PITTSBURGH (93-7 THE FAN) — Pittsburgh Pirates’ General Manager Neal Huntington joined KDKA’s Bob Pompeani on 93-7 The Fan on Saturday to talk about a busy week in the MLB.

We being by talking about the acquisitions of Nate McLouth and Erik Bedard. Huntington thinks that the two were both upgrades at their positions. He says that the Pirates wanted to bring Paul Maholm back, but didn’t have that option based on the dollar signs that would be required to keep him.

As for first base, Derrek Lee has chosen to accept the Pirates offer for arbitration, but he is still available. Huntington says that Lee wants to explore options because he has made enough money, and will not play as well as he can if he is not motivated.

Many fans want to see Andrew McCutchen extended right now. Huntington looks at the Tampa Bay Rays, and says that they are taking a similar approach with the center fielder. Huntington says that the dollar figure is the reason a deal hasn’t been done, but to not be too pessimistic about it because they have four years to extend McCutchen’s contract.

For the entire interview on all-things ‘Buccos’ click below:

Pirates’ GM Neal Huntington

PITTSBURGH — Pirates general manager Neal Huntington was given a three-year contract extension through the 2014 season on Sunday following a season for improvement for the chronically losing franchise.

The deal, announced Sunday, includes a team option for 2015.

Pittsburgh has finished with a losing record for 18 consecutive seasons, a record for major leagues in North America. But a year after going a big league-worst 57-105, the Pirates were 51-44 and led the NL Central by a half-game before play on July 20. A 10-game losing streak dashed their postseason hopes, and they began Sunday at 66-79, three losses short of ensuring another sub-.500 season.

The 42-year-old Huntington replaced Dave Littlefield on Sept. 25, 2007.

“Neal was hired to take on the difficult task of building an organization that can compete on a consistent basis,” Pirates chairman Bob Nutting said in a statement. “While there is still much work to be done, Neal and his staff have done an exceptional job of overhauling the scouting and development systems while building a strong foundation by aggressively acquiring talent through all possible avenues. We have begun to see that positive impact on the major league level this season and expect that improvement to continue as we execute our plan in building a winning organization.”

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PITTSBURGH — Gerrit Cole got his first look at PNC Park on Saturday. The Pittsburgh Pirates say they’re in no rush to put this year’s overall No. 1 draft pick on the mound there anytime soon.

“The last thing we want to do is rush this process,” general manager Neal Huntington said. “We’ve got to make sure we’re intelligent about it. We’ve got a long time that Gerrit is going to be a successful pitcher in this organization. We’ve got to make sure we go about it the right way.”

Cole agreed to a deal Monday night that included an $8 million signing bonus. The right-hander pitched three years at UCLA.

Huntington said he’s seen it all too often with promising young players — particularly pitchers — who get placed on too much of a fast track to the majors. He vowed to resist that temptation with Cole.

“There’s some great examples of success, and there’s some tragic examples of failure,” Huntington said. “We’re trying to work toward the success side.

“We’re definitely looking to build Gerrit to where he’s ready to attack a 200-plus innings workload at the major-league level, but history is littered with guys who tackle that 200-inning count before they’re ready physically,” he said.

For now, Cole will report to the Pirates’ spring-training complex in Bradenton, Fla. Full Story

Johnson: Pudge could return to Nationals

The Nationals could bring Ivan Rodriguez back to the team for 2012, manager Davey Johnson told MLB.com.

Rodriguez, currently out with injury, isn’t expected to return to the team before September, clearing up playing time for new backstop Jesus Flores, who is 26 years old and far more relevant to the Nats’ future. Rodriguez is hitting .214/.276/.325 this season in 129 plate appearances. It’s by far the worst offensive showing in his career, and I-Rod is set to also mark a career low in games played, currently at just 39 with a previous low of 88… set in his first season as a 19-year-old.

“Anybody would be crazy not to have [Rodriguez] back,” Johnson said. “He is a tremendous talent. He has been great here this year. He is fun to have around. He can hit, he can catch, he can throw and he adds to our depth at catching. He is a valuable asset. It just depends on the roster and what goes on over the winter and what our needs are.”

Despite the ringing endorsement, Johnson did admit that Rodriguez’s return will depend on Flores, who was drafted in the Rule 5 draft before 2007 and hit .244/.310/.361 that season. He also saw 90 games worth of time in 23 and was off to a great start in 2009 as a 24-year-old, hitting .301/.371/.505 through 106 PA before injuring himself and missing the rest of the 2009 season, as well as 2010. He’s finally back in action, though, and was recently promoted back to the majors where he is at .244/.295/.390 through 16 games.

