Huntington lands his first blue-chip, first-rate prospect via trade

By John Perrotto

One of the biggest knocks on Neal Huntington during his nearly two years as Pirates’ general manager is that he hasn’t been able to land any truly can’t-miss, blue-chip, big-time, first-rate prospects in trades.

That changed Wednesday night when the Pirates acquired right-hander Tim Alderson from the San Francisco Giants in a trade for second baseman Freddy Sanchez.

Alderson is one of the top pitching prospects in the game and there are no warts. He doesn’t have attitude problems, an injury history or slippage in performance.

Baseball America ranked Alderson as the No. 4 prospect in a deep Giants’ farm system before the season began and No. 45 in all of baseball.

No one would dispute those rankings as scouts and analysts universally love the 20-year-old as he has already risen to the Class AA level just two years after being the Giants’ first-round draft pick from Horizon High School in Scottsdale, Ariz.

Alderson can dial his sinker up to 94 mph, faster than most pitches’ regular fastballs. He also had a slider that touches 87 mph and an outstanding curveball that is a swing-and-a-miss pitch.

Alderson has been assigned to Class AA Altoona.

Amazingly, Huntington did not have to throw any money into the trade to cover part of Sanchez’s $8.1-million club option for 2010 that vests if he reaches 625 plate appearances this season.

It had been perceived in baseball circles that no club would be willing to trade a top prospect for Sanchez without getting some form of financial relief.

Alderson immediately supplants