Five Things Hurdle Needs To Get Done

Clint Hurdle is enjoying his honeymoon.   Right now, Hurdle can get things a typical Pirates manager wouldn’t dream of getting.  A hefty TV contract, by Pirates standards, has allowed the Bucs some spening freedom.   Obviously, that’s the first thing that makes us very nervous.   Sure it’s an exciting time for the Bucs, but one or two more stupid moves and this club is put back another year, maybe more.  And those are years that we don’t have to burn and we surely know the Bucs don’t have the talent depth to make many more mistakes in financial dealings with more established players.

So Clint and Neal, be careful with our/your cash please.

The second thing

Hurdle needs to get done is addressing his pitching staff in the most intelligently/agressive manner possible.  Most visitors to RumBunter are in agreement that a long term contract to Jorge De La Rosa is a bad idea.  But nobody has said they are opposed to a short term deal.  We know he’s your boy Clint, but take a good look at it.   Pull the trigger if you must.  Yeh, we’re hallucinating right now… without question, everyone wants a winner, but there aren’t fifty wins on the market.  You have to think ahead in spite of the dire current situation.

The third thing Hurdle should address is the lineup.  The Bucs need a bat.  That whistling sound?  Yeh, we thought so.

Kent Tekulve was in the wrong place the other night.  He had to tell us stories.  Damn were we lucky to hear about Chuck Tanner never wanting the opposition to have an idea what he was going to do.

So, let’s move on to number four on our list.  Kent Tekulve told us about Tanner pinch hitting for Steve Nicosia, who was 4-for-4 against the Phillies Steve Carlton.  He chose John Milner, who was a questionable  choice–on the surface–  in a late season double header.

At one point in the game, the Phillies were up 8-3 at one point after a Greg Luzinksi grand slam. The Bucs then had a patented rally and in the ninth inning tied the game.  With Milner pinch hitting, the Phils countered with lefty Tug McGraw.  The move seemed to make little sense for the Bucs until Milner hit a grand slam and was carried off the field before the second game started. (The Bucs got the second game too and were on their way to bigger and better things.)

After the game, Teke said Chuck tried to explain his logic, but the real scoop was this:  what were the odds of Nicosia going 5-for-5?

I pissed my pants.

Tanner never wanted the opposing team to know what he was going to do.  It was  interesting to see the breakdown by WTM (link below) of Hurdle’s managerial tendencies.    The RumBunter faithful have some concern over a few of these, especially as it pertains to platoon situations which WTM deemed solid, but the use of pitchouts and sacrifices leave a lot to be desired.

Pitchouts are a bad idea Clint.  We trust you learned that.  And many commenters are so concerned about your tendencies, that they shared their thoughts with us.    The biggest one that stuck us as right on the money was the astute Paul.  Weeks ago Paul said this:

"If Hurdle is hired…… (I see the) Bill James’ projections for McCutchen, Walker and Tabata to end up being way off the mark. Expect drops in walk rates and OBP% for both McCutchen and Walker and increases in scoring opportunity killing bunt attempts from them and a spike in Tabata’ strike outs.Sadly, I see big steps backward in their careers if Hurdle is filling out the lineup cards and calling the shots in 2011."

Mr. Miller of Pirates Profiles has an excellent post up on his SB Nation/Bucs Dugout  that details the tendencies of the Pirates new manager. 

"Stolen bases:  (I had to look this up at bb-ref.)  In his first four full years, Hurdle usually ordered a below average number of steals and his team was consistently below average, often well below, in success rate.  This was almost certainly a product of his personnel.  In 2007, he ordered an average number of steals and the success rate was above average, at 76%.  In 2008, the Rockies led the NL in steals and had an outstanding success rate of 79%.  This was entirely due to Willy Taveras and Kaz Matsui in 2007, and Taveras and Matt Holliday in 2008.  So it appears Hurdle will let the guys run who show they can.  This could be good news for Andrew McCutchen and Jose Tabata.  Of course, McCutchen already has a green light, but maybe Hurdle will encourage him to use it more often."

Some of your moves are idiotic.  Please know they won’t be welcomed here, no matter how well you speak on the mic Mr. Hurdle.

A huge concern we have is why Davey Lopes wasn’t pursued with all the muscle possible?  Sure he wanted to be on the left coast.  Don’t we all?  If the Dodgers haven’t inked Lopes, make a final push.  Do it for us, Clint…

And lastly, the Pirates need to rebuild the fanbase.   The “offseason” is the time to do this.  It’s make or break Clint Hurdle Radio Showtime.  But let’s be positive that Rocc is a part of it.

Especially right now.   The fans are ready.

In the meantime, ride that honeymoon Clint.  The hard navigating of the Pirates ship is dead ahead.