While several weeks ago we were all complaining about the deafening silence surrounding the Pittsburgh Pirates’ lack of upper management, in recent weeks we have witnessed a flurry of activity to fill the vacant positions in the Bucco front office as well as on the field. This was no small task for Bob Nutting, who emphasized back in September just how important “getting these [hirings] right” was to the future of the organization.
For as much as I cannot stand his business tactics and strategies, I give Nutting a lot of credit for how the new management crew has taken shape; Travis Williams is a great young mind with the added bonus of being a Pittsburgh guy; Ben Cherington, while not my first choice for general manager, has a proven track record as a GM with a solid reputation in the industry; and Derek Shelton, a hitters-first coach from a similarly situated small market team in the Minnesota Twins already seems devoted to reversing the culture in the Pittsburgh clubhouse.