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Joe Kerrigan Unsure About 2010

Pitching coach Joe Kerrigan is unsure whether he'll return in 2010. Ultimately, a team will sink or swim on its talent, but it really would be nice to have Kerrigan back. He has a great reputation, several pitchers have taken a step forward this year (Ross Ohlendorf especially), and it can't be good for the Pirates to cycle through pitching coaches the way they have the past few years. Some continuity would be nice.

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To be sure, if the pirates want to compete and start with younger players you need good coaches…Both Perry Hill and Joe Kerrigan should be brought back.

This doesn’t mean I am adverse to hiring Better coaches if they are out there.

Couple of points
1. I believe Perry Hill is well respected around the league.
2. In addition, I read in the Tribune Review that Kerrigan made a delivery adjustment to Donnie Veal to an overhand delivery, so keeping him would continue the continuity with the younger pitchers with whom he is still making adjustments. And with the strides of Duke, Ohlendorf, and even for me Maholm. It would be nice to keep Kerrigan.

Are there other instructors that the pirates should pick up instead of Hill or Kerrigan that would be available to the PBC at the end of this year?

by lfhlaw on Sep 18, 2009 3:17 PM EDT reply actions  

If they can't hold on to Kerrigan...

…then the best pitching coach on the market is probably Rick Peterson.

Not sure who I’d recommend for an infield coach, in the absence of Hill.

by Vlad on Sep 18, 2009 3:28 PM EDT up reply actions  

Vlad

I still believe that Dave Duncan is the best pitching coach out there and rumor has it that he will be available after the season’s end because he is angry at Cardinal management for the way in which they handled his son. I’d love to have him but I would imagine that if he leaves he’ll go to Cincinnati under his old boss, Walt Jockety.

by Illinois Pirate Fan on Sep 18, 2009 4:23 PM EDT up reply actions  

I think Vlad meant that the Peterson would be the best pitching coach on the market, not the best pitching coach in the league. However if Duncan will be available at season’s end then he’d obviously be the best one on the market, even if our chances of being able to hire him are slim.

by Akshay R on Sep 18, 2009 4:58 PM EDT up reply actions  

Duncan would be a good get

I wasn’t counting him, since he’s technically still the Cardinals’ property.

by Vlad on Sep 18, 2009 5:32 PM EDT up reply actions  

Rats leaving a sinking ship

You cannot blame either Kerrigan or Hill for not wanting to be associated with next years veersion of the Pirates because it reflects negatively on their resume’s. There is a big story developing behind the scenes and I think many fans are missing it. Our future is so bleak that even the managers don’t want to be associated with this team and that speaks volumes of the direction in which the club is headed. One does not yell and curse at the ice berg after it has been struck. Instead, they perform damage control and expend their energy on trying to improve the club rather than attempting to keep some guys who don’t want to be here. After the smoke has cleared, we’ll be left with an infield coach and pitching coach with the same pedigree that Russell had when he took the job: which is very poor. Do you people still believe NH is on the right track? Apparently, neither Hill nor Kerrigan believe he is.

by Illinois Pirate Fan on Sep 18, 2009 4:21 PM EDT reply actions  

Shouldn't

You be out on a ledge somewhere?

by Slizeezyc on Sep 18, 2009 4:29 PM EDT up reply actions   1 recs

You’re overreacting. Kerrigan and Hill are on one-year contracts and want to see what other options there are for them before re-signing. I would do the same if I was in their position. It’s a job for them and they want to get the best deal possible.

Kerrigan sounds very much open to returning but probably would like a nice raise, which he deserves. I still don’t really understand why Hill was so surprised by the Sanchez/Wilson trades, but he hasn’t said he won’t come back either, so the door is still open for his return if the team ups the ante a bit.

by maguro on Sep 18, 2009 4:53 PM EDT up reply actions  

If either Hill or Kerrigan didn’t know what they were getting into, they are either idiots or were lied to by management. And if they believed management that the Pirates would be able to contend then they are idiots anyway.

I wish them both the best regardless of whether they choose to stay. I think it’s got to be a tough life to be a coach in the majors once you get to a certain age due to all the traveling and time away from family.

I made most of my life decisions at a Foghat concert... I stand by them.

by Chester J Lampwick on Sep 18, 2009 5:05 PM EDT up reply actions  

I can't see how it reflects poorly on Kerrigan's resume

when his work with Ohlendorf is seen as so pivotal to his success this year. When Kerrigan was on the Yankees, everything he did was seen to be expected, because after all, the Yankees have the best talent, so they SHOULD win. On the Yankees, you are just waiting to be fired, because if something goes wrong, it must be the pitching coach’s fault – or in Kerrigan’s case the bullpen coach!

With the Pirates, failures are expected and success is celebrated and must be due to the pitching coach. After all, these players came from winning organizations and couldn’t pitch well there. If they turn around, it just boosts Kerrigan’s resume.

I continue to believe this is a matter of Kerrigan wanting the Pirates to show him how much they appreciate his work by giving him a raise.

by MarkInDallas on Sep 18, 2009 5:22 PM EDT up reply actions  

I think this is less about Kerrigan not believing in our direction...

…and more about Kerrigan positioning himself for the soon-to-be-available job as Mets’ pitching coach. It’s a higher visibility job, and if they’re desperate enough, they might pay through the nose to get him.

by Vlad on Sep 18, 2009 5:34 PM EDT up reply actions  

OK, I am embarassed to admit that I have in the past cursed at an iceberg. But only once, and only because it was really big and really cold.

....You'll be able to spit nails, kid. You're gonna eat lightning and you're gonna crap thunder....

by chodan11 on Sep 18, 2009 5:35 PM EDT up reply actions  

you are unusually errant

with your apostrophe use here, IPF.

Is everything ok?

