TODAY: Mackey reports further that the front office has in fact not yet made any decision on Hurdle’s fate (Twitter link).
YESTERDAY, 9:41pm: Hurdle spoke to reporters Wednesday night, but he didn’t offer much of any insight on who told him he’d manage the team in 2020, nor would he even repeat that he’d been assured as much (Twitter link via Adam Berry of MLB.com). Asked about his job status, Hurdle said he preferred to “pass” on commenting, repeatedly telling the media, “That’s all I’ve got for you,” when pressed further.
8:40pm: Curiously, Huntington declined to confirm or deny Hurdle’s assertion that he’s been told he’ll return next year (Twitter link via Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette). Asked about Hurdle’s comments, the GM simply replied: “As we have in the past, we will publicly address any personnel decisions at the end of the season.”
6:45pm: While it’s been widely expected that the Pirates organization is in for significant turnover this winter, manager Clint Hurdle apparently won’t be among the casualties. Hurdle himself tells Stephen J. Nesbitt of The Athletic (subscription required) that he was recently assured he’ll be back in the manager’s seat next season.
It’s been a disastrous season in Pittsburgh both on and off the field. The Pirates have had clubhouse fights, multiple on-field brawls and also handed out a suspension to reliever Keone Kela due to a reported altercation with bullpen coach Euclides Rojas. The team’s record sits at a woeful 66-91 after snapping a nine-game losing streak yesterday. There’s been considerable speculation about the likeliehood of a managerial change for the first time in nearly a decade, but it seems that Hurdle, who is signed through the 2021 season, will be given at least another year to try to restore order in the clubhouse and help the club to turn the tides in the win column.
Hurdle describes the 2019 season as a “punch-back” after a “nice season” in 2018 — the Pirates went 82-79, finishing fourth in the NL Central — but spoke optimistically of righting the ship in the future. Hurdle adds that he feels he has plenty left in the tank to finish out his contract, “if that works out.”
It’s not clear whether the Pirates will make sweeping changes on the coaching staff or within the front office, although The Athletic’s Rob Biertempfel tweets that it “seems” that general manager Neal Huntington and team president Frank Coonelly will remain with the team as well.
In his career with the Pirates, Hurdle has managed to a winning record of 732-719, although much of that is attributable to 94- and 98-win seasons in 2013 and 2015, respectively, when Andrew McCutchen was at his peak level of dominance. Despite those impressive win totals, both seasons resulted in Wild Card berths rather than division titles. Since that 98-win apex in 2015, Pittsburgh is 39 games under .500.
I’m sorry, Pirates fans.
Don’t worry, there aren’t any.
Can’t bring myself to watch these sad sacks. Lifelong pirate fan btw.
Could you imagine if a Yankees manager called an 82-79 season a “nice season”?
That’s a .500 season give or take a couple games, its not “nice” if you have the pieces to contend.
Hurdle is talking his way out of a career here, just totally clueless and accepting of mediocrity. Stop hiring guys like him.
Yankees have finished over .500 since 1993.
Going under will be cause for dismissal, sure they want to win every year but winning record keeps things going.
Yankees and Dodgers and several other teams have so much money to spend that a season with a win total in the 80’s is the same as a losing season.
they don’t want to pay anyone else.
too obvious, i wonder how many pennies on the street bob nutting has picked up in his life
Hey, I pick up pennies all the time. Heck, I found a nickel and a dime this morning.
If you would have found a quarter, it would have made more cents
Some people have all the dollars and no sense!
Wow. This is pretty stupid.
I’m not surprised. Very disappointing.
This doesn’t make any sense. Besides his baffling in game moves, as well as not playing the younger guys (Newman, Kramer, Tucker, etc) enough, the man clearly does not have any control or respect of his clubhouse.
Well, Tucker is hurt, but the point is valid. The bottom line is that the owner just doesn’t care what happens on the field as long as he reaches his profit goal.
This is very surprising to me. Sheesh, if ever they’re as a case for termination this would seem to be it. On the field and in the clubhouse, Hurdle is just ineffective as a leader.
