Narratives abound about why the Pirates have been successful the past three years, some of them silly (defensive shifts and pitch-framing!) and some of them flat-out wrong (their oft-cited drafting actually has been abysmal).
The truth is, aside from an internal core of Dave Littlefield/Ed Creech draft picks such as Andrew McCutchen, Neil Walker, Tony Watson and Jared Hughes; plus a No. 1 overall pick by Neal Huntington in Gerrit Cole; plus superb Latin American finds in Starling Marte, Gregory Polanco and the bulk of the system's top prospects; most of Huntington's best results have come from outside acquisitions. That's where they found A.J. Burnett, Russell Martin, Francisco Liriano, Jason Grilli, Mark Melancon, Josh Harrison, Francisco Cervelli, Jung-Ho Kang and you can probably throw J.A. Happ on the pile, too.
The Pirates haven't spent a ton of money, relative to their peers, but they've made so few mistakes with their spending that it stands out.
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