Success with draft class

So Neal Huntington did this year what Dave Littlefield couldn't last year – stare down Scott Boras and win.

Huntington and the Pirates management team stuck to their contract offer for Alvarez – a minor-league contract and a $6 million bonus – and won. It's a lot of money, but it shows once again that the Pirates seem to have a commitment to winning not seen in Pittsburgh in years.

If this were Littlefield at the helm, he wouldn't have signed Alvarez, or even drafted him for that matter, and he would have signed injured second-round pick Tanner Scheppers in Alvarez's slot. Scheppers would have got hurt, needed arm surgery, and after six or seven years of rehab and pitching in the minors, Scheppers would have left the organization never to be heard from again.

That was then, this is now.

Boras waited until 11:58 p.m., according to published reports, to accept the deal. Though it went right to the deadline, Huntington didn't panic.

Because they didn't overpay for an injured Scheppers, the Pirates were able to sign other top prospects like high school outfielder Robbie Grossman, a sixth-round pick who signed for $1 million, and Quinton Miller, a high school pitcher who turned down a full ride to North Carolina to sign with Pittsburgh for $900,000.

It will take time to see if these moves pan out, but at least Huntington is showing he has a backbone, unlike the Pirates old GM