Bucs’ brass not conceding, but …
Neal Huntington insisted he was not giving a concession speech.
However, when the Pittsburgh Pirates鈥� general manager met with reporters before Sunday鈥檚 game against the Cincinnati Reds at PNC Park, he sounded like a man trying do the impossible 鈥� running a team that is trying to contend and rebuild at the same time.
鈥淲hen you鈥檙e playing for your playoff life in September, it鈥檚 hard to take a player out of the lineup,鈥� Huntington said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 hard to skip a start, but we are all in this thing with a bigger picture in mind.
鈥淲e don鈥檛 ever take for granted that we have a playoff chance this year. At the same time, our jobs are to put this organization in a position to have a playoff chance this year, to have a playoff chance next year and frequently and consistently moving forward. That鈥檚 the big part of the overall balance.鈥�
Yet it is truly difficult to try to win and serve youth at the same time. Either a team is trying to win now or in the future
The Pirates鈥� direction has been defined since July 30.
They traded closer Mark Melancon to the Washington Nationals that day for the left-handed reliever Felipe Rivero and a minor league pitcher. The Pirates were 3陆 games out of the second National League wild card when they parted with a reliever who had compiled a 1.80 ERA and three All-Star game appearances during his four seasons in Pittsburgh.
As one veteran Pirates鈥� player put it, 鈥測ou don鈥檛 trade a top-shelf closer if you鈥檙e trying to win. It sent a pretty strong message that ownership and the front office didn鈥檛 believe in us.鈥�
It is hard to believe in the Pirates now. They lost for the 11th time in 13 games Sunday, getting drubbed 8-0 by the last-place Reds to finish a 2-8 homestand.
The Pirates are six games behind the New York Mets for the second wild card with just 21 games to play. Not only are their hopes of a fourth consecutive postseason all but gone but, with a 69-72 record, the Pirates are in danger are finishing the season with a losing record.
You might remember the Pirates and losing seasons. They had 20 in a row, which is the record for major North American professional sports, before beginning their run of playoff appearances in 2013.
Manager Clint Hurdle insisted following Sunday鈥檚 game that he has not given up on the idea of reaching the postseason. The words seemed hollow, though, especially on an afternoon when boos rained down on the Pirates from the home fans.
The Pirates embark on an 11-game road trip that began Monday night at Philadelphia. They play four games each against the Phillies and Reds then finish with a three-game series against the Milwaukee Brewers.
鈥淢y vision is to get us playing better,鈥� Hurdle said. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 my thought. I鈥檓 not going to walk out of here with anything other than knowing I have a job to do. Negative emotions, I don鈥檛 carry them at all.
鈥淔rustration isn鈥檛 going to help me do what I need to do to get those men motivated and continue to play. Discouragement, I鈥檓 not going to go there. I don鈥檛 go there. We needed to play better. We didn鈥檛.鈥�
It is a noble stance to take but the reality of the situation is the Pirates look like a disinterested team in a freefall rather than one poised to make a comeback for the ages.
鈥淚鈥檝e learned a lot of valuable lessons as a player on where the frustration, the discouragement goes,鈥� Hurdle said. 鈥淓motions can affect the thought process. You deal with facts. Feelings take you to the wrong places. We didn鈥檛 play well enough to win. Let鈥檚 play better. Let鈥檚 put ourselves in a better position to win.鈥