{"id":840007,"date":"2018-08-30T12:00:52","date_gmt":"2018-08-30T16:00:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thesportsdaily.com\/?p=840007"},"modified":"2018-08-30T12:00:54","modified_gmt":"2018-08-30T16:00:54","slug":"pittsburgh-pirates-clint-hurdle-stay-pbd11","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thesportsdaily.com\/news\/pittsburgh-pirates-clint-hurdle-stay-pbd11\/","title":{"rendered":"COLUMN: Get used to Clint Hurdle as he’s here to stay"},"content":{"rendered":"
Even though Hurdle\u2019s should be on the hot seat and many fans are calling for his job, that won\u2019t be the case.<\/p>\n
While he should be headed towards the unemployment line, Hurdle has all the job security in the world.<\/p>\n
Ideally he could go 10-152 next season and his job will be safe.<\/p>\n
Why you ask?<\/p>\n
Bob Nightingale of the USA TODAY recently wrote a column<\/a> about how the salaries of MLB managers have been decreasing.<\/p>\n One would think that given the Pirates history of being frugal when it comes to their payroll that they would follow in that trend when it came to their manager.<\/p>\n That\u2019s not the case at all.<\/p>\n When Hurdle signed his four-year extension after two losing seasons in 2016 and 2017, many naturally assumed that his deal would pay him annually around the bottom third of the league.<\/p>\n Instead, Hurdle is the seventh highest paid manager in baseball, pulling down $3 million per season.<\/p>\n He’s the third highest paid manager in the National League and has the longest contract of any manager currently in the National League Central.<\/p>\n So everyone that wants to see a change made in the Pirates dugout, pump the brakes.<\/p>\n It\u2019s never going to happen.<\/p>\n Bob Nutting was never going to pay two managers as if he were to fire Hurdle, he would still be on the hook for the remaining three years of his contract.<\/p>\n He certainly isn\u2019t going to pay Hurdle $3 million a season to sit at home.<\/p>\n That alone gives Hurdle perhaps the greatest job security of any manager in baseball.<\/p>\n You can wish and prey all you want for a new manager, but it\u2019s not going to happen.<\/p>\n Five collapses in eight years don\u2019t matter.<\/p>\n A team lacking in fundamentals in every aspect of the game doesn\u2019t matter either.<\/p>\n All that matters is the $9 million that will be left on Hurdle\u2019s contract after this season.<\/p>\n After the past two seasons could you fathom giving Hurdle a four-year, $12 million deal?<\/p>\n There\u2019s $12 million reasons why he runs a guy like Sean Rodriguez<\/a> out there as much as he has this season. There\u2019s $12 million reasons why Hurdle always take the hot bat out of the lineup for underperforming veterans or the way he mishandles his bullpen.<\/p>\n What\u2019s the front office going to do fire him?<\/p>\n Hurdle knows it\u2019s not going to happen and he will continue to do what he does and will have the same poor results.<\/p>\n Instead of turning the middle infield over to Kevin Newman<\/a> and Kevin Kramer<\/a> in September to get them experience, expect to see Jordy Mercer<\/a> and Josh Harrison<\/a> in the lineup almost every day once they are both healthy.<\/p>\n