According to Ken Rosenthal this afternoon, both manager Clint Hurdle and GM Neal Huntington are expected to sign extensions with the Pittsburgh Pirates before the season ends. Rosenthal said that sources indicate that the jobs of both Hurdle and Huntington are safe despite the current record, and this being the last guaranteed years on their contracts, an extension is likely to happen within the next 3 1/2 months.
Huntington has been around with the Pirates since 2007 and Hurdle since 2010. They combined to help break the 20-year losing streak in 2013, while getting the Pirates to the playoffs for three consecutive seasons. Those good feelings have obviously carried over into now, as they have dealt with numerous injuries each of the last two seasons, along with the Starling Marte/Jung-Ho Kang issues this year.
Early this spring, owner Bob Nutting had this comment about the two of them, which seems to backup Rosenthal’s sources:
“Neal and Clint are both really strong, really good. I love working with them. I’m very comfortable with them. I think they’re very comfortable with us and the organization. The contact extension is not something that’s top-of-mind for me. It’s not an issue at this point. But they are tremendous talents who I love.”