Pirates likely to oust Russell, keep Huntington
-
John Russell is 186-298 in three years as the Pirates' manager, with the season finale today in Miami.
Share with others:
MIAMI -- Today is likely to be John Russell's final game as the Pirates' manager, according to several internal sources.
Those sources strongly suggested Saturday that the team will not have Russell return in his current capacity for 2011, the final year of his contract, but that general manager Neal Huntington, whose contract also runs that long, is expected to remain. The decisions, which are being made by team president Frank Coonelly in consultation with owner Bob Nutting, should become known early this week.
The Pirates lost to Florida, 2-0, Saturday night at Sun Life Stadium, and the matinee against the Marlins today will end the season.
Coonelly has not addressed the topic of his top two baseball men since a late-August interview with the Post-Gazette in which he called the Pirates' performance an "embarrassment" and charged the team with "under-performing." He also said that "nobody's job is absolutely safe."
The Pirates' record is 57-104, tied for the third-most losses in franchise history. The team also ranks last in Major League Baseball in ERA and fielding percentage, next-to-last in batting average.
The cumulative record under Russell and Huntington, both hired in late 2007, is 186-298.
There was no word on the fate of Russell's coaches, most of whom have contracts that expire shortly after this season. But any managerial change tends to lead to great, if not wholesale, change of a staff.
PDFRussell was asked before the game Saturday to offer his view of the season, and he replied mostly by citing the promise of an everyday lineup built on rookies Neil Walker, Jose Tabata and Pedro Alvarez, as well as Andrew McCutchen and Garrett Jones, the latter two in their first full season in the majors.
"The thing I look at most is how we developed our young players," Russell replied. "I can't remember since I've been here where we've had four-plus guys who can drive in runs for us. We've always had one or two, but you look at Walker, Pedro, Jones, McCutchen ... it's exciting to see. I think our offense is starting to get some type of identity where we can score runs now and, if we get good pitching, we've got a pretty good chance to win."
First Published October 3, 2010 12:00 am