Pirates’ Maholm on DL

PITTSBURGH — Pirates left-hander Paul Maholm is on the disabled list for the first time, sidelined by a shoulder strain.

Maholm has lost four straight starts and five consecutive decisions, and Pittsburgh is 0-7 in games he started since the All-Star break. Over his past four outings, Maholm’s ERA has climbed a half-run to 3.66. He has allowed 17 earned runs and 31 hits in 22 2/3 innings.

The Pirates recalled rookie left-handed reliever Tony Watson from Triple-A Indianapolis. Watson was 0-2 with a 2.73 ERA in 25 appearances earlier this season.

Pittsburgh manager Clint Hurdle says he hasn’t worked out his upcoming rotation, including a doubleheader on Monday. Brad Lincoln, currently in the bullpen, and Ross Ohlendorf, who began the season in the rotation but is in Indianapolis, are potential options.

Twins scratch Nishioka

MINNEAPOLIS — Minnesota Twins shortstop Tsuyoshi Nishioka has been taken out of the team’s lineup because of back spasms.

Nishioka was slated to bat ninth against the New York Yankees. The Twins announced the change about an hour before first pitch. Matt Tolbert was inserted at shortstop in his place.

Nishioka’s first season with the Twins has been rough. He is hitting just .217 with five extra-base hits in 203 at-bats, plus 10 errors. He missed 59 games after breaking his lower left leg in the first week of the season. He was the batting champion in Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball last year.

Second base umpire Brian O’Nora also was declared out for the game due to a personal medical matter, leaving a three-man crew to work the game.

Rockies boot Hammel from rotation

Jason Hammel has been dropped from Colorado’s starting rotation in lieu of Alex White, the team announced.

Hammel’s demotion is unsurprising, as the 28-year-old’s wheels have fallen off over the last three months. After two successful seasons with the Rockies after coming over from the Rays and lining up 2011 as another solid year, Hammel has instead thrown up a 7.24 ERA over his last 12 starts. He’s shown no signs of turning it around either, with a 9.24 ERA over his last four starts, including a three-inning stinker against the Dodgers on Friday when Hammel coughed up six runs.

Alex White, who was acquired from the Indians in the Ubaldo Jimenez trade in the midst of rehabbing from an injury, will make his Rockies debut by sliding into Hammel’s spot on Tuesday, with Hammel headed to the bullpen.

“I worked tirelessly to figure this out,” Hammel said after Friday’s start to the Associated Press. “Obviously, I’m not fulfilling expectations right now. It’s very disappointing to me and of course, the whole organization, too. Point the finger at me for holding this organization back right now. If we want to get going in the right direction, I need to figure it out.”

PITTSBURGH – It didn’t matter to the Pittsburgh Pirates that Gerrit Cole was not the ace of his college team’s staff.

To them, the hard-throwing right-hander from UCLA will develop into a major league ace — something the franchise hasn’t consistently had for years.

Despite Cole having his worst statistical season of his three years at UCLA, Pittsburgh selected him with the first pick of the baseball draft Monday night, adding another power arm to a system that’s been infused with a much-needed jolt during the last 12 months.

“Scouting is about projection,” Pirates general manager Neal Huntington said. “It’s about looking into the future and understanding what we believe a player will be in two, four, six, eight, 10 years from now. The performance this year goes into it, but ultimately he’s a big, strong right-hander with quality stuff and quality competitiveness.

Cole was a freshman All-American at UCLA after not signing with the Yankees, who took him 28th overall out of high school in 2008. He went 6-8 with a 3.31 ERA this year, but his stuff was too good for the Pirates to pass up.

“He was the guy we believe can make the biggest impact in our organization,” Huntington said.

Former Pittsburgh general manager Dave Littlefield said after the first round of the draft in 2002 that No. 1 overall pick Bryan Bullington projected out to be “a No. 3 starter” in the major leagues.

Cole — by the numbers, at least — was the No. 3 starter for UCLA this season. Teammate Trevor Bauer had a far superior statistical season (13-2, 1.25 ERA, 203 strikeouts, .154 batting average against) and went third to Arizona. Freshman right-hander Adam Plutko also had a better ERA and batting average against than Cole.

But when you consistently throw into the upper-90s — nudging 100 and rarely dropping below 95, even in the later innings of starts — that type of potential excites teams.

