"Pirates general manager Neal Huntington, the architect of the organization's rebuilding process but also of unpopular moves at the major league level, agreed to a three-year contract extension with a club option for 2015, the team announced Sunday.

Huntington's contract would have expired after the season.

"I'm very excited," Huntington said, "to be able to continue to build on what we've been working so hard on the last four years, and to continue to move forward."

Huntington, who previously was the special assistant to the general manager for the Cleveland Indians, joined the Pirates in September 2007. The Pirates extended his contract for a year after the 2010 season but did not disclose the move until much later.

"I was confident that Neal was the right person for the job," Pirates president Frank Coonelly said. "He's demonstrated that he was the right person. They've done a lot of hard work. Obviously there's a lot of hard work to go.""