The perception of the Pirates has long been massively different inside Pittsburgh than outside Pittsburgh.
For years, I’ve seen arguments in Pittsburgh about how the Pirates are incompetent. I’ve seen columnists calling for Neal Huntington to be fired before they started winning, during the winning, and after the winning ended. I’ve seen fans wonder why any player would want to play in this organization. And then there’s the massive “Nutting is cheap” movement.
Meanwhile, I’ve talked with people outside of Pittsburgh, and the perception has been much different. Huntington has been regarded as one of the better GMs in the game.