NEW YORK -- Here's what's truly scary: Now, these guys get to do what they really wanted to do all along.
And, in turn, do even more damage.
Dispensing with all the requisite disaster updates from this otherwise sunny Sunday afternoon at Citi Field: Chris Archer was slapped around for six runs and 48 pitches in the first inning, the no-quit offense roared back with another futile rally, and the Pirates' 8-7 loss to the Mets was their eighth in a row, as well as their 14th in 16 games since the All-Star break.
Plenty more on that below.
What matters most now, to repeat from my Saturday night sermon, is the macro. And in this case, the macro is that Bob Nutting, Frank Coonelly and Neal Huntington now, finally, get a chance to pursue the one true objective I believe had been in place going back to last fall: Blow it all up, buy themselves a few more years through another rebuild and, ideally, bury the badness of the Archer trade by bringing big-time prospects back when they sell.
I've heard this for months. I've written it for months. But don't take my word for it and, instead, watch their actions.
This group of players, against all odds with a roster-sized list of injuries, with Jameson Taillon going down for the year, with other starting pitchers shelved, had still somehow clawed within 2.5 games of first place in the Central at the break. A whole lot of energy and emotion went into that. A whole lot of faith in each other.
None of that was supported, much less rewarded.
When Taillon and Trevor Williams went down in rapid succession a couple months back, this front office's reaction was to claim Chris Stratton off waivers and to try out Montana DuRapau and Michael Feliz as one-inning starters.
My God. Let that one sentence above suffice to summarize this entire summer.
Nothing else was done, apart from having Dovydas Neverauskas wear tire tracks into I-70 to and from Indianapolis and, of course, Huntington repeatedly citing arcane statistics about how few trades are made in April, May, even June. That was it. They sat. They watched. And they waited. And that wait, in reality, extended all the way back to this past offseason with payroll being slashed by nearly $30 million at the same time Nutting, Coonelly and Huntington were all speaking, hilariously, of a 'World Series' goal.
That's who they are. This is what they do. It's a money-making enterprise first, all else second.
Oh, they want to win. Much in the same way I want to win the lottery. But I'm not about to go buy rolls of Pick-6 tickets any more than they're about to add to payroll to make our respective dreams come true. If the Pirates had kept winning out of the break, the front office would've had its hand forced, plain and simple. They would’ve had to illustrate that they want to win by picking up a random reliever or, more likely, merely holding onto Melky Cabrera, Corey Dickerson, Francisco Liriano and others on expiring contracts. But that would've been the end.
So here we are now. The team is 46-59 and barely breathing. And on this Sunday afternoon, Huntington, who didn't accompany the team on this trip -- he seldom does -- was interviewed by team-employed announcer Greg Brown on his weekly radio show on 93.7 The Fan, and was finally free to say what he'd wanted to say all along.
“Unfortunately, with the way the club has played, the club I've put together has played coming out of the All-Star break ... we’ve been challenged,” Huntington said. “Is there an opportunity to add to future clubs? Do we look to talk about players on expiring contracts? We like this club. We like the core of the club. We like the players coming up behind them. It’s our job to listen, to put this team in position to contend and, eventually, a World Series. We’re in the process in looking at future clubs.”
Wow. There's another 'World Series' reference. As well as the obligatory 'unfortunately' right off the top.
Well, buckle up. Or rather, buckle down. Because here comes the worst of it.
See, the same people who brought you Archer for Tyler Glasnow, Austin Meadows and another first-round pick ... they're now virtually certain to move Felipe Vazquez. And with Huntington's history of never being able to secure anything close to another organization's top prospects regardless of the value involved -- say, Gerrit Cole -- they're almost certain to weaken themselves further.
That doesn't matter to them, though. What matters is that they can perpetuate the charade. And by selling some bold, new fresh start with the younger talent at hand -- Josh Bell, Bryan Reynolds, Kevin Newman -- plus the couple legit prospects in Indy, plus whatever prospects can be culled from Vazquez ... they extend their own licenses, essentially. Nutting keeps milking Major League Baseball's revenue sharing, which makes him plenty before the first ticket's sold. Coonelly keeps collecting his paycheck to keep the business process as silent as possible. And Huntington extends his tenure, already the longest among active National League GMs even though every other team in the Central has won the division twice in his tenure against his zero.
Congrats, gentlemen! Rounding third and heading for home!
• As adamantly as I'll write what's above, I'll keep writing this, too: The people on the field absolutely have not quit.
If anyone still needed evidence -- meaning more than 3 1/2 months of relentless rallies -- they endured deficits of 6-0, then 8-3 going into the ninth, only to have Reynolds and Jose Osuna each crush two-run home runs to make it 8-7:
There was one out at the time, but Cabrera popped out and Adam Frazier grounded out sharply to end it.
"There's no quit in here," Frazier told me. "You saw it. Everyone can see it. It's just ... it's just frustrating right now."
I brought up with Hurdle that, when a team digs into a deep rut like this, it's common to hear accusations of quitting. He responded in kind.
