Neal Huntington spoke a week ago about the Pirates needing to come up big before the All-Star break, saying, "We know we need to gain some ground here this week," and suggesting that he wouldn't be a buyer at Major League Baseball's July 31 trade deadline if they didn't.
So, he was asked Sunday before his team took the field seeking a five-game sweep of the Brewers and its eighth victory in nine games, how about now?
“We're built around young players," Huntington replied to a question on that topic at his weekly press gathering at PNC Park. "We’re built around guys that have the ability to be here beyond this year. And so that’s a good thing. We want to win this year, and we want to win next year. We’ll continue to look to do what we think is the right thing to do for this organization. It makes it better if we continue to play well. It makes it easier if we continue to go on 9-1 stretches, if we can continue that. It also makes it easier if we’re on a 1-9 stretch, but just not as much fun.”
I asked Huntington, if he were to become a buyer, what he might see as his top priorities to add:
Huntington also commented on Austin Meadows being sent back to Class AAA Indianapolis. Chris Bradford has that coverage.