Penguins Update: Is Kyle Dubas the New Branch Rickey?

After a near four-decade run as one of the most successful franchises in the National League, the Pittsburgh Pirates began to slip following World War II.Seeking to restore his team’s sagging fortunes, new majority owner John Galbreath replaced general manager Roy Hamey (who would later construct World Series winners with the Yankees) with legendary baseball executive Branch Rickey on November 1, 1950.

The father of the modern farm system, Rickey built multiple World Series winners with the Cardinals and pennant winners with the then-Brooklyn Dodgers. In his most profound and far-sighted act, he hand-picked Jackie Robinson to break major league baseball’s color barrier in 1947, forever…