey put on a display in the team’s conditioning run, sprinting way ahead of his fellow lineman.

“I feel like me again, trust me,” Pouncey said Monday. “I wouldn’t be out there if I didn’t.”

The bigger problem for the Steelers might be getting Pouncey off the field.

“He’s hard to get to rest,” Munchak said. “His mindset is, if I have my stuff on , I want to work. Which is a great attitude. That is why he is who he is.”

The Steelers would like to take it slow with Pouncey in camp and certainly in the preseason, but there’s been little sign of that yet and almost no chance that he would accept it as the unquestioned leader of the offensive line.

“If you see our individual (drills), he sets the bar high,” said left guard Ramon Foster. “That’s not him trying to show off, that’s just the way he’s wired. He’d tell you ‘I’m a crazy guy,’ but everything he does is full tilt. He embodies talent with hard work.”

Without Pouncey last season, the Steelers still managed to put up 395.4 yards per game, the NFL’s third-highest total, while Ben Roethlisberger had the lowest sack percentage (4.2) of his career.

Had Pouncey been healthy — let alone Antonio Brown, Le’Veon Bell and DeAngelo Williams — maybe the Steelers beat Denver and are playing for a spot in the Super Bowl last year. With Pouncey and the aforementioned back this season, there’s no reason to believe they can’t vie for the Lombardi Trophy this year.

No offense to Cody Wallace, who did yeoman’s work filling in again for Pouncey, but he’s not Pouncey. And the Steelers would argue that no one else is.

A healthy Pouncey should allow the Steelers offense to be fully operational. His athleticism and quickness for a big man is remarkable. He excels in all areas, pass protection, pulling and second-level blocking on running plays. Most of all, he’ll make life easier on Roethlisberger.

“The comfort he gives Ben, that’s priceless to me,” Munchak said. “When Ben is not worrying about managing the line of scrimmage, making the decision, which way we’re sliding, what we’re doing protection-wise, he understands his mannerisms. So they’re on the same wavelength that Ben is with AB. A center and quarterback? That’s a huge thing. As much as Cody did a great job, certain guys have a knack for doing things certain ways. He’s one of those guy that’s kind of special. You can’t appreciate him until you coach him.”

And, teammates say, it’s not just what Pouncey provides on game day but on the practice field and in the locker room, where the gregarious center is usually the center of attention. He may play with a snarl, but is usually sporting a smile off it.

Pouncey had been on Munchak’s radar dating back to his time at the University of Florida. Obviously, he was well aware of Pouncey’s on-field exploits but didn’t have a better appreciation for the man until he began coaching him.

“He screams, there’s a lot of things he does that’s fun to watch,” Munchak said. “He’s always getting better. He’s not set in his ways. I came here and he’d been through a couple (position) coaches. He’s still willing to learn and try different things and not get locked into doing certain things.

“He’s fun. He’s light. His personality is fun. He’s always laughing. He keeps other guys light when things are stressful. It’s all the intangibles.”

For the Steelers, that all adds up to the best center in the game.

“When he play, there’s no one better,” Munchak said. “Hopefully, we’ll be sticking together for the next five years.”

Pirates' Francisco Liriano trade a blast from unpleasant past

By Chris Mueller

http://www.timesonline.com/sports

August 3, 2016

This July 26, 2016 file photo shows Pittsburgh Pirates starting pitcher Francisco Liriano delivering in the first inning of a baseball game against the Seattle Mariners in Pittsburgh. Left-handed pitcher Francisco Liriano was acquired by the Toronto Blue Jays in a trade with the Pittsburgh Pirates on Monday, Aug. 1, 2016 in exchange for right-hander Drew Hutchison. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar, file)

I thought we were beyond this.

Really, I did. You probably did too. People who have covered, cheered for, and observed the Pirates for the better part of 25 years probably thought the days of salary dumps, of bizarre trades, of “financial flexibility” as a constant theme were over.

This was proven untrue by a trade that could kindly be described as “suspect” and unkindly be described as, well, several adjectives that would be edited out of this column before it saw the light of day.

Dealing Francisco Liriano wasn’t about being “all in” or not. Liriano was terrible for the majority of the season. No one could have blamed Pirates general manager Neal Huntington for wanting to jettison him. Trading Liriano and throwing in one prospect to a team taking on his salary, a team that was giving you something resembling a passable major league player in return, that was business as usual as well.

