Jacob Cruz Hired By Brewers

[fjk090852-7]

Assistant hitting coach Jacob Cruz has been hired by the Brewers. The delay with appointing a GM and manager will probably cause other coaches or some of the scouts etc take jobs from other teams due to the uncertainty with the Pirates. It is too bad those two positions are not filled as of now.

[CTBucco]

Not good. The lack of a FO, and, therefore, the lack of a clear message to the staff in limbo leaves them vulnerable to being grabbed by competitors. This is some of the fallout of the completely messed up way in which the house cleaning was done.

[DemDog]

Could Eckstein's brother be in line for Cruz's job?

[fjk090852-7]

78595178535B3C0 wrote: Could Eckstein's brother be in line for Cruz's job?


I would like that, David Eckstein was one of those players who wasn’t a star, but he was a scrappy type of player.

[MaineBucs]

As a fan, there are times when the 'off-season' seems unbearably long (even longer when your team does not even sniff the play-offs). In reality, the off-season has a flow and rhythm based on a known series of dates and actions that must occur (e.g. players file for free agency, setting the roster, et al) and all the steps that a team must take to be ready to compete for next year. Sadly, Pirate ownership was not prepared to take the steps that they did and to have a new management team in place to best allow the Bucs to be ready for 2020.



Perhaps losing a coach is not that big of a deal, but it is indicative of all of the things that they should be making happen.



GM meetings are happening --- hey, we don't have a GM.



Teams are signing players and talking about potential trades --- hey, can I get back to you in a month about your interest in Marte.



Rosters need to be set in early December --- no problem, we've got 40 slots and can afford a mistake or two.



I love the Pirates, but I loath ownership who regularly demonstrates that they just don't get what it means to build and sustain a competitive organization.



I am a fan. My knowledge of the Bucs stems from a combination of having watched the team for 50+ years, watching most innings of nearly every game each year on the tube, reading articles about the Bucs (and other teams), and listening to other fans through forums such as this one. I am also still with it enough to recognize how little I really know. That said, when I read MLB Trade Rumors that the Padres are open to trading some of their younger talent and that their regular CF'er grossly under-produced, I would like to think that someone at the Bucs front office is considering what type of package the Bucs could obtain from the Padres for Marte. Then again, you really shouldn't be doing such if you don't have a GM.



When opportunities come along in baseball you need to be ready to act. Unfortunately, Bucs management is now non-existent. Oh well, I guess 2021 isn't really that far away.

[fjk090852-7]

I too am very disappointed in this offseason. The Pirates lost a month of offseason with the delay in relieving Coonley and Neal Huntington of their jobs. I believe a week from tomorrow the 40 man winter roster needs set. I was hoping a GM would be hired this week, but so far nothing further than there are possibly 3 candidates. I would hope when a GM is hired, a new field manager would be named before the Winter Meetings. Losing coaches, scouts, and possibly other FO personnel could turn 2020 into a lost season.

[BenM]

How crazy is it that NH was in the process of interviewing managerial candidates?

[fjk090852-7]

694E45662B0 wrote: How crazy is it that NH was in the process of interviewing managerial candidates?
Just a guess , but I think sometime prior to the end of the season MLB contacted Coonley about a position in their office. Prior to MLB contacting him ,it was assumed he and Neal were coming back next season. Once he took his new job, and new president needed to be hired so then Travis Williams was hired. I think at that time Bob Nutting decided it would be best to fire Huntington, and bring in a new GM and manager. Because of this, the offseason has been very unorganized.

[Bobster21]

These are the issues that come to light in an obvious fashion due to the shortcomings of Pirates management. It's a common refrain among many Pirate fans that Nutting doesn't care about winning. But while that might sound like only a mantra of Nutting haters, we can now see evidence of that.



Two days before the season ends, Hurdle announces he's been assured of returning. The next day he backtracks and the day after that he's fired while Nutting says NH is returning and that he has faith in Nutting and his organization. While NH is interviewing candidates to replace Hurdle, Coonelly is replaced. Then the hiring of Coonelly's replacement coincides with the surprise firing of NH. Meanwhile, other teams are hiring managerial candidates while the Pirates' search is postponed because the guy doing the interviewing no longer works for them, the GM winter meetings are being conducted without a set Pirates GM and Pirate coaches are fair game for any other team that has its stuff together while the Pirates do not. While the mantra of other owners seems to be to do what is necessary to compete, the 2020 Pirates' slogan should be "Whatever." Let's keep the manager. No, let's not. Let's fire Coonelly but keep Huntington. No, never mind. I doubt many fans object to the removal of TBMTIB. But the random way in which it's being conducted is counterproductive to assembling a winning organization. This is obviously not how an owner who prioritizes winning would go about it. Rather, it seems more like how a clueless person would make moves in random order with no consideration for how the moves would impact the ability to improve the team. We all know changes were needed. But the way Nutting is going about revamping his organization suggests he knows changes are needed but has no clue as to how to go about it.

[DemDog]

Speaking of Nutting not having a clue, I'd bet he has no clue about how to lineup a one-car funeral. ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D