Dear Pirates Fans:
I am extremely excited to officially announce today that we have hired Neal Huntington as our new General Manager. After a comprehensive search for a baseball executive who can restore the culture of success within the Pirates organization, Neal is absolutely the right choice to lead our baseball operations department and to build a winning organization of which all Pirates fans can be proud.
As you get to know Neal and hear from him personally, you will see that he is extremely intelligent, analytical and driven to succeed. Neal is highly regarded throughout the game as an outstanding evaluator of talent and as one of the young executives who understands and utilizes the most sophisticated statistical and analytical tools of the trade.
Neal shares my vision on how to transform the Pirates into an organization that can consistently compete. Equally important, Neal knows how to implement the changes, systems and philosophies required to accomplish that goal.
Neal has more than 16 years of professional baseball experience. He has spent each of the past 10 seasons working in numerous roles for the Cleveland Indians organization that is fresh off the heels of winning another division title. He was a key member of themanagement team that rebuilt the Indians into a consistent winner through the aggressive acquisition of young talent secured through the draft, the international market and trades.
During his tenure with Cleveland, Huntington was a key member of the executive team that drafted 2007 Cy Young candidate C.C. Sabathia, signed international free agents Fausto Carmona, who has won 18 games this year, catcher Victor Martinez and infielder Jhonny Peralta. Cleveland also acquired outfielder Grady Sizemore and infielder Travis Hafner through trades during Huntington's tenure.
His experience as a vital member of a strong baseball operations department in a winning organization will be critical as we move forward in building a similar culture of success here in Pittsburgh. His strong leadership skills, character, intelligence, commitment and broad experience convinced me that Neal is the right person to build and lead an outstanding baseball operations staff.
As Bob Nutting stated today, this is an extremely important time of transition for the Pirates as he has taken orderly steps to building a culture of success and a culture of pride. I believe with Neal and myself now in place we will implement that vision of excellence and build an exciting ballclub that will make you, our fans, proud.
Thank you for your continued support of the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Sincerely,
Frank Coonelly
President, Pittsburgh Pirates