Prospectus Q and A: Neal Huntington by David Laurila

Links (13)

BPro: Prospectus Q&A: Neal Huntington
Published 12/3/2007 at BBTF's Baseball Primer Newsblog
BPro: Prospectus Q : Neal Huntington Woo-hoo! Huntingtonball...the greatest thing to hit Pittsburgh since crazy George Blaisdell invented the Zippo lighter in 1932! DL: In the same interview, you said, “we’ll rely on the more traditional objective evaluations like OPS, WHIP, Runs Created, Component ERA…” Have we reached the point where those metrics can now be considered traditional? NH: I think so. Cleveland--led by Chris Antonetti and Mike Chernoff--does an excellent job of objectively evaluating players, and we hope to build upon that model in Pittsburgh. We look ...

One fan's Tejada dream; Winter Meetings
Published 12/3/2007 by Pirate Blues at Pittsburgh Pirates Bucco Blog
... There are obvious problems inherit with this fan's idea, and this is the type of deal that really makes no sense for a club that is rebuilding. Neal Huntington's chat at Baseball Prospectus today eludes to several of those reasons, which I agree with him on in theory. ...

News Roundup: Pirates Look for Nady Deal
Published 12/3/2007 by Charlie <info@buccosdugout.com> at Bucs Dugout: Front Page Posts
... -P- Here's a hint that he won't be, though. Here's a long-form interview with Huntington, which is nice to see because it means we have to guess a lot less than we do with a couple of short quotes in a Post-Gazette article. ...

capuano follow-up
Published 12/3/2007 by lboros <info@vivaelbirdos.com> at Viva El Birdos: Front Page Posts
... Baseball Prospectus did a Q+A with new pittsburgh gm neal huntington, who worked with chris antonetti in the cleveland front office. couple of highlights: ...

Subjective is objective
Published 12/3/2007 by Tangotiger (tangotiger@yahoo.com) at THE BOOK--Playing The Percentages In Baseball
Neil Huntington: I place a lot of value in numbers, but there are some things that can’t be quantified, and there are times scouting reports are needed to understand the elements behind the numbers. For instance, you could be looking at a pitcher in A-ball with high strikeouts and low walks. This pitcher features an 82 mph fastball which leads to frequent contact (low walks) but also has a decent changeup and a big-breaking curveball that he uses as a chase pitch to get a lot of strikeouts in A-ball. A scout is likely to recognize that while Low-A hitters ...

And now for something completely different
Published 12/3/2007 by Pat at Where have you gone, Andy Van Slyke?
... . If that wasn't enough, there's also this interview with him at BP (sent by reader Mark) that includes quotes I swear were lifted from my subconscious like this one: ...

BP interviews Neal Huntinton
Published 12/3/2007 by Rowdy at Honest Wagner
Honest Wagner Blogging the Pirates and the Steelers since 1904. Monday, December 03, 2007 BP interviews Neal Huntinton Not sure I learned much from this interview , so maybe you guys can translate the significant parts for me. posted by ...

Pirates GM Interview
Published 12/4/2007 by Justin at On Baseball and the Reds
Baseball Prospectus has an interview today with the new Pirates' GM, Neal Huntington. He sounds like a really interesting guy, and his willingness to actually answer questions in a thoughtful manner made for a great interview (and a refreshing alternative to another NL Central GM...). ...

Neal Huntington: “We need above-average players”
Published 12/4/2007 by Matt Bandi at Pittsburgh Lumber Co.
An interview with Pirates’ general manager Neal Huntington was published at Baseball Prospectus on Sunday. It is an interesting read that gives us a bit more insight into the team’s plans, both in the near and distant future. For some analysis, check out any of these posts. However, it was one simple quote at the end of the interview that interested me: I feel we need above-average players across the board, and that’s what we’re working to put together in Pittsburgh. It seems simple, right? If you want to ...

This Week's Links (12/3-12/7)
Published 12/7/2007 by Vegas Watch at Vegas Watch
... Sadly, new Pirates' GM Neal Huntington is very smart, and doesn't want to trade Jason Bay to the Indians for Lee and Shoppach. This is unfortunate. ...

A Pair of GM Interviews
Published 12/9/2007 by Dan Agonistes at Dan Agonistes
One of the interviewers I always make a priority to read, and I'm not just saying this because he's a colleague, is David Laurila at Baseball Prospectus. Whether it's catching up with a former player , talking to a scouting director , or even a general manager as he did last week with the Pirates new GM Neal Huntington ( pictured right ), Laurila is a must read. What makes Laurila's interviews so good, and the skill most important for any interviewer I would guess, is that I find he asks the questions I would ask only in a way that never seems to offend the interviewee and cause them to shut down. And of course he has a ...

Who Are These Mets?
Published 12/21/2007 by John Peterson at Mets Geek
... , the Arizona Diamondbacks, who, with Josh Byrnes at the helm, are committed to developing and using their young players competitively; and the Pittsburgh Pirates, who recently made Neil Huntington their GM. ...

Opinion: Evaluating The Possible Left Fielders
Published 3/11/2008 by Matt Matros at Hot Foot
... Stats guy says: Well, at least we know he can hit left-handed pitching—to the tune of an 881 OPS over the last three seasons. He would give us the lineup balance we’ll be missing in Alou’s absence. But it’s not as though we can just go out there and grab Xavier Nady. The Pirates are now run by someone intelligent, and why would he hand over Nady without us giving him something of actual value in return? And since we’re not looking to give up any value, we’re just looking to plug a hole for a month, we probably shouldn’t be trading for Xavier Nady. ...