Least talked about manager's job (Pirates)

Why the hell isn't Tony Pena up for this gig?

 

Unfortutate.

This could be your Karenina. I mean it.

When I think of the Pittsburgh Pirates, shoving aside just about everything after that night in October 1992, I think of Fat Fuck Jimmy Anderson getting nuked during the Pirates' "miracle" first half of 1998 (with a $35 M payroll).

My second memory of the Pirates, far far distant, is a leaping catch Jose Lind made at Shea in June 1988 that I saw as a teenager (John Smiley was the starter and winner, the crazy Jim Gott the save).

I hate to get nostalgic about Jose Lind and John Smiley and Jim Gott. It makes me feel oh so old. But Pittsburghers are more than ready to embrace an exciting baseball team, and 15 consecutive seasons of crap is bookworthy.

 

Bill Cowher can't possibly do any worse than what's happened there the past 10 years or so. And he's available ...

 

John Perrotto has been there through the entire mess. Judging by the the column inches he produces weekly, I think he could have 500 pages done by Christmas.

It does make me sick to my stomach, TG1C sick, to think that Cuban could turn this around in about three years.

The Pirates would be the third most interesting franchise in baseball the second he buys it.

 

Which is why I was kind of relieved when Mattingly didn't get the Yankees gig. Not a Yankee fanboy by any stretch, but I've always liked Mattingly, and the thought of players tuning him out and quitting on him as the Post screams for his firing was depressing.

Of course, he was a better option than the contemptible Girardi by a long fuckin shot.

 

Ugh...can't believe I forgot about John. Shame on me.

And you are right about Cuban. Too bad it will never happen.

 

You guys don't want Cuban, it'd be a freak show.

 

I'll take a freakshow (which it won't be) over a trainwreck (which it is now).

 

Garner is terrible, and Van Slyke is completely inexperienced.

The Pirates don't need Cuban as much as they need someone who can draft wisely and build a player deveopment system. Limited revenue teams need to grow their own, sign a few, trade others and keep the pipeline going. They're not in a division with the Yankees and Red Sox, so there's no reason why they can't be around .500 and compete. They have to run their organization a lot more intelligently than they have for the last decade. Avoid horseshit over-the-hill veterans like Burnitz, Casey, Matt Morris, Mondesi like the plague they are.

I wouldn't be worried if they hire a no-name manager. How much buzz was there when they hired Leyland in the '80s?

 

Casey performed well in his time there. I wouldn't pin anything on him. In fact, he took a pay cut to come home when plenty of other teams were interested in him.

 

Great guy, too, that John Perrotto. I'd buy the book.

 

Yes, we do want Cuban, as any sane Pirates fan would. You think he's going to cause embarrassment? What do you think 15 years of failure has done? The Nuttings are the true embarrassment. They care only about how much profit they can squeeze out of the franchise. I don't know that they even care at all about winning.

One thing that you can't question about Cuban. He wants his team to win.

And look at what he did with the Dallas Mavericks. That franchise was a disaster before he took over. Not only has he put a winner on the floor, he has dramatically raised revenue and the value of the franchise. That's a freak show I'd love to see in Pittsburgh.

Smasher, I'm not sure any GM can win with that ownership, not with a financial system in baseball that already puts organizations like the Pirates at a significant disadvantage.