Pirates: Huntington answers fans’ questions

Great leader! Great energy! Great Cesar Gutierrez’s Ghost!

Are we going to try to re-sign Doug Mientkiewicz and Jason Michaels? hey both are great leaders and brought great energy to this team last year.

We certainly would like to bring Doug and Jason back to the Pirates, Jeff. They did provide quality leadership and energy, but it will come down to finding a common ground on role, playing time and salary. We have talked with both players about exploring the free-agent market, determining their market value, seeing how it compares with what we have to offer and seeing if there is a deal for them to remain Pirates.

What are your evaluations and expectations of the players received in the Xavier Nady and Jason Bay trades now that a few months have passed?

Justin, we continue to be enthusiastic about the players we received in the two trades. We acknowledged from the outset that not all eight players would live up to expectations, but we need to caution against jumping to quick judgments (positive or negative). We did not make the trades looking for immediate returns; rather we made the trades to positively impact the quality and depth of our system currently and in the future, and we believe we have accomplished that goal. Our challenge going forward is to find ways to help these players achieve their potential.