Could’ve had Maddon, but okay.
Could’ve had McClendon, so not entirely bad.
Just another great move by a very great team, not stupid at all.
Why is anyone surprised by this? Pirates cheap owner isn’t going to pay Hurdle to not manage for him in addition to paying the new manager.
Yep. You nailed it.
Trade all the club house problems. It’ll be the only way to build the team back is by working on the culture.
If you can’t trade all the clubhouse problem children, at least watch quietly as one of them goes to jail, with his talent and all…..that will be an awesome prison team!
The likelihood of retaining Hurdle, if it really happens, creates even more hurdles (pun intended) for Pirates fans who thought that maybe a new voice in the clubhouse might provide a fresh start.
Vazquez will not be well liked in prison
Trash franchise and always will be
Trash ownership, yes. Far from a trash franchise.
Wonderful franchise, absolute trash Ownership, Front Office, and On-Field Management.
Joe Girardi would have won 90 games with this unit. How has Hurdle not been fired by now is an indictment on the top level.
I think Geraldi is a good manager but he wants the Cubs job.I doubt that he would take the PIrates job anyway.They will have to get a young first time manager at this point.
Not sure that Joe would have won with the AAA pitchers that Hurdle had to use this year though.
There was no chance that Nutting would pay two managers.
3 stooges remake should star hurdle huntington and coonelly
They cannot be the Stooges because the Stooges always called each other “wise guy”, and it’s nearly impossible to find any wisdom in the Pirates season this year.
even better they think they are real smart, just snakebit
neal huntington said this was a run that had a 8 in 10000 chance of happening lmao
8 in 10000? why not just say 1 in 1250? huntington has no brain.
The Stooges were smart because of Moe.
He just needed a different barber,that’s all.
Well, there goes a chance to be competitive in the near future. What is the Pirates trying to do? Break their own losing streak again? What a huge disappointment that franchise has become. Just absolutely disappointing to watch this organization pretending to care about winning baseball in Pittsburgh. They are so out of touch with the fans and winning!
Bob Nutting must enjoy living in the cellar. You think at some point he’d get tired of the jokes though.
the sad thing is they will be fired after the wasted year next year anyways
this team has no chance to be competitive and hell eat the last year on their deals
its about a guy worth over a billion dollars trying to save 5 million lmao
he became a billionaire ny saving a few millions.
his dad gave him a newspaper actually but great try
no he did not, he became a billionaire due to family wealth, he never worked a day in his life, he’s scum like all MLB team owners are.
As a Pirates fan I like Clint but it’s time to get him the Hell out of town
Same should be said of nutting.
God forbid they pay someone not to work for them.
another year with Grimace at the helm
Love watching him turn purple
In other news, the Pirates asked MLB if next season can be cancelled.
Coming in 2026…
The Vegas Pirates.
perfect, bob nutting will be seen at the penny slots with all the 100 year old ladies, sipping on a milk
The new Mets.
Bob nutting is a disgrace. Boycott the pirates until they get a respectable ownership.
Wow the Pirates decide all is good? Keeping the disaster team management and front office?
This means they are going to do absolutely nothing in the off season but sign reclamation projects. This is horrible. No respectable baseball organization would keep any of them. I’m personally embarrassed to be a Pirate fan. Nutting loves us because he robs and steals from us. This is Stupid. I will not set foot in that ballpark till Nutting and his stooges are gone.
The bad news for Pittsburgh sports fans just continues to keep pouring in.
Pirate fans……my sincere condolences.
What’s the definition of insanity? Doing the same thing the same way over and over and expecting a different result?
Hurdle’s OK, actually; like most managers, he’ll get what the roster gives him, just nothing more. But with all the problems, you’d think they’d make a change, for PR sake if nothing else (especially considering the clubhouse issues).
The new CBA is coming; the Pirates are one of the union-hated bad boys. Meanwhile, MLB is looking for a peaceful solution. I can see substantial changes coming down the road, upstairs as well as down, in Pittsburgh. And I mean waaay upstairs.
