Manager

[thedddd]

I heard this on the radio. A caller mentioned maybe the Pirates should fire Hurdle and bring in Francona. As all you Pittsburgh'ers know the caller used the good old Francona is a local boy and would be good for the team.
...I just shook my head in disgust when I heard that. But they did go on how it might be an improvement!?

I don't see any benefit to bring him because that would just mess with anything that they were improving on this year. Maybe I am missing something on why he would be an upgrade?

Anyway curious to know what any of your thoughts on this would be.

 

[magnumo]

Doesn't matter

Did Hurdle's act wear thin during the Pirates' historic collapse?

Perhaps..... Hurdle's Pirates performed worse over the last 2-1/2 months at 24-47 (.338) than Russell's 2110 Pirates did at 57-105 (.352).

Did Francona's act wear thin during Boston's historic collapse?

No doubt..... Francona's Red Sox were even worse in September than the Pirates: BoSox 7-20 (.259) vs. Pirates 10-16 (.385).

Francona had a nice track record (prior to September) in one of the more difficult and demanding manager's jobs in baseball. He's a good manager and a class guy, but I don't think he would do any better than Hurdle with the Pirates. For that matter, I don't think Hurdle would do better than Francona, either. It doesn't matter.

The Pirates need better players (both pitchers and position players) a whole lot more than they need a better manager.

 

[smokeyburgess]

The Pirates need better players (both pitchers and position players) a whole lot more than they need a better manager.

Amen to that, brother.

 

[element1286]

No reason to make a change, it isn't like Francona is Sparky Anderson.

 

[thedddd]

Did Hurdle's act wear thin during the Pirates' historic collapse?

Perhaps..... Hurdle's Pirates performed worse over the last 2-1/2 months at 24-47 (.338) than Russell's 2110 Pirates did at 57-105 (.352).

Did Francona's act wear thin during Boston's historic collapse?

No doubt..... Francona's Red Sox were even worse in September than the Pirates: BoSox 7-20 (.259) vs. Pirates 10-16 (.385).

Francona had a nice track record (prior to September) in one of the more difficult and demanding manager's jobs in baseball. He's a good manager and a class guy, but I don't think he would do any better than Hurdle with the Pirates. For that matter, I don't think Hurdle would do better than Francona, either. It doesn't matter.The Pirates need better players (both pitchers and position players) a whole lot more than they need a better manager.

That was basically what I was thinking.

I guess the part that really bothered me was the person using the "local guy" as a good reason to bring him in as a manager and they spun it off from that.

 

[stillmatic32]

Yeah, 13 game improvement is pretty strong when you consider the FA signings flopped (outside of first half Correia, more like first quarter Correia) and a young player (Alvarez) who was expected to be a huge contributor was beyond horrible. Hard to expect a team with this much talent to get over 70 wins. Agree with everyone above.