Would Nutting Fire Russell, Huntington?

By Bob Smizik, Tuesday 12:15 a.m.
http://community.post-gazette.com/blogs/bobsmizik/default.aspx
Apr 27 2010

The losing streak for the Pirates is at seven, a span in which they have dropped from second to last place. During that stretch, they‘ve been outscored, 72-12, and their starting pitchers have posted an earned run average of 13.32.

It doesn’t get much more ugly than this. It’s so ugly, in fact, in a lot of places that kind of baseball would generate serious talk of firing the manager, even firing the general manager.

The latest humiliation, and it was a big one, came last night in a 17-3 loss to Milwaukee. The lowlights were these: veteran catcher Gregg Zaun, who went into the game batting .157 with three RBIs, was 4-for-4 with five RBIs; once-effective starter Zach Duke gave up eight runs in four innings; closer Octovio Dotel gave up four runs in one-third of an inning as the Brewers scored nine in the ninth; catcher Ryan Doumit, with the game still close, stayed back on a tag play at home and a runner who easily should have been out slid home safely.

Not in Pittsburgh, where the fan base is frustrated and angry but where ownership is highly unlikely to make a change now or at any point in the season.

Think about it! Why would owner Bob Nutting fire general manager Neal Huntington when Huntington is part of the best management team in baseball, if not all of sports? And why would Nutting fire manager John Russell when he’d have to pay him for the rest of the season not to manage?

That kind of thinking borders on blasphemy with Nutting. Pay two men to manage his team? Are you crazy?

Nutting hired both Huntington and Russell on the cheap. He’s not going to give away all that money he saved by firing them and paying them not to do their jobs while he pays others to do their jobs.

It’s not going to happen. But maybe it should.

Let’s start with Russell. Since taking over in 2008, his record is 134-206, a winning percentage of .394. Even on the Pirates, that’s taking losing to a new level. None of his three predecessors, all fired, had a winning percentage of less than .400. Jim Tracy was 135-189 (.417); Lloyd McClendon was 348-460 (.431); Gene Lamont was 295-352 (.456).
You can’t blame Russell for the caliber of talent on the team and you can’t even blame him for a lack of effort because there’s little or no sign the Pirates are not trying.

But firing the manager is a traditional baseball remedy for a poor season, whether it’s logical or not. Russell would be an easy target because dismissing him would raise some cheer among fans. He has zero public relations skills and although that’s not a key part of the job, the manager should at least try. Russell doesn’t. On a last-place team trying to sell tickets, that’s pretty inexcusable.

And who knows? Maybe a managerial change would breath some excitement into a season already on life support. In 2003, the Florida Marlins fired manager Jeff Torborg when the team opened by going 16-22.
Not much was expected when old-timer Jack McKeon was put in the manager’s office. But the Marlins came back to make the playoffs and win the World Series.

Could that happen in Pittsburgh? No! But a managerial change could spark improvement. Sometimes just a different voice can change things.
A better case can be made for firing Huntington. He has traded every player from the Pirates opening day lineup in 2007, his first year on the job, except catcher Ryan Doumit and including starting pitcher Ian Snell. The result is a worse team with no sign of getting better soon. Organizational depth is nice but it doesn’t translate into wins on the MLB level.

It’s well known Huntington’s biggest trade -- Jason Bay to Boston -- already can be considered a failure. Bay was his biggest chip and all he has to show for it is Andy LaRoche, who profiles as a mediocre third baseman, and minor-league pitcher Bryan Morris, still in class A.

In his first big trade, Huntington sent Nate McLouth, an All-Star and a Gold Glove winner, to Atlanta for pitchers Charlie Morton and Jeff Locke and outfielder Gorkys Hernandez. While it’s true McLouth has declined sharply in Atlanta, that doesn’t excuse the return on him. Morton is 5-14 with a 5.95 ERA since joining the Pirates; Hernandez is batting .203 at Altoona, with no homers in 69 at bats after batting .262 with three homers in 344 at bats last season. Locke is 2-1 at Class A.

Finally, Huntington has pulled the rare feat in a multi-player trade with Chicago by allowing the Cubs to get the best two players in the deal, pitchers Tom Gorzelanny and John Grabow. In return, the Pirates got Jose Ascanio, on the 60-day disabled list, and Kevin Hart, who was 1-8 with a 6.92 ERA after the trade and pitched himself back to the minors with a horrendous spring training.

If either Russell or Huntington were fired, there wouldn’t be a word of protest -- except, that is, from the owner’s office.


Posted: Bob Smizik with 27 comment(s)
Filed under: Zach Duke, Andy LaRoche, Neal Huntington, Jason Bay, Nate McLouth, Ian Snell, Tom Gorzelanny, Gene Lamont, John Russell, Ryan Doumit, Bob Nutting, John Grabow, Jim Tracy, Charlie Morton, Jeff Locke, Bryan Morris, Gorkys Hernandez, Kevin Hart, Lloyd McClendon, Jose Ascanio