Definitely think MLB needs to consider removing Nutting as owner. There’s no reason for this level of penny pinching
Cheapo Pirates are going to pay Hurdle to sit around doing nothing for two years!
The source for this was what Hurdle himself was told? Doesn’t at all surprise me.
all points back to Nutting
What is the worst possible thing the Pirates could do? That will be the decision they make.
Contract this franchise already and remove it from Nutting’s worthless, idiotic hands.
The Ghost of Bobby Bonilla:
“Contract this franchise already and remove it from Nutting’s worthless, idiotic hands”.
That is the best solution I’ve heard so far!
This was once a great franchise, now its a joke thanks to their super-rich owner Bob Nutting, who refuses to put any of his constant profits into Player Personnel and Instructors.
Ownership cares nothing (nutting) for winning or their fans.
Nashville needs a MLB team. Pirates let Hurdle tank them in Pittsburgh, a fresh start for the franchise would do it good.
Pittsburgh has a brand new stadium and a solid fan base. They aren’t going to move before the Ray’s and A’s do.
Arizona is moving to Vegas before TB and OAK move. Book it.
Actually the stadium is 18 years old at this point,not much newer than Chase Field from which the Diamondbacks evidently want to move.
Say what you want about Hurdle, but this mess isn’t on him. Providing him with a $70 mil team and expecting positive results is ludacris.
Until the Pirates invest in their major league roster, it’s going to be more or the same. A new manager isn’t changing that.
They need a new owner who cares more about baseball than newspapers and tennis.
No, the mess is on Hurdle. Like many, you confuse how much money is spent on how good a player is. A team can have. a large payroll and still lose and vice versa. Hurdle mismanaged the resources/players he is given. Were the Pirates a hundred win team this year? No. Did they have the talent to be more competitive? Yes. Hurdle manages the team the same not matter who his players are, what their particular skills are, what the situation is, etc. None of that matters to Hurdle, he just applies his simplistic rules and chews his wad of gum. Hurdle and Nutting need to go.
Wrong wrong wrong wrong. This mess is absolutely on Hurdle, the guy thinks 82 wins is doing his job for crying out loud. He is a LOSER .
And they wonder why they are the cellar dwellers of the Central. With as much off the field distractions they have had as well as in club house, stuff like that doesn’t happen unless there are issues from the top down and this club has that. I feel for you Pirates fans I really do. They need an entire makeover, especially after the detrimental damage to the farm system and established veterans
Un freaking real. That’s how you start the offseason? “We’re good with this”?
Antonio Brown should be the next manager.
Pirates the minor league of yhe major league
Except that there are several teams with far worse records than the Pirates.
Antonio is lucky.
He was throwing furniture out of a high rise condo onto a poolside area that could have seriously hurt someone.
Who knows what else he could have done.
If the Pirates think bringing the band back together for a 2020 tour is going to sell, they got another thing coming.
Pirate fan since 1965 seeing Clemente play at Candlestick. Some really nice pieces in place to start this year and to see it crumble in this manner has to fall on someone’s shoulders. That would be Hurdle, he has lost the clubhouse and once that happens there is only one way to fix! He has to go, cannot see myself following this team with him continuing at the helm. Have been lots of injuries last few years to boot, way too many TJ surgeries to be just a coincidence. Vasquez is gone, but still a solid core to build on with a new manager and coaches. Thanks to Hurdle, Searage and rest of coaches but time to bring in new blood.
Fine post Rico.Sad to say because Clint and the coaches helped to get the Buccos out of the doldrums but they are back in them.
Everything is in shambles. Connelly is a drunken idiot. Huntington thinks he’s smarter than everyone. Hurdle is just collecting money and studying a thesaurus to sound smart after every game. The scouting and development needs overhauled. Hitting coach can stay but everyone else including marketing needs to go. Everyone. The commentators the stupid people who think bringing fireworks and a irrelevant band to the park matters as well. What matters is winning baseball. When it’s all cheap, words everything is cheap. The way they play comes out as cheap. You get what you pay for. Dollar store mentality is what the pirates are