…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.

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.

…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.

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.

with your apostrophe use here, IPF.

Is everything ok?

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

…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.

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!

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!

Uh, IPF is a GUY.

Perhaps you’d better stick to the PBC Blog.