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Bucs’ GM can only do so much

Commentary

PITTSBURGH — MLB’s non-waiver trade deadline passed on Monday, and the Pirates mostly passed on it, too.

They sent Tony Watson to the Los Angeles Dodgers for a couple of prospects, one of whom might wind up with the Curve next season.

Watson’s departure was not unexpected. He pitched himself out of the closer’s role, and he’s eligible for free agency after this season. He wasn’t coming back anyway.

The lone acquisition was 40-year-old reliever Joaquin Benoit. Even though he’s right-handed, he will be the numerical replacement for Watson in a set-up relief role.

And that was it.

For all the talk and speculation about Andrew McCutchen, Gerrit Cole and Josh Harrison, they all stayed. The reason is 2018.

The Pirates will likely pick up their option on McCutchen for next season and bring him back. That decision is made easier by the slow development of Austin Meadows, who has lost a lot of his Class AAA season to a hamstring injury.

Cole is a power arm capable of leading a staff. Those kinds of pitchers are hard to find, and you keep them as long as possible.

Harrison’s ability to move to different positions and provide offense and energy is worth more than he might bring in a trade.

The Pirates’ 3-6 swing through Colorado, San Francisco and San Diego undoubtedly had an impact on the team’s deadline strategy. After doing some exemplary work before and after the All-Star break, they took a few steps back again with a lousy road trip.

Gregory Polanco’s absence with a hamstring injury was certainly a factor, but the bad trip just reinforced the belief this is a team incapable of consistent quality play.

General manager Neal Huntington gets criticized for his reluctance to part with prospects, but he’s playing a different game than a lot of other GMs. With limited revenue, prospects are gold to a team like the Pirates.

That’s not to say they could never be traded, but the Pirates are conscious of trying to sustain competitiveness.

Need an example of what can happen when a team falls off the cliff in terms of talent? Look no further than the Pirates of the early 1990s, who won three consecutive division titles.

In a two-year span, Barry Bonds, Bobby Bonilla, Doug Drabek and John Smiley departed. The first three left as free agents, and Smiley was traded before he could reach that status.

The Pirates suffered. Mightily. The drain of talent was the springboard to an unprecedented 20-year losing streak. It wasn’t the sole reason, of course. There was a succession of bad decisions (Jeromy Burnitz, a seven-year contract for Jason Kendall, Jose Bautista for a back-up catcher, Jim Tracy, John Russell, and on and on. I could write a book, and would if someone would pay me).

But that’s not the point. It’s fun to yell “all in” and “in it to win it” and all those other things, but the Pirates are playing by rules that don’t apply to the Dodgers, Yankees, Cubs and other big market teams.

As Huntington has grown fond of saying, “This isn’t fantasy baseball,” where a GM can make any trade he wants to at any point of the season.

The Pirates function in an environment where competitors can outspend them 3-to-1. That reality doesn’t exist in football and hockey, where there are parameters for payrolls, minimums and maximums. Teams that don’t have unlimited budgets need to keep the prospects that have earned their belief.

Being a baseball GM is a tough job. It’s even tougher with a system that ties one arm behind your back.

Mehno can be reached at johnmehnocolumn@gmail.com

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