The Pittsburgh Pirates plan to shut down injured right-hander Chris Archer for the remainder of the season, general manager Neal Huntington told reporters including Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Archer landed on the injured list on August 21 after prematurely exiting a start the previous day with shoulder discomfort.
While Archer’s season is over, he remains a near-lock to return to the Pirates next year. The team holds a relatively affordable $9MM club option for the 2020 season, and Huntington has given every indication that he intends to exercise that option and bring back Archer for another year.
Regardless, the 2019 season will go down as a forgettable one for Archer, who finishes the year with a 5.19 ERA, the worst mark of his career. He was able to maintain an above-average strikeout rate, but trouble with walks and home runs neutralized that impact. It’s worth noting that in August, prior to the injury, Archer had been enjoying his best month of the season and seemed to finally be trending upward. However, any progress will now be put on hold until next season.
Unfortunately for Archer, he will always be judged in the face of the blockbuster trade that sent him to Pittsburgh. As Austin Meadows, Tyler Glasnow, and even Shane Baz have flourished with Tampa Bay, Archer’s struggles make the deal look like one of the most lopsided in recent memory. With that in mind, the decision to pick up his option is at the very least an effort to mitigate the bad optics of the trade, which would look even worse if the Pirates cut ties with the prized starter after just one full season.
As for the Pirates, they have been rolling with right-hander Dario Agrazal since Archer hit the shelf. Unfortunately, the rookie hasn’t fared much better than Archer, having struck out just 30 batters in 62 1/3 innings.
say it ain’t so!
What a bust…
Can you shut down someone who never really got started?
Okay this actually made me laugh at my phone
Everything that possibly could have went wrong with this trade for the Pirates did go wrong
Could’ve been worse……they could’ve asked for Reynolds and they’d probably be dumb enough to throw him in.
Well at least the Pirates will not be playing against 10 players when he would have pitched
It feels like the Pirates shutdown most team baseball activities a few weeks ago.
They should decline his option and commit flto a full rebuild
It’d be worth the gamble to exercise his option in the hopes he can at least return to some degree of effectiveness next year. Even if Archer pitches like a back-end starter he’d possess some trade value.
And the remaining teams on their schedule just got pissed off they won’t be having him toss them BP.
What an overrated bust
When it was announced a few days after the trade was reported that the Pirates had thrown in Baz along with Meadows and Glasnow, I wrote here that in time the trade would cost Huntington his job.
This off-season may well be the time.
There must be something in Pennsylvania water that causes their MLB front offices to be so inept.
It was hilarious though how everyone said he’s got such a great contract. Well yeah cause he sucks
dont lump Philly in with Pittsburgh. inept or not, no one is on the level of Pittsburgh.
Philly? The Detroit of PA? Please! What a garbage town.
Neil doesn’t get to spend “stupid money”. He gets Monopoly money.
What a bummer Archer has been for the Pirates.
I definitely thought he would’ve reached another level shifting from the AL East to pitching in Pittsburgh.
If there’s one bright side, it’s that Archer’s clearly not been 100% healthy. Hopefully shutting him down helps in the long run, and he can come back right next season.
Did you think Quintana would do better being traded to the NL also? Maybe it’s time to rethink our assumption that pitchers struggle more in the AL.
it was about playing in a division with NYY and BOS vs what was once a pitching revival factory.
Bob is a joke.
im not laughing at the injury. im laughing at the process into which this injury was going to happen. look. the pirates are bad. he should just be put in the bullpen so he has some darn shame. he stinks
Too bad this headline wasn’t at the beginning of the season
Might as well keep Archer to keep the payroll above 50 million for next year. Bob Nutting doesn’t want to look to obvious that he is just riding the Pirates for the money. Dropping Archer off the roster, would make the yearly salary just under 50 million for next year. It’s like having a AAA payroll in the majors.
Archer is the most disliked Pirate since Derek Bell.
With Meadows hitting number 30 yes it’s time for Neil to go. Meadows should of been called up 2 years ago !? Everyone should go 47 runs given up ? My God totally nuts. Please take the garbage out tonight!
Over the last year, he’s acquired Bryan Reynolds and Colin Moran. We’ve also seen draftees like Josh Bell and Kevin Newman turn into solid everyday players.
As I said in a previous post, he’s made TWO bad trades in 12 years. In theory, the Archer trade looked good and the Rays played the Pirates by talking with multiple teams at the deadline. He acquired AJ Burnett and Jason Grilli for peanuts on the dollar.
Hurdle and sadly, Ray Searage need to go and the pitching staff needs some serious upgrades
Should have shut down Archer last year the moment he stepped off his flight from Tampa. Huntington should lose his job for that trade alone. Fortunately for him his owner is even more clueless about baseball.
Watched Pirates play in Chicago over the weekend. My God just bad.
Pitcher throws ball over third baseman on a appeal play. Run scores. One of 50 in three game set.
Time to clean house.
Should let him go and spend the 9 million on someone else. Admit your mistake and move on
Huntington isn’t a terrible GM, he’s actually fairly average all things considered, the problem is you have no margin of error if you want to win consistently with that small payroll. Shame because Pittsburgh is a great sports town with a great baseball stadium. Could be one of the best organizations in the league with competent ownership willing to spend even a league average payroll
Too many posters dwell on the Archer trade and do not mention all of the good trades that NH has made.
He has also signed some lower level free agents off the scrap heap to help over the years.
That being said,the Pirates fundamentals are awful.
Neil has had a very bad last year.Hurdle really needs to go.Firing minor league managers will not change things.
Neil needs to figure out how to sign mid level free agents,and he needs to be correct on their evaluation.His biggest mistake on Archer was clearly over valuing him.
And he needs Nutting to give him some money to do so.
How long did Huntington know about Vazquez and his problems? Is Vazquez MLB career over, I would think so after he gets out of jail in a few years.