Pirates Hope To Announce Hurdle As Manager in 48 Hours

The Pittsburgh Pirates manager search seems to have dragged on forever for Buccos fans.  It’s midnight on Saturday.  The Bucs feel this will be all wrapped up by Tuesday morning at the latest pending  circumstances the team is not aware of on the report.  Some confident Pirates executives were whispering tonight that a deal could be in place by Monday.  So what has taken so long for Hurdle to make up his mind?

The whole ordeal has me concerned about the front office.  Especially as our team and the Pirates organization is viewed from outsiders.  Who are we kidding?  A lame duck GM scares qualified candidates.  Why can’t Neal Huntington get another year on his deal for God sakes?

The many antics Hurdle has went through seem insanely silly.  All of this makes me really think twice about immediately throwing my support behind Hurdle.  Here is why:

What does he have to think about?    His complexion will be fine in black and gold.    The aww shucks attitude will be a home run for all Pirates fans over 50.  Hurdle will suck the old timers right in with a few of his positive quotes, but it will take a lot more than words to make an impact.

Obviously Hurdle will assist in this key demographic for the Pirates corporate sponsors I mean, young fans.  His marketability in the community will be large too. 

Is Hurdle mulling over how to get two more percentage points on new corporate client sales?  No, he is thinking about the number of years that the Bucs offered and are trying their damndest to stand firm on during the process.

Shouldn’t Hurdle have already put out feelers to his Blackberry contacts for his coaching staff?  Do you think, like I do, that this weekend he is making calls to see just who in the hell would be willing to gamble their career by coming to work with him in fixing the Pirates?

Is Hurdle trying to convince his prospective wish list of coaches that despite all of the awfulness they saw watching the 2010 Pirates on tape, the Bucs really aren’t that bad?  We envision a motivational speech.

If Hurdle wanted to be the Pirates leader wouldn’t he have already felt that?    Certainly the Pirates would have guaged his interest and worked through a timeline for this interest in the Mets bullshit.

My hardcore Pirates conspiracy theroists believe that it’s all Pirates PR maneuvering.  Here is the concept:

The Bucs allowed Hurdle to go to the Mets interview.  They rolled the dice figuring that the Mets will certainly give Hurdle an open door as he is an alum.  The odds are favorable, he will be granted a second interview.  The Pirates will come storming back into the process before the Mets have concluded their interviews and sign Hurdle on Monday.  Heh…they went and got their man.  [Some of the emails that I get are mind blowing]

If I am Hurdle, I would have known immediately that the Pirates were the right fit or they weren’t.  Mercer Boy asked me earlier today if I thought Hurdle was using the Mets to get to the Pirates.  I truly believe that and several people in the Pirates organization feel the same way and said so tonight.

Think about it.  Is it better to have two employers bidding for your services or one?

Here is my take, Hurdle is taking the weekend to mull it over as he gets a tutor to help him prepare a kick ass speech for the presser.