Coming in to the day Baseball Prospectus' Playoffs Odds Report pegged the Pirates' chances of reaching the postseason below 2%. Of course that doesn't factor in that the BABIP gods clearly favor the '11 Buccos, but the fact of the matter is the Pirates are a long-shot to reach the playoffs. Neal Huntington had an opportunity to further load up for a playoff run in '12 and beyond with one more season as sellers.
It's possible that Maholm, Karstens, Doumit, Snyder, Correia, Veras and other potential trade candidates wouldn't have fetched much of anything. On the other hand, the Pirates have made out well without giving up very much in the past.
Looking back at recent deadline acquisitions, the Pirates have acquired their all-star closer (Hanrahan), (injured) starting left fielder (Tabata) and catcher (Snyder), a reliever (McCutchen) as well as three fifths of their starting rotation (McDonald, Morton, Karstens), not to mention Ross Ohlendorf.
So did the Pirates' brass insult Pirates fans' intelligence by going out and acquiring Derrek Lee and Ryan Ludwick instead of selling high on guys like Maholm and Karstens? Or did they do right by their fans by both taking on payroll and making small upgrades in an attempt to play meaningful games in September?
Personally, I don't think the Pirates had a choice -- they had to be buyers. Certainly they couldn't have been sellers. Pirate fans a) deserve a chance to see if the Buccos can keep up their improbable run and b) may not have forgiven this front office for trading away starters when PNC has been selling out.
Given that it wouldn't have made sense to sell the farm, (although they did reportedly make an effort to trade for at least one big name), Huntington did the best he could do. Chances are that the Pirates still miss the playoffs, but they probably won't miss Aaron Baker or their PTBNL in the Ludwick deal either. With that in mind, I would give Huntington a solid "B" grade.
That's right, Neal... you can sleep well at night because this random fan thinks you get a passing grade.