The Pirates fired manager John Russell today, according to a press release. GM Neal Huntington offered praise for Russell but added, "We decided that new leadership in the clubhouse would give us the best opportunity to move this major league team forward."
Dejan Kovacevic of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette wrote Sunday that Russell was expected to be fired as early as today. Russell was hired to manage the Pirates after the '07 season. His teams posted a 186-299 record.
Bobby Valentine is coming
Do what? Valentine would never take that job.
If he understands whats about to happen in the burgh he will. Vote For Pedro and the Bucs in 2012!!!
Bobby Meacham, maybe…Bobby Valentine, no.
In other news, the Pirates trade for Kenshin Kawakami and sign Russ Ortiz in order to further their effort to stock their pitching staff with 5+ ERA’s.
Kawakami has a career ERA of 4.32.
And an ERA this year of 5.15.
Too bad was not somebody announcing Huntington had been fired alongside Russell. Non-brilliance would for sure be what he has brought them with his moves for Bay, nady, then non tendering Capps. What else does he have to do to show the people of Pittsburgh he is inept? Lots of GM’s can pick decent draftees when the get a top 5 selection every single year.
so they should have held on to Bay and Nady so they could have won 65, and lost them a year later to free agency?
Non-tendering Capps is arguably the worst move of NH’s tenure, and when your worst move is to let go of a closer and replace him with someone who you can trade for McDonald and Lambo, then it’s going pretty well.
If you’re gonna comment on the Pirates, at least know what you’re talking about.
You move them still, just get something back in exchange. Exactly how well did that Bay trade work out? Moss? Hansen? How about the prize guys the Dodgers chipped in? LaRoche? Morris? Nice haul there wasn’t it?
Point was the Pirates gave away 1 1/2 seasons of Bay for a handful of guys, headlined by Craig Hansen and Youngster Morris. None of which ever amounted to anything, though still think Morris is around.
Not sure if would be mentioning Ohlendorf as the 2nd best pitchers in a rotation (any) either as regards the other post above. Maybe he truly is a genius, but his career stats say otherwise as regards to his pitching and 2010 numbers even speak louder.
yeah the Bay trade didnt quite work out. Not many panned that trade at the time, though. Andy LaRoche had one solid year and then flamed out… Morris still has a chance to get value back. So, he had one trade that didn’t quite go where it could have?
So fire him? Because every other GM hits homeruns on trades? Think Frank Wren would like Jeff Locke back for Nate McLouth? Think Colletti might want McDonald back?
Sure they gave away one and a half season of Bay, but we weren’t going to compete the next season, either. We acquired players with a lot of potential, especially LaRoche and Morris. Morris was a first round pick of the Dodgers. But they were both still prospects. A prospect is a prospect because they haven’t proven anything in the bigs. Some prospects simply don’t pan out. It happens in every organization. But Morris had a stellar year this year in the minors. He has become one of the best pitching prospect in the Pirates organization, even after a dismal 2009 season.
Ohlendorf has been the Pirates most consistent pitcher since being acquired from the Yanks. His ERA in 2009 was 3.92, with a solid WHIP of 1.23. He has been injured for some of 2010 and still managed to keep a 4.07 ERA and a 1.38 WHIP. Ohlendorf has been very consistent since 2009 and his numbers indicate these statistics should continue.
Right, we weren’t going to win with Bay, so we might as well lose without him.
Go buy a bobblehead.
I’m surprised the people of Pittsburgh can even spell “inept” with analysis like that. I wouldn’t trade Jeff Karstens for Xavier Nady straight up – much less throw in Tabata and Ohlendorf. Dumping Capps allowed the Pirates to sign Dotel, which brought back McDonald and Lambo. Another great deal for the Bucs. The book is still open on the Bay trade as well, with Morris putting up a solid year in the minors.
haha wow, you dont even deserve a response
Have you checked the list of who they have gotten rid of versus who they have gotten? All of those aging vets who wouldn’t start on most teams and had no future in Pittsburgh were traded for solid prospects at a much more reasonable price. Huntington has reloaded the farm system that had been awful under Littlefield with actual talent and this team has a great future. Not to mention how many great draft picks and international signings have gone down under Neal, Frank, and Bob.
No you’re right…LaRoche only had a 100 RBI season this year, Aramis Ramirez doesn’t start, and neither does Jason Bay. You’re absolutely right….no one starts on any major league team that’s been traded.
Get up off your knees and wipe your mouth off.
I wonder if they’ll just save this press release as a Word document and resend it when they fire the new manager in three years.
