Rosenthal, in a follow-up article on Russell, writes that the Pirates have signed general manager Neal Huntington to an extension:
The Pirates already have extended general manager Neal Huntington’s contract through 2011 and might also have exercised Russell’s club option for next season, one major-league source says.
Club president Frank Coonelly, citing club policy about “non-player personnel,” would not comment on the contracts of Russell and Huntington.
The Pirates probably don’t want this news out there right now, what with the club in the midst of a ten-game losing streak and following a six-error game last night. But to me, the news about Huntington is terrific—I just wrote a column a couple of days ago calling for Huntington to be extended. We’ll see what that means for Russell, who I’m more ambivalent about: he’s not a particularly good manager, but he’s not the source of the Pirates’ problems, either.