According to Jon Heyman, the Pittsburgh Pirates have hired Clint Hurdle to be their next manager. Hurdle served on Ron Washington's staff for the American League Champion Texas Rangers this year as the hitting coach.
↵Prior to being Texas' hitting coach, Hurdle was the manager of the Colorado Rockies from 2002-09 and led the Rockies to their first pennant in franchise history in 2007 before Colorado lost to the Boston Red Sox in the World Series.
↵Hurdle will have a tough task ahead of him in Pittsburgh. The Pirates haven't had a winning season since 1992. Things are getting brighter in Pittsburgh (it's tough for them not to be, really) with young talent coming through. Andrew McCutchen and Pedro Alvarez have already arrived in Pittsburgh and the Pirates recently drafted two really high profile arms in Jameson Tallion and Stetson Allie. Both Tallion and Allie are nowhere near big league ready, but it's encouraging nonetheless for the Pirates to have their farm system headed in the right direction. The Pirates also signed Luis Heredia for 2.6 million dollars from the International pool.
↵The search will now be on for the next hitting coach for the Rangers. It's a shame to see Hurdle go, but given his past success with the Rockies and his success this year with the Rangers it's no surprise.
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