With Neal Huntington ready to pull the plug three weeks ago, the Pirates responded with the franchise's first 11-game winning streak in 22 years, and they've won 15 of their last 18 to close within three games of the Wild Card two days before the non-waiver trade deadline.
Now, Huntington is deciding whether to add to the team or stand pat. During his final weekly press gathering before Tuesday's 4 p.m. deadline, Huntington declined to reveal specifics about his strategy; however, he all but ruled out trading away veterans, expressed a willingness to part with the organization's top prospects and said he's actively engaged in trade talks as teams across the National League have already made significant additions.
"Of course we pay attention to it," Huntington said of activity across the NL. "We’re engaged in conversations on multiple players and we’d like to add to this group, and recognize that those that we’re chasing are adding and are cognizant of that. How it impacts what we’re able to do, at the end of the day we need to do what we feel is best for this club and best for this organization."
With the Pirates seven games below .500 and 12 1/2 back in the Central Division, Huntington told reporters three weeks ago he wouldn't be a buyer before the deadline if his roster did not gain ground before the All-Star break. They responded with six straight wins, including a five-game sweep of the Brewers, and won their first five following the break.
The Pirates, now 55-51 after winning two straight against the Mets this weekend, have the majors' fifth-best record this month and have scored a league-best 59 runs since the All-Star break. They've also had 37 extra-base hits in that span, while their starting rotation has a 2.80 ERA over the past 17 games.
Additionally, the Pirates' three late-inning relievers — Felipe Vazquez, Kyle Crick and Edgar Santana — have a combined 0.76 ERA with 49 strikeouts to six walks this month. Gregory Polanco has a .455 average and 1.091 OPS in 22 at-bats with runners in scoring position during that span.
Starling Marte, back in the lineup Saturday after missing two games because of a hit-by-pitch to the left hand, has 20 RBIs in July, batting .364 with seven homers in 21 games. His career-best 17-game hitting streak was snapped Saturday night, although he had two of the Pirates' hardest-hit balls against Mets starter Jacob deGrom.
Francisco Cervelli is also back; David Freese, one of the veterans thought to be available at the deadline, has a .288 average in 37 starts this season; Elias Diaz is batting .302 in 45 starts behind home plate; and Adam Frazier, demoted to Triple-A last month, has gone 7 for 18 in his last five starts for the Pirates.
Trevor Williams has a 17-inning scoreless streak and Jameson Taillon has a 2.97 ERA over his past 10 starts. The Pirates will be without Josh Bell for at least the next nine days and Corey Dickerson isn't expected to return from the disabled list until Saturday against the Cardinals.
Huntington, though, expressed confidence in their replacements, including Austin Meadows, and was optimistic about both players' prognosis. With 10 teams in the hunt in the NL, is Huntington willing to make a trade to bolster his roster?
"There’s a willingness to do that depending upon what we’re getting back, and what the impact is," Huntington said of parting with prospects. "There’s always that balance. We’ve said repeatedly that our belief is that this club had a chance to be one of those 10 teams that makes the postseason. We’ve said repeatedly that the best way to win a World Series is to make the postseason as consistently and frequently as possible. History tells us the best team going into the postseason doesn’t win as often as you think they do. It’s a matter of getting to the postseason. We want to position this club to be able to do that. We want to be as strong as we can be going into October, but we want to get there as many times as we can."
With Josh Harrison out of the lineup a second consecutive day and Jordy Mercer also sitting, it's fair to wonder if the Pirates would consider their past deadline strategy of adding and subtracting at the deadline. Mercer and Freese are both on expiring contracts, while Harrison has club options for the next two seasons at $10.5 and $11.5 million.
Huntington said that's not the case. He expressed regret for deploying that strategy in the past, saying it sent a mixed message to the players on the club. It also sounds like there's not much of a market for Freese or Mercer.
"We’re not really in that situation this year," Huntington said. "I don’t want to downgrade the players we have on expiring contracts, but we don’t have a Mark Melancon or Tony Watson that has significant industry value that we’ve turned into significant long-term value for the Pirates at, in hindsight, the cost of the ’16 and ’17 teams. We try to learn. We try to learn all the time from what went well, what didn’t go well, what could we have done differently, what should I have done differently? We’ll continue to do that. We want to respect that we’re in a playoff hunt and what can we do to enhance our chances this year while at the same time trying to enhance our chances for the future as well.”
The Pirates reportedly expressed interest in Rangers closer Keona Kela and have been linked to relief pitchers across the league. Also, they're in search of a controllable starting pitcher, although they don't appear to be in the mix for the Rays' Chris Archer. Nick Kingham's recent struggles and Chad Kuhl's injury could motivate Huntington to pursue rotation help, but it's unlikely he'd be willing to part with a prospect such as Mitch Keller.
Although their system isn't among the deepest in the majors, the Pirates do have prospect depth at the upper levels, including the infield, with Kevin Newman and Kevin Kramer in Triple-A; and Ke'Bryan Hayes, Cole Tucker and Will Craig in Double-A.
He declined to reveal whether he'd be willing to add a rental and doesn't seem willing to go all-in, citing the long-term impact of such a strategy. Huntington also didn't rule out standing pat. Meanwhile, the two teams ahead of the Pirates in the Central Division have made significant moves.
The Cubs acquired starting pitcher Cole Hamels, who's expected to debut Wednesday against the Pirates, while the Brewers traded for third baseman Mike Moustakas and reliever Joakim Soria.
On the other hand, the Pirates are still six games back in the Central and have just a 12 percent chance of making the postseason, according to Baseball Prospectus. Huntington did not make a significant addition at the deadline in 2014 — although he was in talks with the Rays regarding David Price — with the Pirates six games over .500 and his additions in 2015 weren't enough to make it past the Wild Card game.
Huntington said he has ownership's backing to add payroll, but he repeated his sentiment that competing for a playoff spot every year is more important than trying to go all-in for a World Series run. But is he also willing to risk not fielding an elite club that's capable of winning it all?
"That’s where we need to be willing to utilize our prospect depth to add that player we think pushes us closer to winning the World Series. There’s no guarantee," Huntington said. "We could trade our entire farm system for the four best available players at the trade deadline and still not win the World Series, and then we’d be looking at a really long road to get back there. We recognize it takes really good players to win in October. It takes really good players to win in October, and we recognize we can’t be risk averse. At the same time, we feel like we need to be intelligent and make the right moves for this organization to balance the long and short term."