Pittsburgh Pirates Interview Two More Manager Candidates

The Pittsburgh Pirates have casted a wide net with their managerial search.  They recently interviewed two new potential candidates.

The Pittsburgh Pirates seem focused on one thing with their managerial search, to find a coach who is from outside the organization.  Many assumed that the Bucs would take the easy way out and hire long time Pittsburgh Pirates employee and former Texas Ranger manager Jeff Bannister.  While Bannister has been listed as a candidate, it seems the team is looking to find an up and coming coach from analytically inclined teams.

This makes sense with the Pittsburgh Pirates being a small market organization.  Over the last few years, the team has not adopted to the modern game of baseball.  At one point, the Bucs were somewhat ahead of the curve with analytics, now they have fallen behind.  This is a big reason why Clint Hurdle and Ray Searage were fired.

The Bucs have interviewed candidates from the Minnesota Twins, Oakland Athletics, and Houston Astros.  These three teams all made the playoffs and found themselves using modern analytics to help drive them toward success.

The Bucs are continuing to expand their search for their next manager.  This is positive and after a disastrous year in 2019, the team needs to find someone who is going to change the culture and philosophy.  They need to be thorough in their search and make sure they find the best candidate that fits what they want to do going forward.

The Pittsburgh Pirates have reportedly interviewed candidates from two more teams that are more advanced than they are, the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Tampa Bay Rays.  The Dodgers and Rays have been two of the better teams over the past few years at developing players and using analytics has been a big reason why.

From the Dodgers, the Pittsburgh Pirates interviewed first base coach George Lombard.  Lombard is just 44 years old but he has had a lot of experience coaching after his somewhat short career in the late 90s and 2000s.  Currently, he is the Dodgers first base coach, but he also helps with the outfielders, an area of strength for the Pittsburgh Pirates.  Lombard has also spent time in the Red Sox organization in different roles, along with a brief stop with Atlanta.

The other candidate that interviewed was Matt Quatraro from the Tampa Bay Rays.  He is currently serving as the Rays primary bench coach and has long been considered a potential managerial candidate.  Quatraro is just 45 years of age but has a lot of experience.  He started in the Tampa Bay system working as a minor league manager and catching instructor.  Then he took an assistant hitting coach job with the Indians from 2014-2017.  He returned to the Rays and was promoted to bench coach this past year.

Both managers have a lot positives that fit the current Pittsburgh Pirates need.  In Lombard, the Bucs get a young coach who is credited for developing young hitters and outfielders.  The Pittsburgh Pirates have been lacking a coach that is good at developing young hitters and could see their promising outfield take the next step under Lombard.

With Quatraro, the Bucs would be getting a coach who has spent his whole career working for small market teams.  He would know the expectation on how the franchise needs to build through player development.  Furthermore, he specializes in hitting and catching.  Quatraro has had a lot of experience coaching young players, something that Bucs have a lot of.  Also, the Pittsburgh Pirates weakest position in the field might be behind the plate, so maybe he can help fix the catching position.

Apparently, the Pittsburgh Pirates want to talk to Houston Astros bench coach Daniel Espada as well.  Due to this, it looks like it could still be some time before we get a clear answer on who the next manager will be.  It is looking like they will have plenty of solid options to choose from.