Results tagged ‘ john russell ’

Hurdle to lead Pirates in 2010 and beyond

hurdle.jpg

On Monday, the Pirates made it official, naming Clint Hurdle
manager and signing him to a three-year contract.

After his interview with the team, he along with Pirate
coach Jeff Bannister were considered to be the two finalists for the job.  After Hurdle had interviewed with the
Mets following his meeting with the Pirates, many felt he wouldn’t end up in
Pittsburgh.

Hurdle didn’t see much success in his previous tenure
managing in the majors, going 534-625 in six seasons with the Rockies. His only
winning season and playoff appearance came in 2007 when the Rockies had their
historic year-end winning streak before losing to the Red Sox in the World
Series.

At the press conference today, Hurdle seems eager to take on
the challenge of managing a team like the Pirates.


“I’m all in,” Hurdle said. “This wasn’t about taking a
job because it was a sure thing. This was about taking an opportunity that felt
sure and fit right. It felt comfortable with the people I was going to get
after the job with.”

One thing this move certainly did was silence many of the
critics of the Pirates organization. Many of them were waiting for the Pirates
to hire Bannister, which would have been a PR disaster. Unlike Bannister or
previous manager John Russell, many don’t think that Hurdle will be a “yes man”
to GM Neil Huntington as many believed Russell was. Perhaps Bob Smizik put it
best in his column today.

 “He will not bend
to the will of general manager Neal Huntington, as Russell often seemed to do.
He will be his own man. He will set his lineup. He will set his defensive
alignments. He will play the team that gives him the best chance to win and not
the lineup that makes the GM’s trades look best.”


 

But what does
this mean for the Pirates style of play? Well as hitting coach of the Texas
Rangers the past couple of seasons, Hurdle and the other coaches encouraged a
very aggressive style of offense that relies on lots of stolen bases and sacrifices.
With the speed the Pirates have at the top of the order, and the lack of power
in the middle this could work very well.

All in all I’m
applauding the Pirates for going the extra mile and hiring Hurdle. They could
have gone the easy way and hired internally by getting Bannister to manage and
continue the same route under Russell.

As for this blog,
I’ve got finals the next week but after that I’ll be home for six weeks (Yay
for Ohio University’s unusual schedule!) I’ll have plenty of posts about free
agency, some baseball card box breaks, and any breaking news as it happens.

Don’t forget to
follow the twitter as well @suhlmann12

Photo from postgazette.com

Dugout Watch: The Search for the Next Pirates Manager

Like that title? I felt that a topic like this deserved a big bold title like what you see on the news.