“Looking at Gerrit, he has the physical size and tools,” Pirates scouting director Greg Smith said. “But not only do you need to have the weapons, you have to be able to harness that moving forward. Gerrit has the mentality, the makeup, the competitiveness, a lot of the ingredients that make up a quality starting pitcher down the road.”

Cole called Bauer after his teammate was drafted, and the two congratulated each other. Bauer likely improved his draft stock based on his numbers; with Cole, it was more about the raw skills and a delivery that is thought to lead to durability.

“Obviously, this year wasn’t up to my standards, but I tried to not think about it,” Cole said. “I just control what I can control and let the teams do their evaluation.”

This is the fourth time in 25 years the Pirates selected No. 1 overall. The results from their previous three attempts ranged from the mediocre — third baseman Jeff King in 1986 and pitcher Kris Benson 10 years later — to the full-out bust (Bullington).

In the months leading to the draft, there was no clear-cut No. 1 overall pick, with Cole, Rice third baseman Anthony Rendon was considered a potential No. 1 pick, as were University of Virginia left-hander Danny Hultzen and Kansas high school outfielder Bubba Starling all being mentioned.

“We walked through a handful of players in all four quadrants of the board,” Huntington said, referring to college and high school pitching and position players. “And at the end of the day, our guys felt very strongly about Gerrit, and that’s the direction we went.”

Pittsburgh is mired in a North American major professional sports record 18 consecutive losing seasons and without a Cy Young winner since 1990. This is the fourth draft under the regime of team president Frank Coonelly, Huntington and the Nutting family as the team’s majority owner.

Breaking with its history to that point, Pittsburgh has been a big spender lately in the draft. Cole is represented by Scott Boras. When the Pirates drafted Vanderbilt third baseman Pedro Alvarez second overall in 2008, negotiations got contentious, with Boras and Coonelly exchanging verbal barbs.

“Signability is an issue with every player that comes off the board in the first round,” Huntington said. “We’re going to work hard and we’re going to fight to find a common ground that makes sense for both sides. We believe at the end of the day we’ll get a deal done.”

Last season, the Pirates gave No. 2 overall pick Jameson Taillon a $6.5 million bonus and fellow right-hander Stetson Allie, their second-round pick. They also paid $2.6 million to secure 16-year-old Mexican right-hander Luis Heredia last summer.

“I’m going to let Pittsburgh and their guys do their evaluations,” Cole said. “Obviously, you want the business side of things go as smoothly as possible, but I understand the business side after having gone through it once already, so I feel like I’m prepared.

“We have to take care of business throughout the summer, and it will probably eventually take care of itself.”

PITTSBURGH – According to a recent Yahoo! Sports report, which cited an unnamed source, Oklahoma boy wonder Dylan Bundy advised the Pirates among other teams not to draft him because of their opposition to a long-toss program.

When I asked general manager Neal Huntington about this before the series finale against the Detroit Tigers today, he said that the claim was erroneous on two counts.

The organization scouted Bundy extensively in recent weeks. At 18, the high school pitcher may have the highest upside of any candidate in a draft that is long on depth but short on star power.

“We’ve not been told by any player in our four years here not to draft him,” he said. “I do not know where the report came from. I guess that I question the accuracy of it, and I hate to do that.”

What’s more, Huntington said the organization is not opposed to a long-toss program if it adheres to its philosophies. He said several farmhands are involved in one at this time.

“(The report) also puts something out there that isn’t true about our system,” he said. “We are not opposed to long toss. We do not make a blanket statement about anything for anybody. We have a specific program in mind for our pitchers based on their individual strengths and talents above and beyond that.

“We’re open to long toss if it’s done correctly. It can be an asset. If done incorrectly, it can be a tremendous disadvantage for a player and put him in harm’s way, and that’s what we try to protect against. We want our pitchers to build arm strength but as importantly stay healthy.”

The Tigers batting order: Austin Jackson, center field; Scott Sizemore, second base; Ryan Raburn, left field; Miguel Cabrera, first base; Victor Martinez, catcher; Jhonny Peralta, shortstop; Brandon Inge, third base; Casper Wells, right field; Rick Porcello, pitcher.

The Pirates batting order: Andrew McCutchen, center field; Jose Tabata, left field; Garrett Jones, right field; Neil Walker, second base; Lyle Overbay, first base; Steve Pearce, third base; Chris Snyder, catcher; Ronny Cedeno, shortstop; Paul Maholm, pitcher.