Throwing in two of your top 10 prospects to facilitate payroll slashing, whether they were stalled out, blocked organizationally or otherwise, when you had never previously moved even one prospect ranked that high in order to get better in the immediate term, is inexcusable and borders on laughable.

I’d prefer to think, and in fact firmly believe, that Huntington consummated the Liriano trade with a metaphorical gun to his head, forced by Bob Nutting to get Liriano’s contract off the books by any means necessary, so long as it meant that the Pirates wouldn’t be the ones stuck eating dead money.

I refuse to believe that Huntington, an extremely sharp man, and architect of so much good during his time as general manager, would make a move so dumb, so lopsided or so nakedly cheap. His primary sin is trying to defiantly present Drew Hutchison as some sort of potential stud that the Pirates have had their eyes on for some time. I refuse to extend such courtesies to Nutting, however.

The Pirates have raised their payroll steadily since they have become good again. This is true. They also have made several shrewd deals to keep costs low on their best players. They have done plenty of things to run a tight financial ship. They have benefited, as have all lower-revenue, small-market teams, from revenue sharing.

If all of that wasn’t enough to enable them to just eat the final year of a bad contract, or give up less in the way of potentially useful depth pieces of the future, then shame on Nutting — he’s too undercapitalized to own a professional sports team.

If Hutchison was only the tip of the iceberg, if I firmly believed that the Pirates were going to use the money saved on Liriano in an immensely productive way this off-season, on a player or multiple players whose status approached “proven commodity” level, that would be one thing. That would be okay. I could understand that.

This year’s upcoming free agent class is weak, however, especially in the realm of starting pitching. There might not even be a good candidate worth spending the money on. That leaves Hutchison as the return, and the nebulous idea of dollars being spent in some way that ends up being beneficial to the Pirates.

The Pirates didn’t make themselves worse in the immediate term by trading Liriano, but they certainly didn’t make themselves better. Trading Harold Ramirez and Reese McGuire isn’t the end of the world, and it wouldn’t hurt the Pirates of this or next year, or maybe ever, but it was still dumb and unnecessary.

It was the kind of trade that this front office hasn’t trafficked in, on purpose, ever. It was a relic of a bygone era, one defined by bone-headed moves, financial stinginess, and hopeless season after hopeless season.

Pirates fans should better hope it is a blip on the radar, and nothing more.

I thought we were beyond this.

Pirates beat Braves 5-3 behind Kang, Cole

By George Henry, The Associated Press

http://www.espn.com/mlb/

August 3, 2016

Pittsburgh Pirates' Adam Frazier follows through on a two-run base hit as Atlanta Braves catcher A.J. Pierzynski looks on in the fifth inning for a baseball game Tuesday, Aug. 2, 2016, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/John Bazemore)

ATLANTA -- Adam Frazier got the Pirates' first rally going in the fifth inning with a 13-pitch at-bat. He finished off the Braves in the sixth with a two-run single.

"The 13-pitch at-bat was probably the longest we've had all season," manager Clint Hurdle said. "I think he's got a very good internal clock for the game and he's very aggressive."

Jung Ho Kang doubled home the tiebreaking run in a four-run sixth to lead Gerrit Cole and Pittsburgh past the Atlanta Braves 5-3 on Tuesday night.

Matt Kemp went 0 for 4 and ended the game with a strikeout in his Atlanta debut.

Cole was coming off the first complete game of his career, a 10-1 win over Seattle last Wednesday. He wasn't as dominant this time, but didn't need to be against the major leagues' worst offense.

Cole (7-6) struck out four and allowed seven hits, two walks and two runs -- one earned -- in five innings. He threw 97 pitches, four more than he did in his complete game.

He insisted the muggy conditions weren't a factor in his early exit.

"No, I switched my jersey three times tonight," Cole said. "Other than that, it's the middle of summer. It's going to be hot."

Tony Watson, in his first game as Pirates closer since Mark Melancon's trade to Washington, earned his first save since April 22, 2015.

Braves starter Mike Foltynewicz didn't allow a hit until the fifth, but he squandered a 1-0 lead after his 82 mph changeup hit Francisco Cervelli in the left side of the helmet. Frazier doubled on the 13th pitch he saw, and pinch-runner Jeff Fryer scored on Jordy Mercer's RBI groundout.

Matt Joyce's RBI single in the sixth made it 2-all. Kang put the Pirates up 3-2 and chased Foltynewicz. Frazier singled off Jose Ramirez to give Pittsburgh a 5-2 lead.

