Results tagged ‘ eric wedge ’
Hurdle to interview with Mets on Wednesday
Clint Hurdle is scheduled to interview with the New York Mets on Wednesday. The Pirates have yet to name a new manager and it is unknown how long the organization will hold out to get Hurdle –the first choice.
Hurdle interviewed with the Pirates on Thursday and is the front-runner for the job. (Jeff Banister is also in the mix, being the second choice if Hurdle decides to sign with the Mets).
You would think Hurdle could make his decision by the end of the weekend, but that may not be the case.
John Perrotto of Baseball Prospectus said this on Tuesday:
@JPerrotto: #Mets may not hire manager under Dec. 1. With Hurdle involved, it mean #Pirates may not have manager announcement anytime soon.
It’s been a very long search for the Pirates. Russell was fired on October 4th and the Pirates interviewed their first potential manager (Eric Wedge) on the 5th. Time will tell just how long they are wiling to wait for the right guy.
Macha no longer being considered as Pirates skipper
The Pirates are no longer considering Ken Macha as their potential manager according to Bill Brink of the Pittsburgh Post Gazette.
Ken Macha said General Manager Neal Huntington told him he was no longer under consideration.
“They need to get a young guy in there,” said Macha.
“It would have been nice. I live here in Pittsburgh, I was a Pirate at one time. It would have been nice to be at home and manage my hometown team.”
Of the seven candidates interviewed, Macha is the third name to be taken off the list. Eric Wedge was hired by the Mariners as skipper and John Gibbons is remaining bench coach with the Royals. Bo Porter, Jeff Banister, Dale Sveum and Carlos Tosca are the only remaining candidates that were interviewed for the position.
Despite not being hired by the Pirates, Macha wishes the pirates well and even has an idea for what kind of manager the Bucs need.
“I hope they get it turned around,” he said.
For that to happen, Macha said, the team needs a manager whose philosophy pervades the entire organization.
“Tony La Russa is a stickler on details,” he said as an example. “You’re going to play good defense. You’re going to hustle every ball out. He likes guys that can hit home runs.”
Gibbons withdrawls, Pena added to candidate list?
The Kansas City Star reported on Thursday that John Gibbons has withdrawal his name from the Pirates’ managerial Candidates. He will remain as the Royals bench coach.
There has been no reason why Gibbons has withdrawn but, according to Rob Biertempfel of the Trib, he has not been contacted by the Pirates since his interview on October 11th.
“I haven’t heard a word since my interview,” said Gibbons.
Gibbons was surprised the Pirates’ were interested in him as a potential manager of the Bucs.
“It came out of the blue,” said Gibbons. “I’d read that John Russell got let go, so I knew there was an opening. I was kind of hoping I’d get considered.”
“They have some good, young talent,” Gibbons said. “The future looks bright.”
Yankees’ bench coach, Tony Pena, is a likely candidate for the managerial job according to sources. He is ineligible to interview until after the playoff run is over (The Yankees are currently down 3-2 to the Rangers).
Since John Russell was fired on October 4th, the Pirates interviewed seven candidates in 10 days for the position.
The list includes: John Gibbons, Dale Sveum, Carlos Tosca, Jeff Banister, Bo Porter and Ken Macha. Eric Wedge was also interviewed but signed as the Mariners new skipper.
There have not been any interviews in the past week. General Manager Neal Huntington told the trib on Wednesday: “The managerial search is an ongoing process. We continue to do due diligence on candidates and are considering additional interviews.”
SI reporting Eric Wedge hired by M’s
Sports Illustrated reported on Friday around 4:40 pm that former Indians’ Manager, Eric Wedge was hired by the Seattle Mariners as their new skipper.
Wedge was the first to be interviewed by the Pirates’ in search for a new manager. He was believed to be the front runner for the job because of his strong ties with General Manager Neal Huntington.
Jon Heyman from Sports Illustrated said this: @SI_JonHeyman: with wedge apparently going to seattle, pirates job seems wide, wide open. he was seen as the favorite there
Bucs interview Tosca
You can now add Carlos Tosca to the list of Manager candidates the Pirates have interviewed in the past two weeks.
Tosca, 57, was a minor league Manager for 17 seasons before getting his first Major league managerial experience in 2002 with the Toronto Blue Jays. He was dismissed during the 2004 season compiling a 191-191 record.
From 2005-06, Tosca served as the Arizona Diamondbacks third base coach. Since 2007, he has served next to then manager, Fredi Gonzalez, who was named Braves coach in place of Bobby Cox. Tosca was hired by Gonzalez to serve as Atlanta’s new bench coach.
Tosca is the seventh to be interviewed. The list includes Wedge, Porter, Gibbons, Banister, Macha and Sveum.
President Frank Coonelly adresses Andy Van Slyke rumor
I asked President Frank Coonelly if he could confirm the Van Slyke rumor (being interviewed as potential manager position –check earlier post) and if he could discuss any other candidate for the job. This is what he said:
“I am not sure how that rumor started but it is not true. To date, the only candidate that we have interviewed has been Eric Wedge. We will announce to our fans each candidate that we interview at the completion of that interview.”
“Out of respect for the process, we will not be commenting further on the substance of individual interviews until a manager is selected. I know that Pirates fans are intensely interested in who the next manager of the club will be and we are intensely focused in selecting the person who can help lead the major league team to the championship caliber club that are Pirates fans deserve.”
Coonelly went on to say, “There is no set number of candidates that we are looking to interview. We were able to schedule an interview with Eric Wedge yesterday and did so immediately because Eric is a very qualified candidate who is also having discussions with other clubs. We are early in our process of compiling a complete list of candidates to consider. Once that complete list is compiled, we will have a better sense of the number of candidates to move to the next step of the interview process. Our focus is to consider all qualified candidates so that we find the right person to lead this young club.”
Pirates interview Eric Wedge
On Tuesday afternoon the Pirates’ interviewed former Indians’ manager Eric Wedge –the first to be interviewed for the new managerial job with the Bucs.
The club did not discuss any other information regarding the meeting nor did they provide how many others will be interviewed for the position.
In 1998 Wedge made his managerial debut with the Columbus RedStixxx –the Class-A affiliate of the Cleveland Indians– where he was named manager of the year.
He was promoted to managing the Double-A Akron Aeros in 2000. Wedge continued to climb the organization.
In 2001 he was promoted to manage the Triple-A Buffalo Bisons. He was named International League manager of the year as well as Baseball America’s Triple-A Manger of the year.
On October 29, 2002, Wedge was named the Manager of the Cleveland Indians. The young ball club continued to improve under his lead in the first three years as manager. A 68-94 record in 2003, 80-82 in 2004 and 93-69 in 2005.
Wedge was released by the Indians’ in 2009 (a record of 561-573). With the club he was named AL Manager of the Year and also led the Indians to the American League Championship Series in 2007. (The Indians beat the Yankees in four games to win the ALDS)
Kristy Robinson
Recent Comments