Pittsburgh Pirates Managerial Candidates Part 1

John Wehner

For the majority of his life, John Wehner has work for the Pittsburgh Pirates. Additionally, for the entirety of his life he has been passionate about the Pirates.

The Pittsburgh, Carrick to be exact, native was selected in the 7th round of the 1988 MLB Draft by his hometown Pirates. From 1991 – 1997 he played for the Pirates, this was followed by a two year stint with the then Florida Marlins. Wehner then left South Beach to return home to the Pirates for the final three years of his MLB career.

After retiring from playing, Wehner became a coach in the Pirate system. From 2002 – 2004 he was the hitting coach for the Double-A Altoona Curve. He then joined the Pirate broadcast booth where he has been since 2005. So, dating back to 1988, Wehner has worked for the Pirates as a player, coach or broadcaster for 29 of the last 31 years.

Last week, Wehner went on 93.7 The Fan in Pittsburgh and expressed interest in being the team’s manager. As one can imagine, this quickly became a hot button topic in Pittsburgh.

So, could Wehner be a a candidate to become the Pirates’ next manager? While, it is unlikely. After all, he has never coached at the Major League level and he has not coached in professional baseball in over 10 years.

That said, Wehner is a smart baseball mind. If he would happen to get an interview he would likely make a strong impression. But ultimately, he is unlikely to be the team’s next manager and he probably should not be the next manager.

Now something like bench coach John Wehner? That has a nice ring to it.

Jason Kendall

With the 23rd overall pick in the 1992 MLB Draft the Pittsburgh Pirates selected Jason Kendall. This would be the beginning of Kendall’s journey to becoming one of the best Pirate catchers in franchise history, as well as one of the most popular players in franchise history.

Kendall made his MLB debut for the Pirates on April 1, 1996. This was the beginning of a nine-year Pirate career. In these nine seasons, Kendall was a three-time All-Star. He was also one of the few bright spots for the Pirates from 1996 – 2004, all of which were losing seasons.

Following the 2004 season the Pirates traded Kendall to the Oakland Athletics. He would also spend time with the Milwaukee Brewers, Chicago Cubs and Kansas City Royals. He missed all of 2011 due to injury and then played in tow minor league games for the Royals in 2021 before calling it a career. Since retiring, Kendall has served as a special assistant in the Royals’ organization.

Like Wehner, Kendall has expressed interest in the job during an interview on 93.7 The Fan. He also made it clear that he never would have allowed the clubhouse issues that plagued the Pirates last season to happen on his watch.

To be honest, Kendall could provide a lot of value to the Pirates in a coaching capacity. Members of the Royals teams that went to back-to-back World Series in 2014 and 2015 credited Kendall’s work for the success of their pitching staff. Rather the value Kendall adds is best as a manager or a coach is the question.

Jeff Bannister

Last but not least there is a name that has been connected to this job multiple times – Jeff Bannister. Like Wehner and Kendall, Bannister has spent plenty of years as a member of the Pirate organization.

Bannister’s lone MLB game came on July 23, 1991, with the Pirates. The Oklahoma native was selected by the Pirates in the 25th round of the 1986 draft. After missing the 1992 season due to elbow surgery, he served as a player-coach for the Pirates’ Double-A affiliate the Carolina Mudcats in 1993. Following the 1993 season, he retired from playing and went into coaching full time.

Bannister spent time as a minor league manager for the Pirates, as well as a MLB coach on both Gene Lamont and Lloyd McClendon‘s staffs. When Hurdle was hired in 2010, he and Bannister were the tow finalists for the Pirates’ managerial position. When Hurdle got the job, he named Bannister his bench coach. This was a role Bannister would hold through the 2014 season.

Following the 2014 season Bannister interviewed for both the Houston Astros and Texas Rangers’ managerial positions. He would get the Rangers’ job, and went on to have a lot of success. In four seasons as manager in Texas Bannister owned a 325-313 record in the regular season, and he went 2-6 in the postseason.

Under the guidance of Bannister the Rangers won the American League West in 2015 and 2016. He was also named the American League Manager of the Year in 2015. Due to his success, his firing came as a surprise to many.

After being dismissed by the Rangers, Bannister came back home to the Pirates spending the 2019 season as a special assistant in baseball operations.

Bannister would check off a lot of boxes for the Pirates. He has managerial experience, he has guided multiple teams to the postseason, he has a lot of experience with the Pirates, and he is passionate about Pirate baseball. All of that said, with all of the turmoil the Pirates experienced in 2019 their best course of action is to hire someone from outside the organization. It would not be a surprise, however, to see Bannsiter end up back on the Pirate coaching staff for 2020, even if it is not as manager.