Foltynewicz (4-5) allowed four hits, five runs, three walks and struck out four in 5 1/3 innings.

"That first couple of innings is probably the best I've felt and the most confident I've felt all year," he said. "It's just that the last four or five outings have (had) one big inning that's hurt me. So if I can do a better job of controlling that, it's going to be all right."

The Braves led 2-1 in the fifth after Nick Markakis' RBI single. They went up 1-0 in the fourth. A.J. Pierzynski's grounder stayed in the infield after it bounced off the arm of Frazier, the second baseman, but it was surprisingly scored an RBI double.

Markakis cut the lead to 5-3 in the eighth with his sixth homer.

Kemp left five runners on base. Felipe Rivero struck him out to strand runners in scoring position in the seventh. The Braves acquired Kemp in a trade with San Diego on Saturday.

Freddie Freeman went 0 for 5 with three strikeouts and left six runners on.

TRAINER'S ROOM

Pirates: Cervelli initially insisted he was fine after getting hit by Foltynewicz's pitch and went to first base after getting checked out by a trainer. He called timeout before Frazier, the next batter, took a pitch and Cervelli then left the game.

Braves: RHP Julio Teheran was placed on the 15-day disabled list with a strained right lat muscle. He was originally injured during a four-inning start July 22 at Colorado.

UP NEXT

Pirates: LHP Jeff Locke (8-6) is 2-2 with a 4.89 ERA in seven career starts against Atlanta.

Braves: RHP Rob Whalen will make his major league debut.

Flurry of moves at trade deadline seem contradictory

By John Perrotto
http://www.timesonline.com/sports/
August 2, 2016


Jon Niese (8-6, 4.91 ERA) was dealt back to the Mets on Monday.

Having been a beat reporter or around the team on a regular basis since 1988, I’ve experienced a number of strange days when it comes to the Pirates.

However, Monday was one of the weirdest, as general manager Neal Huntington made three deals in the final hour before Major League Baseball’s 4 p.m. trade deadline.

It is difficult to understand exactly what the Pirates are doing following a flurry of moves that came on the heels of the trade Saturday that sent closer Mark Melancon to the Washington Nationals.

Two of the trades seemingly contradicted themselves and the third was a change-of-scenery deal that only highlighted a bad swap made in December.

Huntington said the Pirates still fancy themselves as contenders, though they entered the day 10 1/2 games behind the Chicago Cubs in the National League Central and four games out of the second NL wild card.

Yet they traded starter Francisco Lirinao, their nominal No. 2 starter, to the Toronto Blue Jays two days after dealing All-Star closer Mark Melancon to the Nationals. Those are moves characteristic of a team closing the curtain on this season and looking ahead to 2017.

However, the Pirates also acquired right-handed starter Ivan Nova from the New York Yankees for two players to be named. That is a win-now move, as Nova is a free agent at the end of the season and likely won’t be re-signed.

Huntington also said Monday’s moves should strengthen the Pirates for the future.

Acquiring right-handed starter Drew Hutchison from the Blue Jays was an upside and so was getting left-handed reliever Felipe Rivero and left-handed pitching prospect Tyler Hearn in the Melancon deal.

Hutchison and Rivero are both 25 and Hearn, who has yet to pitch above low Single-A, is 21.

Yet the Pirates also dealt two well-regarded prospects, Double-A Altoona catcher Reese McGuire and outfielder Harold Ramirez, to Toronto in order to entice the Blue Jays to take on all the money that remains on the three-year, $39 million contract Liriano signed during the 2014-15 off-season.

That saves the Pirates approximately $18 million. Huntington, though, said the trade was not a salary dump mandated by penny-pinching owner Bob Nutting.

Though Hutchison was pitching for the Blue Jays’ Triple-A Buffalo farm club and will likely stay at that level for now and join the Pirates’ Indianapolis affiliate, Huntington was most pleased about landing him.

Hutchison pitched in 76 games with the Blue Jays over the past four seasons, starting 73 and compiling a 30-21 record with a 4.92 ERA. However, the Pirates’ scouts and analytics people both feel Hutchison has the upside of a No. 2 starter.

Hutchison is also enticing because he won’t be eligible to become a free agent until after the 2019 season.

Lastly, there was the trade with the New York Mets in which the Pirates acquired left-handed reliever Antonio Bastardo for left-hander Jon Niese, sending both players go back to their old teams.

