Tonight, the Pirates will unveil their biggest pitching acquisition of the millenium when Chris Archer takes the mound against the St. Louis Cardinals. He has been the prize of the trade market the last three seasons, so it’s ok to pinch yourself when you see him warming up to Wiz Khalifa’s “Black and Yellow” around 7:05 p.m.. It is a move that is so anti-Pirates that nobody expected it. That includes Archer, who purposely tried to stay in the dark when it became trade rumor season.
”I didn’t know how interested the Pirates were in me until I heard in [GM] Neal’s [Huntington] voice the passion, the joy, the excitement that was there to have me on board,” Archer said in his introductory press conference.