The first-place Pittsburgh Pirates were very quiet during Wednesday's MLB trade deadline, but not due to a lack of effort. Pittsburgh made a push for power bats by trying to sway the Marlins into trading Giancarlo Stanton and the Angels to deal Mark Trumbo, but it never came to fruition.
Pirates' general manager Neal Huntington was looking to solidify the team's lineup and surround Andrew McCutchen and Pedro Alvarez in the lineup with some potential power. Huntington tried to land Trumbo and was ready to deal one of his young arms, but the Angels had no interest in moving the slugger. When Huntington tried for Stanton, The Pittsburgh Tribune reported that the Marlins and Pirates were close to a deal before Miami decided not to part ways just yet with the team's only star.
The Pirates entered the deadline with MLB's best record at 65-42, but with only a 2.5 game lead over the St. Louis Cardinals in the National League Central division race, the team could have used another bat to help propel it to the division crown.
Stanton has played in just 64 games this season, and is hitting .256 with 13 homers and 34 RBIs. The slugger hit 37 home runs last year when he had more talent hitting around him in the lineup. Trumbo's average is slightly less than Stanton's, coming in at .246 this season through 106 games, but he has 23 long balls and 63 RBIs.
Huntington spoke about having to be careful during the trade deadline by avoiding doing anything "stupid" to reel in the bats he wanted.
''We talk a lot about, we don't want to do something stupid,'' Huntington told the Associated Press on Wednesday after the Pirates beat St. Louis 5-4 to increase the division lead. ''We were willing to do something stupid. We just didn't want to do anything insane.''
Huntington may have aimed to high as he looked into the big bats of Stanton and Trumbo, but failed to get a relief pitcher to help out Pittsburgh's bullpen for its stretch run, especially after All-Star closer Jason Grilli was sidelined with an injury in his right (throwing) arm. Grilli remains tied for second in the NL with 30 saves, but could potentially miss the rest of the season.
The team also looked to add Alex Rios, Hunter Pence, Nate Schierholtz or David DeJesus after it failed to land Stanton and Trumbo, but no deal ever came and the deadline came and left without Pittsburgh making a move.
The Pirates, who have been known to collapse in the second half in recent years, are bidding for their first postseason appearance in over two decades.
Unfortunately for Huntington, they'll have to do so without any outside help.
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