10:40am: Pittsburgh has also interviewed Dodgers first base, outfield and baserunning coach George Lombard, per SiriusXM’s Craig Mish (Twitter link). Lombard, 44, played parts of six seasons as an outfielder in the Majors and has been in his current role since 2015. He was briefly named the Braves’ minor league field coordinator before accepting his current post with the Dodgers and has also served as a minor league outfield coordinator, hitting coach and manager in the Red Sox organization.
10:04am: The Pirates have interviewed Rays bench coach Matt Quatraro as part of their search for a new manager, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic tweets. Quatraro has also reportedly interviewed with the Giants organization.
Quatraro, who’ll turn 46 next month, served as a minor league hitting coach, manager and hitting coordinator in the Rays’ system before being hired as the Indians’ assistant hitting coach in 2014. Tampa Bay hired him back and installed him as their third base coach a year later, and he ascended to his current position of bench coach once the Blue Jays hired Charlie Montoyo away from the Rays last winter. A former catcher who played parts of seven minor league seasons in the Rays organization, Quatraro has also worked as a catching instructor in the minors with Tampa Bay.
If Quatraro does land with the Pirates (or with the Giants), it’ll mark the third consecutive offseason in which the Rays have had at least one member of their coaching staff hired away by another organization. Manager Kevin Cash enjoyed three years of continuity from 2015-17 but has since seen Rocco Baldelli hired as the Twins’ new skipper in addition to Montoyo’s hiring in Toronto.
Quatraro joins a list of Pirates interviewees that includes Twins bench coach Derek Shelton (also a former Rays coach), Athletics bench coach Ryan Christenson and Cardinals first base coach Stubby Clapp (as can be seen in MLBTR’s 2020 managerial search tracker). Others rumored to be in consideration include Astros bench coach Joe Espada, D-backs director of player development Mike Bell, Athletics quality control coach Mark Kotsay and former Pirates bench coach/former Rangers manager Jeff Banister, who is currently a special assistant in the Pittsburgh front office.
That’s it. This is the guy that is gonna make Padre fans forget all about Bruce Bochy. He’s the one. This guy will push them over the top. I’m calling it now. Next season the Padres will go worst to first and it will all be thanks to this guy. I’m so happy San Diego finally found the missing puzzle piece.
What are you talking about. This is the pirates not the padres. The pirate will remain stagnant until the owners actually plan to spend some money where it needs to be spent.
Yeah.. You’re right. I don’t know why I was thinking Padres but swap the team names and eliminate the Bochy comment and it all still applies. He’s gonna push em over the top. This is the guy Pittsburgh has been waiting for.
Pittsburg needs to spend some money where it’s needed. They had the team but it had many holes.
Pittsburg is in Kansas.
It’s also in Tennessee. The battle of Shiloh was also known as Pittsburg Landing.
The Rays fired Shelton as hitting coach mid-season. He didn’t get hired away as the article suggests.
Agh, that’s correct. Thanks for pointing that out. Amending now.
1st question in Pirates interview – do you have any problem with working for the minimum wage,?
When do stupid comments like this get old to you?
why does it matter so much what other people comment? Didn’t know MLBTR hired you as comment police. Relax.
It was a joke. I try to find some humor in what has happened to the Pirates who I have followed for over 50 years.
Good one – you took the words out of my mouth
Nobody says that.
Ya, neither Quatraro or Lombard is going to cost Maddon/Giradi money.
It depends on which one will agree to manage for the least amount of money. Bottom Line Bob Nutting will be doing a reverse auction: “Ok, Shelton agrees to coach for $850,000, who will do $800? Do I hear $700?”
If only the Pirates would go out and bring in a big name, high priced manager. Like a Clint Hurdle. That’s what this team really needs.
The amount of candidates for manager positions that have come thru Tampa is comical at this point. No team is on Tampa’s lever as far as brains in the past 5 years
The Rays don’t play in Tampa.
They’re called the TAMPA Bay Rays correct so therefore that would be through the TAMPA organization. I live in Tampa I’m pretty sure I know where the Trop is
Why can’t MLB force the Pirates owners to sell the team
They truly are horrible and the fans of that city deserve so much more
You can’t tell me arguably City with the best fanbase in football can’t support a strong fanbase in baseball
That’s how I know the ownership is the worst in all of sports
because the team hasn’t broken any rules that would require a sale and the Team is financially stable.. unlike 15sum years ago and unlike the Dodgers “a few” years ago.
More evidence that the Pirates organization/ownership doesn’t care about winning with these names being mentioned as potential managers.
Or more evidence you have no idea what you’re talking about. One of the two. The two Managers vying for the World Series this season aren’t exactly old school veteran Managers who have spent decades managing to get to this point.
Lombard might be an interesting choice. If given the chance he could teach and mold players. Teach them how to play the game the right way. Not saying he will take a team to a world series in 2020 but could be the right manager for a rebuilding team.
I agree it takes talent but the idea of a dynasty in baseball is long gone
Talent cost money and that will never happen with the current owner.
Nutting has the resources! He just doesn’t spend it. That is why a salary min and max should be negotiated. Otherwise, it is all about BIG market spending and the unbalanced revenue streams. MLB is ok because BIG markets are all BIG media. Sad to see on Opening Day 2020 that 75 percent of Teams have little or no chance to win a World Series Championship.
10 of the 30 teams make the playoffs. Math for those who deal in reality: 10/30=33% of teams with great chance at world series….so you have that.
Checks records…notes 30th ranked team in payroll made playoffs and played a deciding 5th game vs AL Champion in playoffs.
You sir, are not dealing in reality.
“Talent cost money”
If you’re referencing the Manager position, the Pirates are already paying Hurdle next year, and he was in top 10 highest paid Managers. So whatever they pay the new guy, it will just mean they are spending more than at least 21 other Clubs.
He doesnt deal in reality. He has no opinion of his own. He is a lemming.
Mark Cuban, a Pittsburgh native, has begged to buy this team forever and remove it from the grips of Bob Nutting and his bankrupt, pathetic newspaper empire, but MLB says no.
There are relatively few situations in sports where I end up hating the league and ownership of a particular team, but Dan Snyder’s Redskins and Bob Nutting’s Pirates, along with Melnyk’s Ottawa Senators are all situations where the league needs to step in, remove the franchise from the owner and find a competent person to take over.
The NBA had no problem doing that with the Clippers, so what is MLB’s problem?
Well, the Clippers situation was quite different…
Mlb can’t do anything, really. Would be great to get some good ownership in place though. The stadium and fanbase are there as 2013 showed.
Cuban was interviewed this summer by local media and said that he has no interest in buying the Pirates. He also mentioned that the current owner is making a handsome profit and certainly would have no intention on selling
I know it sounds far fetched, but that assistant GM from Astros should be on the Pirates radar for a front office position. The guy was around a winning front office for awhile before being let go from the Astros for his comments. It maybe a controversial move on the Pirates behalf, but the risk can be rewarding if he can help turn around that front office and scouting. Astros were also big with metrics and analytics of the baseball side. Something I believe the Pirates lack greatly. Having that ex-Astros Assistant GM around, could help and bring in a new face that has been part of World Series championships. Just a thought