The Pittsburgh Pirates put together yet another disappointing season despite Josh Bell having a career year, and that has cost Clint Hurdle his job.
Clint Hurdle is out as Pittsburgh Pirates manager, source confirms to ESPN. @Ken_Rosenthal first reported that Hurdle would be fired.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) September 29, 2019
“>
Hurdle was the manager of the Pirates for nine years, with a record of 69-92 for the 161 games he was in charge this season.
In a press release Pirates GM had some nice words for the long time manager, “Words cannot express how much appreciation I have for Clint as a person and a leader. This was an extremely difficult decision for us. As an organization we feel it was time for a managerial change to introduce a new voice and new leadership inside the clubhouse.”
This is the fourth straight season that the Pirates have missed the playoffs and to make it even worse there was a lot of off-field drama during this season. With the biggest story coming out being the arrest of closer Felipe Vazquez earlier in September. The Pirates had plenty of clubhouse issues as well as on the field disputes with teams like the Cincinnati Reds. It could be expected that part of the reason for his departure was the locker room issues that arose this season.
Hurdle has managed a total of 2615 games in managerial career, with a record of 1269-1345. In his time with the Pirates they had playoff appearances in 3 straight years from 2013 to 2015. Before joining Pittsburgh he managed the Colorado Rockies from 2002-2009, winning manager of the year in 2007 after leading Colorado to their first-ever World Series appearance.
