Jon Heyman reports that the Pirates will hire former Rangers hitting coach and Rockies manager Clint Hurdle as their new manager. The hiring will officially be announced Monday, and the contract will be for three years.
It appears the Pirates got their man – they long ago narrowed their candidates to Hurdle and organization man Jeff Banister, but their search seemed to have stalled while they waited for Hurdle to figure out where he stood with the Mets, for whom he also interviewed.
Most recent reports about Hurdle by Pittsburgh-area sources have been positive, but that’s typical whenever a new manager is hired. Except for one year (2007, when he got to the World Series), Hurdle got consistently mediocre results with the Rockies, and then when he was replaced by The Worst Manager In The World (former Pirates finger-pointer Jim Tracy), things immediately changed. That might not be Hurdle’s fault, but it’s hard not to feel like he’s a retread.
He apparently makes strange tactical decisions (as do many managers, to be fair), but places a strong emphasis on teaching fundamentals, which the Pirates do need.