These 5 Bucs could be most affected by new GM

PITTSBURGH -- For 12 years, Neal Huntington ultimately signed off on every baseball decision the Pirates made. But a new era began Monday, when the Bucs officially announced their decision to relieve Huntington of his duties as general manager.

Soon enough, president Travis Williams will hire a new general manager to determine and execute Pittsburgh’s baseball operations strategy. Whoever that GM may be, it will represent a change in some way from Huntington. The new GM will not be connected to Pittsburgh’s existing roster in the way that Huntington was.

Some players likely won’t be significantly affected. Kevin Newman is going to be the shortstop, for example. Bryan Reynolds will play every day somewhere in the outfield. No matter who’s in charge, Gregory Polanco needs to prove he’s healthy. Players on the fringe of the roster are still at risk.

The new GM could choose to rebuild, turn over parts of the team to find a better mix of players or supplement the existing group -- a decision that would cost several current players their spots on the roster.

With that in mind, here are five players who may be affected most by the dismissal of Huntington.

Starling Marte

Earlier this month, rival evaluators told MLB.com they believed Marte would stay put, in part because it would have been out of character for Huntington to start rebuilding after years of stressing that the Pirates didn’t believe in competitive windows.

But now, with chairman Bob Nutting not totally ruling out a rebuild, everything would seem to be back on the table when it comes to Marte.

Marte would be arguably the Pirates’ most coveted player on the trade market, and he possesses the kind of talent that could alter the offseason. There’s no doubt the Bucs will exercise the 31-year-old’s $11.5 million club option, but then what?

If they rebuild, it would be the right time to shop Marte and inject the best available mix of young talent into their system. They will find no shortage of suitors for him. If they stay the course, they’ll be inclined to hang on to their No. 3-hitting center fielder and make him a centerpiece of their team.

Marte could help a lot of teams. What the Pirates eventually do with him could tell us a lot about how they’ll move forward under a new regime.

Chris Archer

Archer might be the only player in a more uncertain situation than Marte.

At the end of the season, the 31-year-old starter confidently said, “All the talks I’ve had with the front office are about next year and how to be better individually and as a team.”

In other words, Archer had been given every indication that the Huntington-led front office would exercise his $9 million club option (rather than buy him out for $2 million) and slot him back into the 2020 rotation despite his disappointing season. One of the reasons the Pirates acquired Archer before the 2018 Trade Deadline was the value of the club-friendly contract extension he signed with the Rays.

While Williams is searching for a new general manager, interim GM Kevan Graves must address Archer’s option soon. Even if the Pirates pick up his option, Archer’s role moving forward is not so clear.

The new GM won’t be tied to Archer and the idea of getting the most out of a player who cost the franchise Tyler Glasnow, Austin Meadows and Shane Baz; if they’re rebuilding, the new front office might want to evaluate younger arms next year. But the GM might also see untapped potential remaining in Archer, especially with a new pitching coach coming in, or appreciate his experience and leadership in a young rotation. Perhaps they’ll view him as a possible trade chip.

Will they pick up his option? Will they commit to keeping him? Will they cut ties or try to extract some value out of him? Stay tuned.

Josh Bell

Bell is at a fascinating point in his career. He’s coming off an All-Star season that didn’t end as well as it started. He’s entering his arbitration-eligible years, so he’s due for a series of raises before reaching free agency. And he is arguably the kind of player the Pirates should rebuild around, if they choose to do so, but with Scott Boras as his agent, the three-year countdown to free agency is on.

If Bell keeps crushing homers and driving in runs like he did this past season, he could price himself out of the Pirates’ budget by his third and final arbitration-eligible season. That would seemingly ramp up the urgency to win during the next two seasons or start considering the possibility of trading him.

Odds are, Bell will spend all of 2020 manning first base for the Pirates -- the same as if Huntington was still in charge. But should his emergence as the face of the franchise continue next season, he will give the new head of baseball operations something to think about this time next year.

Steven Brault

As Brault headed home for San Diego at the end of the season, he did so thinking he’d prepare to be a two-way player this offseason. But here’s the thing: That idea came up during his exit interview with Huntington and former manager Clint Hurdle.

Will the new GM and manager commit to Brault as a starting pitcher? Will they acquire more pitching that could bump the lefty to the bullpen? Will they be as interested in utilizing Brault’s versatility even as rosters expand from 25 to 26 players? If so, how will they make that work?

Mitch Keller

Keller might have the most to gain with a new management team coming in. Presumably, the new GM and manager will seek to hire a pitching coach who can get the most out of a talented young starter like Keller -- someone who will avoid the mistakes they made with Gerrit Cole, Glasnow and others.

If the Pirates take the rebuilding route, it would be wise to give Keller 30-plus starts in the Majors so he can learn and prove himself. Even if they don’t rebuild, that might be their best move with him. It’s probably not fair to say that the future success of their rotation hinges on Keller reaching his upside, but they need to get it right with their top prospect this time -- and if they do, the new GM will have an intriguing starting pitcher to build around for years.