Niese spent the first eight seasons of his career with the Mets before being traded to the Pirates last December for second baseman Neil Walker, the popular Pine-Richland High School graduate. Bastardo signed with the Mets as a free agent in the off-season following one season with the Pirates, which acquired him from the Philadelphia Phillles the previous winter.

So, in essence, the Pirates traded Walker for Bastardo, who is in the first year of a two-year, $12 million contact.

It is all enough to leave anyone’s head spinning.

However, Huntington has transformed a franchise that set a major North American professional team sports record with 20 straight losing seasons from 1993-2012 into one that has made three consecutive postseason appearances.

Where all these moves will eventually take the Pirates remains to be seen, but Huntington deserves the benefit of the doubt after what he has accomplished in nearly nine years on the job.

Pirates GM Huntington not doubling down on errors

BY ROB ROSSI 

http://triblive.com/sports/

August 1, 2016

Francisco Liriano (6-11, 5.46 ERA) was shipped to the Blue Jays on Monday

Do you know what happens on a farm?

I didn't, but one day during spring training, the son of a dairy farmer explained it in a way that hit home.

“My dad was up before the sun every day, and he still is,” Neal Huntington said. “It amazed me. Still does. Sometimes I think, ‘Would it be such a big deal to sleep in just once?'

“But if you're a farmer, you and your family depend on that farm. Think about that. Think about all the things a farmer can't control, things that can go wrong, how many times things don't happen like you planned. And what do you do all of those times?

“You do the only thing you can: deal with it and wake up the next day.”

Do you know what happened to the Pirates on Monday? Their general manager started dealing with it.

Every move Huntington made before the expiration of baseball's non-waiver trade deadline was aimed at fixing mistakes he must own, even if he could not control many circumstances that led to the errors.

In dealing Francisco Liriano and Jon Niese, Huntington rid himself of two pitchers he believed would help the Pirates keep contending even as he was reconfiguring the franchise. However you view the return for those pitchers, at least credit Huntington for not sticking by a flailing plan.

As we've seen with the Penguins' Jim Rutherford, the best builder is one who will change the blueprint.

Helps, though, if a general manager can get lucky.

Rutherford did, by his own admission. And going back to our spring training chat, Huntington acknowledged that fortune plays a role in every Pirates season.

“You expect injuries, slumps, bad calls,” he said. “You can't have too many injuries, too many slumps and too many bad calls.”

Generally, Huntington's trades — starting with shipping closer Mark Melancon to the Nationals on Saturday — have been assessed as bad calls by frustrated Pirates fans, not to mention many so-called experts. He is thought to have sold too early, sold too low and sold out the remaining players despite the Pirates being in contention for the National League's final postseason spot.

Perhaps those criticisms are fair. Please, though, spare the second-guessing of decisions to re-sign Liriano, trade Neil Walker and cut ties with Pedro Alvarez. At least two of those were obvious calls, and if anything, the decision to deal Walker should have been made sooner. (Had Walker, who was clearly not in Huntington's long-term plans, been traded before last season, his return surely would have netted better than the underwhelming Niese.)

Publicly slaying Huntington for supposedly bailing on these Pirates is fair only if you were praising him for exhausting all resources provided by owner Bob Nutting to chase a championship with the Pirates of last summer.

And those Pirates did chase a championship. Their 98 wins were second most in the major leagues. They were deep in all areas. They were built to win in the playoffs with a really good staff, a shutdown bullpen and a sneakily stealth lineup.

They lost a best-of-luck game.

They also lost their best shot to win the World Series.

Now, not even a full year later, the Pirates simply seem lost.

No Pirate embodies their current state of being quite like Andrew McCutchen.

What once was a curious regression on the field has become an apparent regression as the franchise player. What started as rolled eyes after being squeezed by umpires has become fits in the dugouts and what only can be considered passive-aggressive criticism of his organization on social media.

It's an awful appearance for an all-time Pirate, and it's not helping anybody.

Not teammates counting on him to lead. Not coaches counting on him to produce. Not representatives counting on him to score a big, fat contract.

Do you know what's happening with Cutch?

If Huntington can't answer that question, then nothing the dairy farmer's son has done, is doing or will do can possibly make summer great again in Pittsburgh.

Rob Rossi is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach him at rrossi@tribweb.com or via Twitter@RobRossi_Trib.

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