In the midst of a long column about John Russell's future, Ken Rosenthal writes that the Pirates have extended Neal Huntington's contract.
You know, we're preparing to unveil the SB Nation Pittsburgh site on Monday, and we're filling it up with content this week. I published a long feature there yesterday about why Huntington should be extended. I guess you'll have to wait to see that. But if Rosenthal's report is accurate, I think this is good news. Plainly, the results at the big league level leave a lot to be desired, and it's funny that this news would leak in the midst of a ten-game losing streak and after a six-error game, but Huntington has been a much better GM than the big-league results so far suggest. A very bad 2010 season was all but guaranteed even before he arrived, and his greatest strength as a general manager has been his drafts. We're just beginning to see the results of those with the arrival of Pedro Alvarez last night, and it will be a long time before Huntington's draft picks start to take over the team.
UPDATE: The Post-Gazette confirms that the Pirates have extended both Huntington and John Russell for one year.