Since then, the Pirates have gone from "holding their own" to being one of the best teams in baseball. As I write this, at 6:30 on August 22nd, they sit in 1st place in the NL Central, one game ahead of the St. Louis Cardinals and two games ahead of the Cincinnati Reds. The Buccos sport a record of 74-52. They need just eight more wins to ensure their first winning season since 1992.
The past twenty seasons have been filled with disappointment. At the end of each year, naturally, the fans look for places to assign blame. At the end of each of the past four seasons, fans and media have consistently ripped on Neal Huntington, the Pirates' general manager. People complained that he didn't do enough at the trade deadline to set the team up for success, and they ridiculed his offseason moves. There's no telling how this season will end for the Bucs, but one thing is for sure: Neal Huntington has done all that he could. Here's a look at how he set these 2013 Pirates up for success.
Lets start with his offseason moves. There were two gaping holes in the roster: catcher and starting pitcher. First, they went out and signed free agent pitcher Francisco Liriano. Liriano was once a highly successful pitcher, although he hadn't performed well over the past couple years. Huntington and the Pirates' staff saw potential in him, and they signed him. This story took a weird turn, when, on Christmas Day, Liriano broke his (non-pitching) arm while playing with his kids. They reworked the contract, and eventually settled on a new one. The injury ended up costing Liriano the first month of the season. He made his Pittsburgh debut on the mound in early May, and impressed early on. Since then, he has established himself as the staff ace, and forced himself into National League Cy Young discussions, with his 14-5 record and 2.53 ERA.
Another major offseason acquisition was catcher Russell Martin. The catcher position was one of the biggest weak spots for the Pirates in 2012, with Rod Barajas as their No. 1 catcher. He struggled mightily offensively and defensively, recording outs on only 6% of attempted steals against him. Martin was coming off of an off year with the New York Yankees, and expectations weren't very high. Martin was one of the biggest surprises this year for the Bucs, posting a .248 batting average, .350 on-base percentage, and 11 home runs. He has been no stranger to clutch hitting, racking up four walkoff hits so far this season. Defensively, he has been one of the best catchers in the NL, throwing out 27 batters so far, causing base runners to think twice before stealing.
There was one big trade in the offseason. When the trade was announced, many were unenthusiastic. It looked like we would break even, if we were lucky. Over the past 5 months, the trade proved to be one of the most important moves to ensure success in 2013. The Pirates traded their elite closer, Joel Hanrahan, and infielder Brock Holt to the Boston Red Sox in exchange for reliever Mark Melancon, and prospects Ivan de Jesus, Jerry Sands, and Stolmy Pimentel. First of all, trading Hanrahan meant dropping his salary, which allowed the team to re-sign Jason Grilli, who would become the closer in place of Hanrahan. Grilli became the agreed-upon best closer in the NL, posting 30 saves through the end of July. Mark Melancon moved into the setup role (pitching the 8th inning, to set up for Grilli), and quickly became one of the best relievers in all of baseball, posting a .93 ERA over 58 appearances. Stolmy Pimentel and Jerry Sands have been progressing with AAA Indianapolis. This trade was so instrumental to the Pirates' success this season.
You can credit the farm system, for bringing up great prospects like Andrew McCutchen, Starling Marte, Pedro Alvarez, Gerrit Cole, and others. You can credit manager Clint Hurdle for working his confidence magic yet again with this team. But GM Neal Huntington deserves one heap of credit. After last season's failure, he went out and made several moves to boost this team to an elite level. Now buckle up, and lets watch this team finally fight for a playoff spot.
