The Pirates will interview Ryan Christenson for their managerial opening, according to Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle (Twitter link). It appears he’s the first known candidate for the Pittsburgh opening to hold a sit-down.
Christenson, 45, saw action in six MLB campaigns after being drafted and developed by the A’s. He never gained much traction as a player in the majors, but he’s looking to do so on the coaching/managerial front after steadily re-ascending the Oakland farm system as a skipper.
For the past two years, Christenson has served as bench coach to veteran Athletics manager Bob Melvin. Christenson could be seen as a possible eventual successor to Melvin, but the long-time helmsman remains under contract tin his role through 2021.
There are, of course, other names connected with the Bucs’ opening. But it’s not clear which, if any, have scheduled formal discussions with the Pittsburgh brass.
huh, well that’s interesting… sadly we’ll hear about alot of potential targets but in the end just hire Jeff Bannister
The Pirates are a joke, they fire Clint Hurdle for absolutely no reason and look to a guy with no experience to lead an inexperienced team through a rebuild.
Yup, that’s the stuff of champions right there. Might as well pencil the Pirates in for the cover of a Wheaties box….
maybe a malt o meal box lol
LOL!
You, sir…are clueless. At least be informed before making dumb comments. Hurdle has held this team back for years. Your beloved Yanks would be in just as bad shape if he was your manager..
It’s called a joke, fellas. And no, this Yankees team could win with Stevie Wonder managing them. Point being, you don’t fire an experienced manager for a shot in the dark when you have no aspirations of contending for at least the duration of said manager’s contract.
The Pirates will be in the exact same position regardless of who their manager is, so why not ride out the rebuild with Hurdle and then find someone capable of getting them over the hump? People forget he got Colorado to the World Series in 2007, a World Series they probably would have won had they not run into a buzzsaw with Boston.
Hurdle lost the locker room, insisted on playing depth guys and rarely playing his best 9 together, bad pen usage(granted he hasn’t had many good arms the last two years) and underperformed a lot of seasons. He needed to go. Rookie managers are exciting. They bring new ideas.
His teams have collapsed five times in the 8years he’s been manager. And by manage, you mean sleeping in the dugout chewing a big wad of Bubble gum while team fights around him?
If they get a player/manager and a coaching staff that also plays, they can save a lot of money.
Why are we not hearing Rickey Henderson’s name kicked around?
I hear Jose Canseco would ha ppily interview. Or fight owner Nutting if they can come to terms.
This guy will definitely be a good big league manager. I hope he doesn’t leave Oakland.
A’s should just fire Bob Melvin and promote Christiansen