Another One Bites The Dust

GW will be at work when this becomes official, but a handful of media reports say that JR will walk the plank today. (EDIT - It was officially announced at noon.)

We're of two schools of thought regarding his canning. He made some calls on the field that were beyond comprehension, so as a tactical leader, well, he wasn't. As a teacher, his team's baseball fundamentals were practically non-existent. And he does have that 186-299 record; somebody's head had to roll after those three seasons. His neck certainly stuck out the furthest.

But he did have to put up with constant meddling by the FO, leading to his baffling decisions to keep Aki Iwamura at the top of the order and Jeff Clement at first base, among others. Add in some chain-of-command issues with his staff going over his head, plus opp scouting heavy on data but lacking eyeball confirmation, and he was often handcuffed strategically.

Despite being tasked to make chicken salad out of chicken feathers after having his original roster decimated, he did keep his team playing hard, and the current players seemed to make an effort for him; we didn't notice games being mailed in this season like they were late in 2009. (In fact, we suspect Neil Walker is playing only because JR stuck up for him.) And his quiet demeanor didn't go over with the fans, but worked well with the team.

Still, it's a needed move for the Pirate organization. They brought in some new blood, and are planning to turn the page in a couple of seasons. It makes sense to bring in a new field leader for what the organization hopes is a new baseball era.

Neal Huntington may have gotten a pass this time around, but we'd guess he's skating on thin ice, too. His minor league system has risen from the ashes to middle of the pack, but is lacking in star power after this year's call-ups. And his evaluation skills have to be questioned; otherwise Brandon Moss would have locked down right field, Andy LaRoche would be starting, and Charlie Morton would be the staff ace.

He's also had his share of good acquisitions - Evan Meek, Joel Hanrahan, Garrett Jones, Jose Tabata and Pedro Alvarez immediately leap to mind - but he needs to cobble together a roster that can compete at the major league level, and soon, to calm the rumors swirling about his job.

Interesting times are ahead for the Pirates.

Russell Reportedly To Walk The Plank

Dejan Kovacevic of the Post Gazette reports today that Bucco manager John Russell, according to DK's internal sources, will not be kept after the season, despite his top secret extension through 2011. Neal Huntington, he was told, will live to see another day.

DK expects the announcement to be made official early in the coming week.

Funny that the guy who couldn't win with a minor league/waiver wire roster would get the ax while the suit that collected those players escapes unscathed. Just more proof that if you can't fire the team, fire the manager (although Huntington did, in effect, fire the team he inherited in 2008).

Our feeling is that JR isn't exactly Miller Huggins, but he doesn't have the '27 Yankees to coach, either. We're a little surprised; more with the timing than the decision. We thought they'd keep him around one more season, just to provide the young players with a bit of a comfort zone.

Hey, nothing like a manager hunt to kick off the hot stove league. Hopefully, it won't distract from the roster moves that have to made after the season. The biggest problem in Pittsburgh wasn't on-field management as much as off-field player evaluation.

Should He Stay Or Should He Go?

OK, po' Pedro has had his day stepped on already by Fox Sport's Ken Rosenthal and Jon Paul Morosi, who say the suits are discussing JR's future (as in does he have one?) with the Buccos.

They even mention possible successors: Bench coach Gary Varsho, Indy manager Frank Kremblas and Altoona skipper Matt Walbeck as leading internal candidates, with former Indians manager Eric Wedge, who previously worked with Pirates GM Neal Huntington, and Cardinals bench coach Jose Oquendo in the mix.

Frank Coonelly has denied that Russell's job is in imminent danger, often the omen of a quick kiss of death. Still, dissecting a manger's performance is to be expected, especially with the record Pittsburgh has, but it's not time to pull the rug out from under him - yet.

It's true that JR has no fire to speak of, and makes decisions bordering on the outre on the field and with the lineup. But here's what we say: let the manager show what he can do now with the pieces are beginning to arrive at PNC.

He's not the guy who broke up the old Bucs, and he's not the guy who brought in a collection of mostly AAAA players. But he is the guy who had to cobble together a lineup and rotation, for better or worse. And he certainly didn't get the '27 Yankees to work with.

We're not fans of his position shuffling, and think that he plays up to the vets a little more than he should. But JR hasn't had the luxury of many players not named Andrew McCutchen and Garrett Jones stepping up to claim an everyday MLB job, either.

Remember, Neal Huntington said that Neil Walker was a utility man, but Russell rewarded his strong play with a starting gig. So we think performance does matter to him, no matter he bizarrely he sometimes shows it.

Now that he's got a couple of young guys going well, he's managed to put together a decent enough order from 1-5; the bottom half is still brutal, but he can't do anything about that with the players he has. Ditto with the starting pitching (and he's handled the bullpen as well as can be expected, considering their load.)

Now he's pushing his horses a little; they're stealing bases and he's calling hit-and-runs to try to get some energy into the team and maybe manufacture an odd run or two while living with the growing pains of young players.

Are we saying give him another three years? No way; like the players, he should sink or swim by how he performs, and that's measured solely by how his club performs. But because JR is stoic doesn't mean he lacks smarts or a passion for the game.

If he can turn these guys around, we're all for picking up his option; after all, he looks to be more a scapegoat right now than anything else. And if he can't, well, Bobby Bragan got canned with a team a lot like JR's, and Danny Murtaugh came in to lead them to the promised land.

A rush to judgment isn't called for, although a judgment has to be made; we hope it's based on what he does with the guys he has now, not what happened in the past with a team in constant upheaval because of the suits' wheelin' and dealin'.

And if the decision goes against JR, we hope that they don't bring in anyone that's now on the bench with him; they're as complicit in the blame as he is. We'd kinda lean towards Frank Kremblay, who knows the guys from Indy and at 44 can identify with the players.

Short of total catastrophe, just wait until September to hold that discussion.