"It's a loss," he began. "And when you're at the major-league level, the effort thing needs to be there. The continue to push needs to be there. At the end of the day, it's a win or a loss, and this was a loss."
He paused a moment.
"I can't control what other people say, think or do. I don't get caught up in what other people say, think or do. I see the attitude. I see the preparation. I see the work put in. We're not getting the results we want, by any stretch of the imagination, but I also see a team pick itself back up from 6-0 down to fight back to 6-3, take another hit to go down, 8-3, then hit two two-run homers in the ninth."
Another pause.
"They're fighting. We're not winning, but we're fighting. We'd like to win."
• No one will want to hear this, but Archer putting up four zeroes after the six-run, 48-pitch first is impressive in its own right. He wound up at 107 pitches and, at the time of his exit, the Pirates were back within 6-3.
Actually, he didn't want to hear it, either, calling his first inning "unacceptable," and adding, "I came out passive. I'm 30 years old, and I've been pitching in this league too long to go out there like that."
No doubt. Archer opened by hitting Jeff McNeil, then served up this Michael Conforto oppo shot for an instant 2-0 New York lead:
Archer had quite the animated reaction as soon as the ball left Conforto's bat, and I asked about that:
• Archer's contract has two club options after this season, each for $8.25 million. I know starting pitching is expensive, but shouldn't real thought be invested into not picking that up for 2020?
• Seriously, what's Jung Ho Kang still doing here?
He struck out all four times up Sunday, giving him 59 strikeouts on the season, compared to 29 hits. His batting average is at .170. Other than his being paid $3 million, there's no rational reason to have him on the roster, much less getting back-to-back starts.
• He'll be gone soon enough, actually: His contract calls for a $625,000 bonus for reaching 200 plate appearances. He's currently at 184.
• Jacob Stallings went 2 for 4 with his second career home run, impressively reaching down to tag this Jason Vargas changeup in the third inning ...
... and he blistered a lineout to right in his third at-bat.
Being a catcher, not to mention the son of a coach -- Kevin Stallings, of course, the former basketball coach at Pitt -- it's to be expected that he takes the same cerebral approach to the plate as he does behind it. In this case, he and hitting coach Rick Eckstein broke down extensive video on Vargas to find that his out pitch against right-handed hitters was, of all things, a changeup. So the plan, neatly, was to attack Vargas' strength.
"I was able to get the barrel down," Stallings told me. "I saw a ton of righties swinging and missing at that pitch, so Rick told me before the game to think that way. It worked pretty well for me."
A lot has. In his past 22 games, he's 18 for 48, a .375 clip, with six walks. Shaping into a bona fide big-league backup catcher.
• Starling Marte's two hits gave him 1,000 for his career, making him 11th in franchise history with 1,000 hits and 100 home runs. Five others are in the Hall of Fame: Roberto Clemente, Willie Stargell, Bill Mazeroski, Paul Waner and Ralph Kiner. The rest: Andrew McCutchen, Dave Parker, Al Oliver, Andy Van Slyke and Richie Hebner.
Marte's also the second in franchise history to hit 100 home runs and steal 200 bases. The other: Barry Bonds.
Say what one will about his odd lapses, but that's special territory. And he seemed to grasp that.
"Bittersweet," Marte would call the timing of the 1,000th hit. "We're losing a lot now, so everything hurts. But it's also a great honor. Those are some great names on there."
• On that note: That Conforto line drive that smoked past Marte in the sixth for two New York runs -- comically scored an error here in the Citi Field press box -- changed directions violently on Marte, he told me, comparing it to a slider. That's why, even though he tracked and saw it fine, he never even got a glove on it.
Really good chance that scoring decision will be reversed upon appeal.
• Vazquez is still with the Pirates, I can confirm. And so did he in a brief, fun chat we had after the game.
• That's quite enough out of me. Flying home to write about football for a while.
THE ESSENTIALS
• Boxscore
THE INJURIES
• Clay Holmes (10-day IL, triceps)
• Steven Brault (10-day IL, shoulder)
• Gregory Polanco (10-day IL, shoulder)
• Francisco Cervelli (60-day IL, concussion)
• Jameson Taillon (60-day IL, elbow)
• Erik Gonzalez (60-day IL, hamstring)
• Rookie Davis (60-day IL, forearm)
• Lonnie Chisenhall (60-day IL, shame)
Here's the most recent full report.
THE SCHEDULE
It's on to Cincinnati for a Monday meeting with the Reds, 7:10 p.m., Jordan Lyles (5-7, 5.36) taking on righty Sonny Gray (5-6, 3.29). Lyles has been a complete train wreck this month, his four starts producing 12 total innings, a 15.00 ERA and a .444 opponents' batting average. Putting him in baseball's most notorious bandbox feels like great timing. John Perrotto will be there.
THE COVERAGE
All our expanded baseball coverage, including Indy Watch by Matt Welch, Altoona Watch by Jarrod Prugar, and Mound Visit by Jason Rollison, can be found on our team page.
