Pirates Notebook: Hill mum on future with team
-
Pirates infield instructor Perry Hill isn't discussing his future.
Share with others:
Can the Pirates keep one of the game's best infield instructors?
No one is saying, and that includes the instructor himself, Perry Hill.
"No comment," Hill said yesterday, smiling. "You want to ask me about Delwyn Young's defense? I'll talk all day. I'm not going to talk about my status."
He was asked three questions about his status, declining to answer each.
Hill, who has been universally credited with dramatic improvements in the team's defense, is the only member of the coaching staff known not to have accepted management's offer to return next year. The Pirates hold a club option on Hill's contract, but he can walk away from that simply by not coaching anywhere.
Hill and general manager Neal Huntington met last weekend in Milwaukee, with no resolution. Team president Frank Coonelly, largely responsible for Hill's hiring, also has made an approach.
Hill is known to have been displeased by the team's many trades this summer, particularly those that sent away shortstop Jack Wilson and second baseman Freddy Sanchez. But there could be other issues, as well.
Pitching coach Joe Kerrigan, another visibly productive member of the staff, does not have a club option. He will have to be re-signed, and the Pirates would welcome having him back.
Coonelly said the Pirates will keep season-ticket prices the same for 2010, marking an eighth consecutive year without an increase.
"We understand that the economy remains tough, and we want to make sure we remain extremely affordable for families," Coonelly said. "We thought it was the right thing to do."
Might the team be considering increases in other areas, such as single-game prices or charging a premium price for select opponents?
"We are looking at other types of pricing. I'm not a fan of the premium-game concept, but we continue to look at it. If you think about it, having a premium game suggests that non-premium games aren't as valuable. That's a tough message to send."
Utilityman Eric Hinske, traded by the Pirates to the New York Yankees earlier this summer, told Canada's National Post yesterday that he "hated" his time with the Pirates and had asked to be traded. He never had said either previously.
"I asked to be traded. I hated being in Pittsburgh," Hinske said. "Well, I didn't hate it. I disliked being in Pittsburgh. I thought I was going to play. I signed there to get at-bats. I wasn't playing. If I was going to be a bench guy, I'd rather do it on a team that has a chance of going to the playoffs."
• Relievers Jeff Karstens (back) and Donnie Veal (finger) probably will not return to the Pirates until the minor league regular season ends Monday.
• Top pitching prospect Brad Lincoln had been set to go to the Arizona Fall League, but his recent selection for the U.S. World Cup roster has quashed that. He will be shut down upon returning from Europe.
• First base prospect Jeff Clement has missed a week to a strained oblique with Class AAA Indianapolis and might not recover in time to be a September recall, as had been expected.
• When catcher Ryan Doumit threw his helmet in the dugout eight days ago in Milwaukee -- the incident that led to his benching -- it did not strike teammate Luis Cruz in the head, as previously thought, but, rather, in the left arm.
First Published September 5, 2009 12:00 am