Anyway for those who do not know, the Pirates got rid of manager John Russell shortly after the 2010 season came to a conclusion. Most fans were happy. Whether or not the record posted by the Pirates is directly the fault of Russell or the players he was given will always be debated, all that matters is that he is a thing of the past.
Jen Langosch, beat writer for the Pirates on mlb.com, has reported 5 different managers being interviewed. All of them bring something different to the table, and here is an outlook for each one, their prior experience, and their chances on being the skipper of the Pirates in 2011. 
1. Eric Wedge
wedge.jpg
Prior MLB managerial experience
Cleveland Indians (2003-2009)
Career Record 
561-573
Profile: Eric Wedge became the manager of the Cleveland Indians on October 23, 2002. As expected with many small-market teams, he saw many ups and downs with a young, rebuilding team. By 2005 the Indians were competitive in the AL. Despite winning 93 games in ’05 the Indians failed to make the playoffs in the tough American League. After a disappointing 2006 campaign, the Indians finally broke through in 2007 and made the playoffs, after their epic collapse to the Red Sox in the ALCS that year, the team began falling off. Players were traded to save money and the team started to flounder. After suffering sub par seasons in 2008 and 2009 Wedge was fired. After taking last season off, he is looking to get back into the coaching game and the Pirates seemed very interested.
Outlook: Wedge is my favorite to get the job. He has had experience in Cleveland taking a young, talented, and inexperienced team with a lot of potential (sounds like the Pirates) and helping turn them into a winner. Neil Huntington also seems to like him, especially since the two worked in the Indians organization together. Too much seems to tilt the ball in his favor. Unlike his predecessor Russell, he has a tendency to “get on players” when they don’t perform to his standards. He is also known as a “player’s manager” which will sit well with fans. Unless a better offer comes around, I have a strong feeling he’ll be in the dugout in 2011.
2. Ken Macha
macha.jpg
Prior MLB managerial experience
Oakland Athletics (2003-2006)
Milwaukee Brewers (2009-2010)
Career Record
525-447
Profile: Ken Macha may be the most experienced man the Pirates will interview for the job. He immediately joined the coaching staff of the Montreal Expos when his playing days were over in 1986. His long journey as a coach at the major and minor league levels wound up with him getting his big break with the Oakland A’s in 2003. After making the playoffs in his first and last seasons at the helm of the A’s (he won at least 88 games in all four seasons) he was somehow fired following the 2006 season despite the A’s coming within one game of the World Series. After some time off he got a job with the Milwaukee Brewers in 2009. After two disappointing seasons with the brew crew he was fired after this season.
Outlook: Many rumored Macha to be interested in the job with the Pirates when it was held vacant in 2008. However he refused to even give an interview with the club. Now that he has been brought down to earth after his stint with the Brewers he is more willing to talk. He has many connections to Pittsburgh including the fact he is a native of Monroeville (a suburb of the city), in addition to playing baseball at the University of Pittsburgh. However, I don’t see him as a good fit here. I expect him to go to a team with more pieces, and a better chance at immediately competing. 
3. Jeff Banister 
Banisterjeff.jpg
Prior MLB managerial experience
None
Prior positions in baseball coaching
Minor league coach (various levels of Pirates organization) 1994-1999
Pirates Major League field coordinator 1998-2002
Pirates Minor League field coordinator 2002-2010
Pirates interim bench coach 2010
Profile: Though he doesn’t have much experience at the managerial position, Jeff Banister is anything but lacking in the player development department. Having been a part of the Pirates organization in some way ever since he was drafted by them in in 1986. In his time managing at the minor league level he has had success. He is also accustomed to working with young players through his time as a field coordinator.
Outlook: It is apparent that Banister is viewed as an asset by the organization. His promotion to bench coach when Gary Varsho was fired shows that they want him in their future plans. However, his lack of experience as a manager above the A level will keep him from sticking out from the pack. He will still have a small shot, but only if the Pirates have to hire hire him.
4. Bo Porter
BoPorter.jpg
Prior MLB managerial experience
none
Prior positions in baseball coaching
Minor league hitting coach 2005-2006
Florida Marlins third base coach/outfield instructor 2007-2009
Arizona Diamondbacks third base coach 2010
Arizona Diamondbacks interim bench coach 2010
Profile: A man who stresses on fundamentals, Porter has quickly made his way up the coaching food chain. Playing in parts of three seasons from 1999-2002, he is still very young and new to the coaching game. He was fired along with the rest of A.J. Hinch’s staff after the 2010 season.
Outlook: Not much is really known about Porter’s leadership abilities. He is considered to be a serious contender for the opening with the Florida Marlins, since he has had strong ties with them from coaching for three years with the Fish. I highly doubt him to be a serious candidate for the job.
5. John Gibbons
johngibbons.jpg
Prior MLB managerial experience
Toronto Blue Jays (2004-2008)
Career Record
305-305
Profile: Hired as an interim manager in 2004, John Gibbons ended up spending 4 and 1/2 seasons as the manager of the Toronto Blue Jays. Dealing with often unrealistic expectations in the highly competitive AL East, his best finish came in 2006 when the Jays went 85-75 and finished 2nd behind the NY Yankees. After his firing, he has spent the last tw
o seasons as the Royals bench coach. Often known as having a temper, he was involved in many altercations with players during his time in Toronto, including challenging disgruntled utility-man Shea Hillenbrand to a fight in the clubhouse, and other arguments with Frank Thomas, and Ted Lilly.
Outlook: Like many candidates, he has tested the numerous openings in other franchises. I don’t think his confrontational personality wouldn’t sit well with the Pirates players, especially after the reserved style of John Russell.
The Pirates aren’t done interviewing candidates, so I’ll have more profiles when the team makes more candidates public.
Make sure to follow me on twitter @suhlmann12 to hear my commentary, get notifications when my stories are available, and more (!!!). 
I had my second column for MyGameBalls published Monday. Read it HERE

Pirates expected to fire Russell

Pirates beat writer Dejan Kovacevic has reported that sources have said that John Russell will NOT be expected back for 2011. HERE is Dejan’s post from the PBC Blog with the details.

This really comes as no big surprise to me. He has emassed over 300 losses in his three years with the team. While that may not be all his fault, the team has shown signs of turning on him and other staff members at times throughout the season. What confuses me however is the fact that JR was extended through 2011 before this season started. Obviously a lot of things must have fallen apart since then (and they certainly have). If this is the case the 2011 offseason should be very interesting.

Dejan is also reporting that GM Neil Huntington is expecting to be retained for next year.

| back to blog home |
Theme: MLB “fan” | Get a free blog at WordPress.com
Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.