Does It Matter If Neal Huntington Attends Road Games?

Not being facetious, just curious what value travelling with the team adds. Is it some kind of unwritten baseball rule that front office personnel always travel with the team, or does this just apply to bad teams?

for his own purposes:

“No one else from the front office was seen on the trip until late in the series at Wrigley Field.”

Turns out the guy that did show up was there for the second game of a three game series. DK didn’t “see” him until the third day, so he writes it that way. Spin something not meaningful to make a meaningless point.

about other organizations to determine if this is newsworthy or not. I also don’t know how much time Neal and his staff has spent with the team on the road throughout the year. If they have spent a lot of time previously I wouldn’t osbess about one road trip that happen to coincide with some really pathetic play on the Pirates part. I am just pleased that NH is competent enough to have someone scouting the minors because the 40 man roster is the most important decision in front of the team right now. I will say this though, this team has been historically bad on the road for two years running now. Their play is much, much worse on the road than at home. I say this without checking any stats but I have watched every game for as long as I can remember and to the eye they are a much worse team in every aspect, including fundamental play. At some point, and this may have been done already, the front office needs to look at some of the causes that do not relate directly to the field: daily routines, night life, eating habits, etc. I don’t know that there is a smoking gun there but there may be some things that contribute to the players not being completely ready to play mentally.

Oh, in regards to the race with the Orioles, there are only two things that have kept me from going over the edge while watching this pathetic brand of baseball lately. They are: 1) the core is young and will improve, and I’m getting to follow them from the very beginning; and
2) getting the #1 pick. I have never, and will never, root for the Pirates to lose but if they are going to be this bad they deserve the #1 pick.

I will be pretty upset if we don’t pick #1. Rendon is a special player and no one thinks the ankle injury will change his play at all in the long run. For this of you who aren’t aware, Jim Callis of Baseball Amercia said that if Rendon were in this year’s draft he would have picked him over Harper. Anyway, lots can happen between now and the draft. Many players will emerge, many will see their stock drop. But no matter what happens there is no denying that our odds of drafting a star increases dramatically with the #1 pick.

Does the team play better when someone from the FO attends away games? Does JR manage differently or better when the FO tags along? There may be business reasons why attendance is a customary practice, but what affect could it have on the performances of players? Could they not feel unified or feel neglected if they are not accompanied by the FO? I am usually a happier and more productive employee when my boss is nowhere to be found, so I’m not sure if this is an issue.

with that last statement. If you have followed next years draft at all, you will know that they consider it to have multiple elite players. So the Pirates may be choosing the best out of two or three elite guys next year. Rendon and Purke should easily be considered elite. I have even heard Purke compared to Kershaw….but BETTER. That would be insane.Rendon is often compared to Longoria, but with a better better and a slightly worse glove(Longoria is an elite fielder). There are also guys like Gerrit Cole, Taylor Jungmann, and Sonny Gray who all have the stuff to be number 1 starters. Next years draft is loaded. It would be a great year to have a number 1 pick. Especially with Rendon at the top(not worried about his injury) as someone who could be in the Rodriguez-Griffey range as a player when his career is over(those players are rare. Not even Price or Harper are considered that good).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c0gc___ZtgA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FD7tacQpV_0