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The Pittsburgh Pirates are likely to miss the playoffs for the first time since 2012. For some reason, many are blaming Pittsburgh Pirates general manager Neal Huntington. Let’s analyze what went wrong:
The Pittsburgh Pirates brought Neal Huntington in to be the General Manager in September of 2007. Since blowing up the team from 2008-2010, bringing up top prospects, and starting to put a competitive team out on the field in 2012, he has been praised for the job he has done. Yet, after three consecutive seasons of playoff baseball, many are ready to fire the Pittsburgh Pirates general manager for having a down season.
Why is Neal Huntington getting so much criticism for the struggles this year? First many feel that he did not make the appropriate moves this off-season. Heading into free agency period last year the Pittsburgh Pirates had two obvious needs. One was to acquire some starting pitching. The second need was bullpen help. With the second, Huntington did a fine job. He signed Neftali Feliz, who was viewed as a bounce back candidate, and he proved that. Now on the other end of the needs Huntington struck out.