PITTSBURGH — The Pirates announced on Sunday that they have signed General Manager Neal Huntington to a three-year contract extension through 2014 with a club option for 2015.
“I’m excited” Huntington said. “To be able to build what we’ve been working so hard on over the last four years, continue to move forward. Hopefully much beyond three years…We’re on the right path. Maybe not moving as quickly as everybody would have liked, and we understand that. We got a lot of work left to do but there are a lot of good things going on and I’m excited to be able to continue that.”
Huntington, 42, was named to his current position on September 25, 2007, becoming the 12th General Manager in the history of the club.
“Neal was hired to take on the difficult task of building an organization that can compete on a consistent basis,” said Bob Nutting, the Pirates Chairman of the Board. “While there is still much work to be done, Neal and his staff have done an exceptional job of overhauling the scouting and development systems while building a strong foundation by aggressively acquiring talent through all possible avenues. We have begun to see that positive impact on the Major League level this season and expect that improvement to continue as we execute our plan in building a winning organization.”
The toughest part of Huntington’s last four years isn’t a suprise. He said it was the losing. The Pirates, who enter Mondays action with a 66-80 record, are just two losses away from a 19 consecutive losing season.
“We came into a situation we knew was difficult,” Huntington said. “Everybody wants to win. That’s why we do this. It’s the only reason we do this is to be a competitive winning Major League team. We knew we had some work cut out for us. We faced some challenges along the way. We’ve made mistakes along the way,. We’ve learned and grown along the way and look forward to learn and look forward for this young talent that we’ve talked about from day one begin to show itself on a consistent basis at the Major League level.”
Since taking over as the Bucs GM, Huntington made the rather unpopular decision to trade away some of the teams fan-favorite players. But Huntington has focused on getting prospects back in return in trades and has invested heavily in the draft. The Pirates minor league system hasn’t looked better.
“Instead of having a few guys that have a chance to be very good Major League players, we still feel like we’ve more than a few guys that have a chance to be very good Major League players,” Huntington said. “You begin to see some of the depth at the Major League level this year and there’s a whole, two more waves coming behind that because of last years draft, the years prior draft, two years prior draft, the international market. We’ve got some guys that have done some really good things in the Minor League system this year.”
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