It's fitting in some way that he didn't get the group's main award, but settled for a separate one that honors leadership.
All things considered, Huntington likely would have chosen to skip the banquet and instead spent the evening looking for another set-up reliever to invite to spring training.
Huntington isn't interested in recognition, which is a good thing. He rarely gets any.
But after what's happened here, the Pirates' motto ought to be, "In Neal we trust."
The job he's done in getting the Pirates from a 100-loss team to the postseason has been every bit as impressive as the revival Syd Thrift staged when he was the team's GM from 1985-88. The economic circumstances are much more difficult now.
When Huntington took the Pirates job, one of his peers called with congratulations and then offered the cynical assessment, "You'd be better off with an expansion team."
The Pirates had some good but not great pieces and although it was never publicly acknowledged, a nearly total rebuild was necessary.
Yes, Andrew McCutchen was in the minor league system, but there wasn't a whole lot more.
It didn't help the public perception that Huntington's earliest days were fraught with missteps. There were contract extensions for mediocrities like Ian Snell and Ryan Doumit. When it came time to deal his biggest chip, he concocted a three-way trade that managed to send away Jason Bay for nothing significant in return from either team.
And while firing Jim Tracy was the correct move, hiring John Russell to replace him didn't make anything better.
Huntington learned and grew on the job. He's been able to combine detailed analytics with traditional scouting to find players. He can handle working with Clint Hurdle, whose personality is high profile. He understands that the MLB economic system is stacked against the Pirates, and he works within those ever-tightening limitations.
That's why there's no multi-year deal for Neil Walker as he approaches 30. It may be unpopular, but every indicator says that money should be invested in someone five years younger to maximize the peak years of a career. Failing to sign Walker earns Huntington the same level of fan criticism that signing Russell Martin in 2012 did.
Every step in Gerrit Cole's progress comes with the reality that agent Scott Boras will likely steer him out of town when free agency arrives. That's why there's promising young pitching stacked efficiently behind Cole.
Unlike some other GMs, Huntington doesn't have the luxury of doing things a year at a time. The reality of working in this market means his focus is always expanded to look ahead. You wonder if ownership appreciates how difficult this task is.
The Pirates are one of five teams to reach the postseason in each of the last two seasons. They have a chance to get in the playoffs for the third straight year. They haven't done that since 1990-92. Unlike that run, there isn't the sense of an impending crash because mass free agency defections loom.
The man most responsible for that success is also the one least interested in taking credit for it.
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--THE FAN-NAVERSARY
Today marks the fifth anniversary of the launch of 93.7 The Fan (KDKA-FM).
The success of the station is reflected in its staggering commercial load. It's bringing in revenue, but it's also an expensive proposition because of the staffing needed to execute the format. Even the late night and weekend time fillers get union scale.
The Fan has become the go-to spot for sports talk, which was expected once full-time sports radio went on the FM dial without signal issues. Yet it still doesn't have a signature show that qualifies as a must-listen, the way Myron Cope did a generation ago.
There have been changes along the way. Paul Alexander, Jon Burton, Vinny Richichi and John Seibel have all departed from the original show lineup.
That initial group also included the notorious update specialist Kalena Bell, whose lack of knowledge painfully stood out on a station aimed at hardcore fans. She's the one who famously said that "Sidney Crosby made two goals," that "Charlie Morton earned three runs in five innings" and "Tiger Woods had 75 points on the second day of play."
At last report, she was pursuing acting and commercial opportunities in Seattle.
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