Blog : How is Andrew Miller Not Wearing Black and Gold?

The trade deadline came and went Thursday, and the Pirates have the same team they had last week. Surprised? I'm not. Neil Hunnington was deeply involved in getting Jon Lester and David Price, but in the end, neither worked out. This seems to be a trend. Last year, the Pirates were involved in getting Giancarlo Stanton, but once again, that didn't happen. With a farm team that was ranked #1 by Baseball America this spring, eventually the Pirates have to use some of those prospects to think about the current team. But NH seems very hesitant to get rid of top prospects that will hopefully pan out. I can even understand that.
To get Jon Lester, the Red Sox would have clearly wanted Josh Bell in return. I'm so thankful that Neil Hunnington didn't pull the trigger on this one. If everything went well, Jon Lester would have started 12 regular season games this season. If the Pirates were to win 9 of those games, then we would have traded away Josh Bell, a prospect with tremendous power, for 9 wins. Jon Lester would not be under control following this season, and without a doubt, he would have bolted town as soon as he could. It would have been a horrible deal.
I know that NH and the Pirates were in extensive talks with the Rays as well about David Price. I don't know the price tag that the Rays were asking, but David Price was the way better option between the two. I heard Starling Marte come up a few times in discussion about Price. I'm not quite sure how I feel about that. David Price however, would be under the Pirates control NEXT year as well, which quite a big deal. But still, I can see Neil Hunnington not pulling the trigger.
What I ABSOLUTELY cannot begin to understand is how the deadline came and went without adding a bullpen arm. Tony Watson and Justin Wilson have been falling off. Jeanmar Gomez and Stolmy Pimentel have been even worse. I don't even want to talk about Ernesto Frieri because it may cause me to have an aneurism. And we have to trust that Mark Melancon doesn't have another bad end to the season. If that's all we have in the bullpen, I'm scared. Red Sox reliever Andrew Miller, possibly the best reliever in baseball, went to Baltimore for their #3 prospect overall. The Pirates could have done that, and the Red Sox wouldn't have had to put him within their own division.
Yes, the Pirates prospects look great, but eventually you have to realize that they are PROSPECTS. I can understand protecting Josh Bell and Tyler Glasnow. Those guys seem like they will be the real deal. But when Andrew Miller is on the table for #3, eventually NH has to not worry so much about what will happen to that prospect 5 years from now. So what if he turns out to be a superstar, that's just part of it.
We need more hitters, but we can survive. Bucco bats just find a way to win on any given night. It sure would have been nice to improve the bench though. If Michael Martinez is on the roster, I have no confidence in the bench. Marte coming back soon will have impact though. So starters I can see, hitters I can see, but the bullpen needed to be significantly better Thursday night than it was Thursday morning, and Neil Hunnington dropped the ball.
note: Before anyone says anything about Bob Nutting, he approved NH to spend around $90 Million. The money was there. The initiative wasn't