I assume most of you don't stay up nights worrying about the fates of minor-league managers, but you're probably going to hear a lot about this particular one. The Pirates won't bring back Class AA Altoona manager Matt Walbeck, despite Walbeck's excellent reputation and the fact that the Curve just won the Eastern League championship. Oh, and Walbeck was named the Eastern League Manager Of The Year. It still isn't clear, even to Walbeck, what the Pirates are thinking here. The Pirates may have entirely legitimate reasons for letting him go; at this point, we really don't know. In the meantime, though, expect the anti-management crowd to go nuts over this one.
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