Neal Huntington does plenty of traveling as the Pirates' general manager.

But, unlike predecessor Dave Littlefield, it seldom is done for the purpose of watching his team's road games.

"I'm not from the school where the general manager has to be with the club every trip," Huntington explained. "I know there's an old-school approach that somebody has to be with the club just in case. I'm not from the school. John Hart wasn't that way. Mark Shapiro wasn't that way. Dan Duquette. Jim Beattie. Those are the guys I learned from."

He addresses the just-in-case element multiple ways: Bryan Minniti, his 27-year-old director of baseball operations, handles on-site personnel matters. Greg Johnson, the traveling secretary, handles logistical snafus. Athletic trainer Brad Henderson handles the health. And, most important, Huntington communicates with manager John Russell "every day, sometimes three times a day" about "just about everything."

So, where is Huntington?

Could be at another National League park, checking out potential trade acquisitions.

Could be next to a cornfield in Iowa, scouting amateurs for the June 5 draft, when the Pirates will pick second overall.

Which, some might suggest, provides the most telling sign that management's focus remains very much on the future

"I actually feel less productive when I'm with the team than when I'm not," Huntington said. "Plus, I do get to see every game we play in some form. If I can't get it on TV somewhere, like if I'm at a college or high school, I'll watch a replay online."

This approach, he added, is subject to change.

"There might come a time, when we get past this draft, that I'll travel with the team more. But my mode with second pick of the draft, as well as my complete confidence in our major league staff, yes, my focus is on scouting and developing."

Just piling on at this point

True story: One person associated with the Pirates for nearly a decade revealed this week that he urged management in the spring of 2007 to try to sign free-agent first baseman Carlos Pena, from pleading with Littlefield to members of the coaching staff to anyone who would listen.

To no avail.

There would be no contact between the Pirates and Pena, and Tampa Bay -- not exactly a more favorable baseball destination at the time -- would sign him to what became the best-valued contract in Major League Baseball for the season, a one-year, $800,000 minor league deal.

Zero risk.

Pena, 29 at the time, went on to a slightly productive summer -- 46 home runs, 121 RBIs -- and the Rays liked him enough to later wrap him up with a three-year, $24 million deal.

Another deal that never was

The best pitcher in the American League so far, Cleveland's Cliff Lee, might well have been plying his trade in Pittsburgh.

As some might recall, he was part of the five-player trade proposal between the Pirates' new management and the Indians that was quashed near midnight Dec. 5 at the Winter Meetings. The deal had Jason Bay and Ronny Paulino going out for Lee, outfielder Franklin Gutierrez and catcher Kelly Shoppach.

Neither Gutierrez (.243) nor Shoppach (.250) has done much, but Lee is 6-0 with a 0.81 ERA and 39 strikeouts.

The punch line: It might have been Lee's inclusion that killed the deal.

Lee, 29, is owed $10.5 million this season and next, including $4 million this season, and Cleveland was known to be willing to move the contract, in part to cover Bay's pay. The Pirates had no issue with that, apparently, but they preferred a much younger pitcher, 22-year-old left-hander Aaron Laffey, so that at least one component of the deal included a prospect.

The Pirates, from team president Frank Coonelly on down, felt they could do better by hanging onto Bay and waiting for his value to rise, which it surely has.

A truly golden Panther

The Pirates' history of drafting players out of Pitt is rather thin in the past half-century: Ken Macha was taken in the sixth round in 1972, and a 5-foot-9 second baseman named Jim Negrych was taken in the same round two years ago.

Macha is well known, and Negrych ... well, despite a stature sure to make for a challenging path to the majors, he is gaining plenty of attention in baseball circles for his remarkable start with Class A Lynchburg.

He is leading the Carolina League with a .402 average, 51 hits and 26 RBIs, and he is second with a .461 on-base percentage and 25 runs. He has 18 multi-hit lines in his first 29 games, has reached base safely all but once and, maybe most impressive, is batting .523 -- 23 for 44 -- with runners in scoring position.

Never mind that one home run.

"He's a scrappy, dirt-ball player who plays with energy, has a swagger and is getting the most out of his abilities," director of player development Kyle Stark said after a week of watching Lynchburg. "He's had his fair share of fortune in hitting .400 down here, but most people need some luck to hit .400."