Pirates pull off stunner: Trade for Chris Archer signals team all-in
Baseball is struggling to connect with a younger audience, so MLB All-Stars offered up some suggestions on how to fix that.
USA TODAY
Chris Archer is 3-5 with a 4.31 ERA this year and 22-36 with a 4.10 ERA the last three years.(Photo: Jennifer Buchanan, USA TODAY Sports)
OK, who locked Pittsburgh Pirates general manager Neal Huntington and owner Bob Nutting into a steel cage Tuesday, stole their cell phones, impersonated their voices, and was responsible for the Pirates’ zany antics on trade deadline day?
Come on, these guys on trade deadline are traditionally as conservative as Rush Limbaugh, never letting a playoff race stop them from staying pat or even trading away players, focusing solely on the future.
Now, at a time where they’re in third place, barely over .500 (55-52), and on the fringe of the wild-card race (3 ½ games back), they’ve suddenly become more aggressive than freshmen kids at their first college keg party.
The Pirates stunned the baseball industry by swooping in and landing Tampa Bay Rays veteran starter Chris Archer, the biggest star traded Tuesday, giving up two prospects – center fielder Austin Meadows, reliever Ty Glasnow and a player to…