Pirates Trades

Anyone who even slightly follows the Pittsburgh Pirates knows about their recent history and how the front office is enemy number one with Pirates fans. Owner Bob Nutting, president Frank Coonelly, and general manager Neal Huntington are looked at as a modern day Three Stooges tribute group by most Pirates fans.

They get no credit for anything they do and whenever they make a mistake, they get pounced on mercilessly. Often-times they're their own worst enemy with a lot of their PR fiascoes like the bizarre situation surrounding Pedro Alvarez's recent trip to the disabled list and the false information given about the player they recalled to take his place.

On the subject of trades, naturally, Pirates fans aren't satisfied with the job Huntington has done in evaluating players since he took over for Dave Littlefield in late 2007.

One of the first trades Huntington made was acquiring Adam Laroche from the Atlanta Braves for closer Mike Gonzalez before the 2008 season. Fans were excited about the trade. Laroche looked like the kind of player that could be a fixture in the middle of the Pirates lineup for years. Unfortunately, he never panned out in Pittsburgh.

Since Huntington took over, he's traded away players like Jason Bay, Xavier Nady, Freddy Sanchez, Jack Wilson, Nate Mcclouth, Nyjer Morgan and Octavio Dotel.

When the new regime took over, there was very little in the Pirates farm system, and Huntington had no choice but to trade away established Major League players in-order to restock the minors. Huntington traded away Bay and Nady in '08 and nobody thought Huntington got enough in return. In regards to Bay, Huntington's most valuable trading chip, that is probably the case. Nobody associated with the Jason Bay trade is doing anything with the Pirates right now. The only Major League ready player, Brandon Moss, is no longer with the club. Pitching prospect Bryan Morris was said to be the key to the trade, but he's still trying to break through in the minors.

The results for the Nady trade have been much better. The Pirates traded Nady and reliever Damaso Marte to the New York Yankees in exchange for outfielder Jose Tabata, and pitchers Ross Ohlendorf, Daniel Mccutchen, and Jeff Karstens. Tabata is one of the core group of young players currently on the Pirates roster, Ohlendorf is currently on the disabled list, but has been a regular starter in the rotation the past two seasons, Karstens has been a solid contributor to both the bullpen and the starting rotation, and Mccutchen has been lights-out this year as a set-up man in the bullpen. That's a pretty good return in a trade for an often injured outfielder who probably reached his peak in '08.

In early '09, the Pirates stunned everyone by trading away Nate Mcclouth to Atlanta for Charlie Morton, outfielder Gorkys Hernandez, and pitcher Jeff Locke.

People were outraged at such a deal. Mcclouth had just been signed to an extension, was still pretty young, and was the team's all-star representative in '08. The fact that Morton struggled so much the first year and a half after the trade didn't help matters any. However, Morton is currently one of the top pitchers in baseball after undergoing an offseason throwing makeover, and Jeff Locke is one of the top pitching prospects in the Pirates organization.

Also in '09, the Pirates traded away popular outfielder Nyjer Morgan to the Nationals in exchange for outfielder Lastings Milledge and reliever Joel Hanrahan. At first, the deal didn't look like a good one because Milledge, deemed the key to the deal, never worked out in Pittsburgh and was released after the '10 season. But Hanrahan has come on and has had a dominant 2011 season so far. He's hit over 100mph on the radar gun at times this season and is 13/13 in save opportunities.

Huntington also traded Freddy Sanchez and Jack Wilson in '09. For Sanchez, the Pirates got pitching prospect Tim Alderson. For Wilson, Huntington received hitting prospect Jeff Clement and shortstop Ronny Cedeno.

People were upset at the thought of losing two really popular players, especially since they got very little of value in return. Alderson has struggled since coming to the Pirates and was even demoted within the minor league system last season. Clement never amounted to anything as a hitter and Cedeno has been an average shortstop for the Pirates--often showing flashes of brilliance, but also at times, leaving fans frustrated with his silly mistakes.

Fact is, the Pirates weren't going to get much for Wilson and Sanchez. They were both near the end of their contracts and were surely going to leave after the '09 season. People are especially upset about the Sanchez trade because of how well Freddy is doing in San Francisco. However, Neil Walker has taken Sanchez's place at second base for the Pirates and is one of the best young players in baseball. If Sanchez was still in Pittsburgh, where would Neil Walker be right now?

Last season, Huntington traded reliever Octavio Dotel to the Los Angeles Dodgers for starting pitcher James Mcdonald. So far, that looks like a pretty decent trade for the Pirates as Mcdonald has been one of the most consistent pitchers in the Pirates rotation since coming over last Summer.

So that's Huntington's trade history for the most part since becoming the gm. A mixed bag, for sure, but not every trade is going to work out. I think most general managers have a trading record of about 50%. I think Huntington has done a much better job than he's been given credit for.

Most Pirates fans will never tell you that. After all, Huntington is part of a Three Stooges tribute band.