I think this was a good move. I don’t think it was all JR’s fault in the 3 years, but the lack of fundamentals and mind boggling in-game decisions made it hard to imagine him coming back next year. They need someone that can light a fire under these guys, but more than likely they will bring in another ‘yes’ man. Not sure anyone that has previous managing experience in the majors would want to come here, but weirder things have happened.
How about ownership spending some money to put a quality product on the field? This team is never going to go anywhere with their MLB staff chock full of Triple-A to Quadruple-A players, and their Triple-A system full of Double-A players. Any manager would look inept with a system like that in place.
Please get a RA-RA manager who has post season experience under his belt! AKA sign Eric Wedge
I wonder who else in the coaching staff will or will not be back next season and who will make the decisions on the coaches for next season. Hopefully the Pirates front office will allow the new manager to make those decisions.
I think Neal got a stay of execution for the time being. There is no good reason why he can’t acquire major league ready talent for next season. The payroll will be in the mid $30M range and there are some intriguing minor leaguers that can be used for trade bait that won’t significantly deplete the farm system. Another interesting offseason awaits!
Eric Wedge couldn’t win with a talented Cleveland team, so what is he going to do with a young Pirates team. The Pirates need to have Walbeck the 2A Manager of the Year and league champion manage the club. Walbeck has the fire to drive the young players on our team. Also since he has coached the majority of our prospects, when they make it to the big league they will have repsect for Walbeck, and they will know how to win under his regime.
Do you think the Pirates fired Walbeck last week so he could manage the big league club? Walbeck had a sub .500 record as a minor league manager until this season. The players on the field had more to do with their success this season than anything the manager has done. A lot of the guys on this year’s AA squad were on the A team that won last year’s title.
Agreed. What people outside of Pittsburgh (and about 75% of the folks IN Pittsburgh) fail to realize is that Walbeck nearly got fired a year before for having a record almost opposite of the one they had this season. He also had the best rotation in all of AA with Rudy Owens, Justin Wilson, Bryan Morris, and Jeff Locke all pitching well. Billy Martin could’ve picked the lineups out of a hat every night and won 2 out of 3 games with that rotation.
This entire thread is the same conversation we’ve been having since Gene Lamont, Lloyd McLendon,Pete Mackonin, Jim Tracy,and now John Russell.
It all comes back to the Nutting family and the way they choose to run this family business.
Everybody who bashes the Nuttings doesn’t seem to understand that they took over in 2007. Since then, they have fired Dave Littlefield, Hired Coonelly and Huntington, built the new Dominican facility, and given mgmt more money than ever before to spend on amateur talent..I don’t see how it’s they’re fault.
I wrote this in the forums and posted it here for everyone else …..They need somebody that won’t come in and assume that just because we have flashy young talent, that they know how to play baseball. We need someone that will teach these guys what’s missing in each of their respective games and squeeze these fringe players into more productive players. They need to teach the pitching staff to not be so hesitant because your offense will fail you and you feel the added pressure of having to pitch a perfect game. Basically we need someone that can come in and give these guys excellent advice on how to be an elite major league baseball player. Once these kids grow and are groomed to become what we expect them to this team will be a little like the break out Rays team if they can continue to build a wealth of youth and talent through the draft like Tampa has. The bottom line is let Neil keep stocking the trout pond and get me a wise veteran former player manager that can get what he needs to win out of the talent that will pass through the system to him. Carlton Fisk interested in coaching? Is Ivan Rodriguez smart enough to be a player/manager? wishful joking thinking on the last one but he would be a good twice a week catcher twice a week pinch hitter in the NL Central. So someone give me a real candidate that would get me excited… like Ryne Sandberg
What about Fredi Gonzalez? I’m sure he’ll have more enticing offers (Chicago, Atlanta), but I think he would be a great manager for the Pirates. I’m kinda lukewarm about Eric Wedge. He didn’t work out in Cleveland like they hoped, but they also traded away some of this best players (i.e. Sabathia)
Thank God.
Tony Pena, come on down!
I recall Joe Torre saying he would come back in the right situation. I think this could be that situation, boys!
If I were a Pirates fan, I’d be hoping to snag Tim Wallach for the managerial position. As a Dodger fan, I hope that doesn’t happen…
Wallach AND Pena both sound good to me. I’d be happy with either one. I’d give Pena the slight edge, though.
This is just an insider’s rumor, but word around the front office claims that the Pirates are looking into voodoo in an effort to re-animate Danny Murtaugh. Keep your fingers crossed.
I would definentely want to get Mathew Gomer as our next manager. Think about it, he is a three time champion and a one time manager of the year.