Many this offseason clamored for the Pirates to clean house, to go in a completely different direction.
They did, albeit in delayed, disjointed fashion.
The Pirates fired general manager Neal Huntington on Monday morning, their third dismissal in less than a month. All of the moves are designed to chart a new course for the franchise, both on and off the field, as they “turn the page” and “start writing a new chapter.”
Owner Bob Nutting was the driving force behind this latest decision and met with Huntington on Sunday afternoon, informing Huntington of the move.
“This past season was by far the most frustrating and challenging season that I have experienced as owner,” Nutting said in a statement. “It became clear to me as the season progressed that significant change was necessary in order to refresh our entire operations.”
The Pirates also officially announced the hiring of Travis Williams, formerly of the Penguins, as their new president.
Williams spent 11 years with the Penguins, including eight as chief operating officer. He was most recently working as director of business operations for the New York Islanders.
“Travis’ leadership abilities, experience and passion for Pittsburgh sports makes him the ideal choice for this position,” Nutting said in another statement. “Travis was an integral part of the Penguins leadership team over the past decade of success. He has a keen understanding of Pittsburgh and appreciates how important our fans are. He will drive a culture of success within our organization.”
Williams will have authority over the hiring/firing of general managers; however, it sounds like this decision was made before he got on the job.
Nutting and Williams are expected to meet with reporters — and seemingly discuss their new strategy — later Monday at PNC Park.
The firing comes as a pretty big surprise, as Huntington was conducting a managerial search, the process to find Clint Hurdle’s replacement reaching its second round of interviews.
Now, the Pirates are pausing that process.
It was also expected that Williams would slow-play Huntington’s status.
Just last week, several sources close to the situation said they expected Williams to learn about Huntington and his process before making any decisions.
Based on his actions, it appears Nutting would not let the situation get to that.
Now, the conversation will shift to how much, if any, of Huntington’s staff will remain. The Pirates have struggled with player development in recent years, specifically at the major league level, and they could opt to make significant changes in that department.
Will there be changes to Huntington’s staff, including Kyle Stark and Kevan Graves? What about Joe DelliCarri, who’s their senior director of amateur scouting? It’s also possible they look at replacing senior director of minor league operations Larry Broadway.
Graves will run the Pirates in the interim, until Williams hires Huntington’s replacement.
Huntington has been the Pirates’ GM since Sept. 25, 2007. He was responsible for rebuilding the club into a playoff contender over three years before struggling the past four seasons.
Many of the recent trades Huntington made were flops. Players went elsewhere and thrived. The magic touch that played a part in producing those three consecutive playoff seasons disappeared.
Replacing Huntington now actually makes a lot of sense for the Pirates.
Williams can start anew with a general manager and manager, though he faces a tall task with integrating himself into the baseball industry and making a pair of significant hires off the bat.
“The decisions that have been made over the past month were not easy and have been the result of a systematic and thorough review, further reinforced through multiple conversations with people that I trust and respect throughout baseball,” Nutting said.
“It was critical that we have our new team president in place to conduct the search for the next leader of our baseball operations department. With the naming of Travis Williams to the position of president [Monday], we will immediately begin the search process. I am confident that we will find the right person.
“While we will pause the managerial search process for the time being, we are appreciative of the work that has been done thus far and confident in the candidates available to us. The hiring of a new general manager will only help clarify the situation further for those candidates.”
Williams has some baseball experience but not much; the entirety of it came before his 11 years with the Penguins, when, working as a lawyer for Reed Smith, Williams was part of the legal team that assisted the Pirates with such things as PNC Park development and TV rights.
Huntington had two years left on his contract, the same as Hurdle. Together, they’re owed around $10 million — money Nutting will still have to pay.
Monday’s move certainly brought some clarity to what had to be a difficult situation, with managerial candidates wondering what was happening with Huntington.
It also positions Nutting and Williams to chart a new direction for the Pirates, which will certainly be necessary.
“This is a homecoming for me, both personally and professionally,” Williams said in a statement. “It is a tremendous opportunity to come back to a city and a team that I love. I am excited about working with Bob and the rest of the Pirates family to return this franchise to a winning tradition.
“Today, we turn the page and start writing a new chapter in the history of the Pirates.
“We are committed to a refresh of our entire operations. The first step in this process is to immediately begin the search for new leadership of our baseball operations. Within our business operations, we will focus on enhancing our relationships with the fans, the ballpark experience and our commitment to the Pittsburgh community.”
Jason Mackey: jmackey@post-gazette.com and Twitter @JMackeyPG.
First Published: October 28, 2019, 1:07 p.m.
