Greg Brown Weighs In On Pirates' Needs As Trade Deadline Approaches
PITTSBURGH (93-7 The FAN) - Pittsburgh Pirates play-by-play broadcaster Greg Brown joined Starkey and Mueller Monday to share his thoughts on Friday's looming trade deadline.
"First and foremost," Brown said when asked by Starkey what the Pirates ideally should consider shopping for. "I'd set my priorities. You've got to somehow find a way, and I think [Pirates general manager Neal Huntington] will, to get an arm in there who can bridge the gap between the starter and then Jared Hughes and then [Tony] Watson and [Mark] Melancon."
Brown noted last week's trade, which sent Miami Marlins reliever Steve Cishek to the St. Louis Cardinals, saying he fully expects Huntington to pull off something similar to improve the front end of the Pirates' bullpen.
Brown added that while the Pirates are the third-best team in baseball on paper, the division is in a heated race and the NL play-in game is not necessarily a given.
"Even the Wild Card game isn't sewed up," Brown said. "The Giants are playing great ball. Don't give up on the Cubs yet... We have heard the name Mike Napoli come up. Someone like that I think would be huge. And we say that with the idea that [Huntington doesn't] mortgage the future, and I don't think that [he] will."
Note: Rob Biertempfel of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reported the following over the weekend with regards to Napoli.
Sources: #pirates have looked into Mike Napoli and Shane Victorino. Napoli scuffling at plate but has been decent defensively.
— Rob Biertempfel (@BiertempfelTrib) July 26, 2015
Brown interviewed Huntington on 93-7 The Fan over the weekend, and he said Huntington seemed as though a move was imminent.
"I believe [Huntington] believes he is close to getting something done, and that is if the other party or parties go ahead and pull the trigger themselves," Brown said.
The entire interview with Brown can be heard below.