Pirates Hire Right Man

I wrote about a week or so ago that it looks like the Pirates were set to hire Jeff Banister as their new Manager. It was nothing against Banister, who I have no idea how good of a Manager he would have been, but it looked like the Pirates were going the way of hiring a low-cost “yes” man. Stop me if that doesn’t sound familiar, especially the low-cost part of the equation. There is no doubt that if Banister were hired his job would have been to keep his mouth shut and run the team the way Neal Huntington wanted-- after all it is his job that is next on the line. Much to the surprise of many, including myself, the Pirates went in a different direction and hired Clint Hurdle, a guy they seem to have been targeting from the beginning. Hurdle comes from the World Series runner-up Texas Rangers as their former batting coach and previously from Colorado where he led the Rockies to a National League pennant.

I am not familiar enough with how Hurdle ran the Rockies or how he manages in-game strategy to make an educated opinion on how good of a Manager he will be. What I do know is that Hurdle was a coveted commodity this off-season, at the very least he looked like the leading candidate for the New York Mets vacant position. That meant that the Pirates had to spend a significant salary for Hurdle to come here. It also meant that the Pirates had to convince Hurdle, using his words, that they were “all in” in terms of putting the people and money in place to turn this thing around.

As a manager, I also know that Hurdle is well-liked by his players, demands respect in the clubhouse and brings an enthusiasm and passion for the game that we have not seen from the Pirates over the past few years. That is not a knock on John Russell, no manager on the planet would have won with the assembled talent in Pittsburgh, but it will be a welcome change from his even temperament. The Pirates are beginning to put together some pieces to assemble a winning baseball team. It is now Hurdle’s job to continue the development of his young players such as Andrew McCutchen, Pedro Alvarez, Jose Tabata and Neil Walker. It was also nice to hear Hurdle recognize that the Pirates biggest need in the short term was pitching. I am not sure where the Pirates are going to find this pitching, but at least the new man in charge recognizes an upgrade is needed.

I am not a believer that Managers make a huge difference, especially over the course of a long season. What they can do is instill a little something extra in a clubhouse, whether that is confidence, attitude, strategy, etc. That little something extra is especially needed in a clubhouse that needed a change. Hurdle will not be the answer to ending this dreadful consecutive season losing streak, improved talent will be that answer, but he was the right man for the Pirates Manager position at this time.