Pittsburgh Pirates Offseason Simulation: Two Signings and a Trade

There is also a lot of trade talks between me and other GM’s.  When I looked at the Pittsburgh Pirates roster as it currently stands, I figured out that I needed to cut some money to help offset some of the free-agent contracts.  The most obvious player that had a contract that was not matched by his performance was Chris Archer.

For Pittsburgh Pirates fans Chris Archer represents the old regime.  He was finally the move that caught headlines, only to be questioned not long after.  Even after the excitement of when the trade originally broke, people started to look at his recent numbers and question if he was worth the package that was given up.  However, there was optimism that like many pitchers before him that the Pittsburgh Pirates would be able to “fix” him.

Well, it did not work out as all Pittsburgh Pirates fans know.  Before it would have been hard to trade Archer, at this point the team would get pennies on the dollar for him.  On top of that, Neal Huntington would have looked even worse for the minimal return he would get back.  The best bet was to hope he would show some progress and at least get a decent haul back.

Now that the Pittsburgh Pirates have a new General Manager it seems more likely that a deal could happen.  Cherington wouldn’t face much backlash for trading Archer because he was not the one who traded for him to begin with.  It would be viewed as just trying to fix the mistake and moving on from the previous regimes’ “worst move.”