Free your ass and your mind will follow.

by cocktailsfor2 on Sep 18, 2009 9:05 PM EDT up reply actions  

IPF, by your logic none of the coaches would have signed on at any point in history; but they did.

I really want to know what pills you are mixing with your Vodka.

There is no other explaination for any of your posts.

Paul

by lighthouse913 on Sep 19, 2009 2:51 AM EDT via mobile up reply actions  

Don't mislabel IPF....

I’M the one who mixes pills with my vodka.

Free your ass and your mind will follow.

by cocktailsfor2 on Sep 19, 2009 7:35 PM EDT up reply actions  

Way to miss the point, IPF...

…Kerrigan and Hill were definitely aware they joined a team that hadn’t won more than 67 games in 4+ seasons. If they expected to join a post-season contender by just their presence alone, given the obvious lack of a talent upgrade in the off-season then they’re probably on the same hallucinogens as the fans that thought the same unimproved team could have been a contender before it was broken up.

Also, most ML position coaches are on one-year contracts. The only on-field coaching staff members with longer-term contracts are managers. Having Kerrigan and Hill not signed for next year already doesn’t raise as much of a red flag as would, say, not having a manager signed. If that were the case, then I would be worried.

Hill has spoken publicly about how he didn’t like how his veteran infield was broken up. But the truth of the matter was, they weren’t broken up because of their lack of defense. They were broken up because of their lack of offensive production and over-inflated value. Kerrigan has not made the same complaints, so there’s no reason to believe he shares Hill’s opinion of the front office’s strategy. After all, the only pitchers that were gone besides Grabow (a soon-to-be free agent) and Burnett are Snell and Gorzelanny, the only two he DIDN’T like.

And bear in mind, the best starter in the rotation in the second half of the season was the one who has benefitted most from Kerrigan’s instruction: Ross Ohlendorf, who was… everybody say it together now… ACQUIRED IN THE NADY TRADE!

That being said, I’d love to see Kerrigan stay if possible. If not, I would be a big supporter of bringing in Rick Peterson. He has plenty of experience with veterans and young players alike, especially his help in developing Oakland’s Big Three (Zito, Hudson and Mulder) earlier in the decade. He also shares in Kerrigan’s philosophy of focusing more on the process than the result, and understands the best way to make a pitcher successful is to do everything to make sure he is both physically and mentally prepared to succeed.

"Straight ball I hit very much, but curveball, bats are afraid." - Pedro Cerrano

by silencerdu on Sep 19, 2009 9:16 PM EDT up reply actions  

Ships leave a sinking rat!

Way to go, babe, you tell ’em!

I, too, went to see the Pirates for the first time in 1960. My granddads got us seats in the bleachers just past 1st baseat old Forbes Field, and I got to watch Roberto Clemente in right field all day. The Pirates have been my team ever since.

I can’t stand to see them flounder this way with idiots like the Nuttings, Huntington, and Russell at the wheel. We’re in a ditch for sure and we ain’t gettin’ out ‘til we run these bozos out of the ’Burgh. Stick to your guns, honey, you’re right on track!

by dougalmac on Sep 20, 2009 3:03 PM EDT up reply actions  

Thank God! A voice of sanity in the 'Burgh

Way to go, bucdaddy, finally someone around here dishes it straight without all the worthless examining of baseball minutae and arm-chair analysis. 34 games below .500! it sucks, it ain’t workin’, Russell must go!

by dougalmac on Sep 20, 2009 2:56 PM EDT up reply actions  

re: Oh, yeah, the coaches really want to stay-Sure!

“Just ‘cause they’re keeping their options open doesn’t mean they don’t want to come back…..”
“If we could get (insert other pitching coaches name here), then we could develop our pitching Blah! Blah! Blah!….”
IPF makes a good point, but right away, the MORON chorus of Chumley’s from “Tennessee Tuxedo” keep on with their “Duh!-Huntington and Russell know what they’re doing, you just wait and see” BS that makes me want to puke. 34 GAMES BELOW .500! That’s all that matters-RESULTS! Everything else, including the deluded “let’s keep on hoping” posters here have a geranium in the cranium!

The Pirates are a sinking RAT, and the ships are going overboard fast. Just look at all the trades they made, where ex-Pirates, including Jim Tracy, are THRIVING with other teams. There’s one and only one reason. The Nuttings, Huntington, and Russell ARE NOT CAPABLE OF PRODUCING A WINNER. This team has gotten WORSE since they took over. If we were in 4th or 3rd place, I would say progress was being made and they were turning it around. It AIN’T HAPPENING!

And you sad punks leave IPF alone. I think she’s cute, she loves the BUC’s like I do, and she wants this team, like I do, to go back to the days when the PIRATES DID THE IMPOSSIBLE-BEAT the M&M 1960 YANKEES! Wake up and smell the Heinz mustard!

by dougalmac on Sep 20, 2009 2:47 PM EDT reply actions  

Uh, IPF is a GUY.

Perhaps you’d better stick to the PBC Blog.

Free your ass and your mind will follow.

by cocktailsfor2 on Sep 20, 2009 7:31 PM EDT up reply actions  

Joe Kerrigan

We need this guy. Continuity is important. A new manager would be nice. Russell seems a lot like Wedge for the Tribe… we played hard, ect. I’m tired of the double talk. How about Willy Randolph? Came up in the organization, knows how to win and could cherry pick some of the East Coast organizations. We need a closer; if it isn’t Matt Capps, then maybe Kerry Woods from the Tribe. We give them Andy LaRoche, Bixler and some fungo balls!! And we pay all of Woods salary! Then capps can pitch the eigth, Woods the ninth and the Bucs win at least 20 more games.

by zwei from way on Sep 20, 2009 8:16 PM EDT reply actions  

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