Pittsburgh Pirates News: General Manager Neal Huntington Fired

The Pittsburgh Pirates were part of a breaking news story this morning as it was reported that General Manager Neal Huntington would not be retained.

The Pittsburgh Pirates have been in the news more than most teams over the last few months, for more bad than good.  It all started with the bullpen, the Bucs had multiple issues which included players and coaches getting into heated conversations and entanglements.  Then came the firing of manager Clint Hurdle and pitching coach Ray Searage.  There was also a series of minor league coaching changes.

Those moves seemed to represent what the Pittsburgh Pirates organization believed to be the main problems over the last few years.  The coaching staff was not getting what they once did out of their players.  Ray Searage seemed to lose his ability to bring pitchers success while Hurdle made many questionable personnel decisions and struggled to develop young players.

Then the Pittsburgh Pirates announced that the organization and team President Frank Coonelly were parting ways.  Coonelly had been with the organization since 2007.  It was then quickly announced that the team would be hiring former Pittsburgh Penguins COO Travis Williams to be the new president.  It was also announced that principal owner Bob Nutting would be holding a rare press conference this morning.

Well now it is clear why Nutting wants to hold a press conference.  According to Jon Heyman of MLB Network, the Pittsburgh Pirates are parting ways with longtime General Manager Neal Huntington.  Heyman tweeted out not long ago and it is expected to be announced by the Pittsburgh Pirates at this mornings press conference.  Huntington took over as general manager back in in 2007 and helped dig the team out of a dreadful two decades of losing.

Many Pittsburgh Pirates fans wondered why everyone else in the organization was let go but not the general manager.  Some chalked it up to be that the organization felt like it was not Huntington’s fault, while others felt it was because Nutting had the best “yes man” in Major League Baseball.

Regardless of how the last few years have shaken out, Neal Huntington made the Pittsburgh Pirates into a better ball club.  When he was brought in he had a job to get the franchise back on track.  He came in with a plan of hitting the reset button and building it back right, which he did and got the team back to being relevant.

Unfortunately, Huntington did not do a good job of building on that success.  After three straight playoff years he saw the team start to regress.  With top prospects not working out, the team not bringing in impactful pieces when needed, and a few trades that having not worked out, Neal Huntington’s last three years have given plenty of reason for a change.