Pirates GM Neal Huntington was on 937 The Fan in the 3:00 p.m. hour and touched based on a number of subjects:
— Huntington indicated that the Pirates didn’t place the same value that Mark Appel had on himself. “We did not reach the value Mark Appel put on himself, ” Huntington told the Seibel, Starkey & Miller show.
— With the trade deadline just 15 days away, there is a lot of buzz on which prospects in the Pirates system are untouchables. Huntington has the same mindset of a Theo Epstein in that no player is an untouchable. ” If someone wants to make you a ridculous offer, no one is untouchable, ” Huntington said. Top prospect Gerrit Cole is as close to an untouchable you can get, but Huntington is the type of GM who listens to everything.
— It’s been no secret that the Pirates have been internally discussing a callup of Starling Marte this month but Huntington hinted that a callup is not imminent by any means. “We can’t lose the fact that he’s coming off a sub-bar May, ” Huntington said of Marte. “He’s getting closer but last thing we want to do is put a player in harms way, ” Huntington said mentioning how the team took a patience approach with Andrew McCutchen and Neil Walker has paid off.
— The Pirates have been active in the trade market looking for a front-line starting pitcher, though they are not serious contenders for Cole Hamels, Zach Grienke, or Ryan Dempster who has 10-5 control, sources say. Starter Erik Bedard is entering a crucial next couple of starts but Huntington isn’t ready to pull the plug just yet on the struggling veteran. Huntington though did praise the way Rudy Owens is throwing the ball of late. “Rudy especially, is just throwing the ball great, ” Huntington said of Owens who is 7-4 with a 2.89 ERA for Triple-A Indianapolis.