Bucs Pick Up Option for Manager Russell

Though the team finished with a very Jim Tracy like record of 67-95 in 2008, Pirates' manager John Russell had his 2010 option picked up today, ESPN.com reports. Actually, Tracy averaged 67.5 wins in his two years as the Bucs' skipper. I'm kidding a bit because Jim Tracy actually did a pretty horrible job and John Russell has seemed much more capable. Tracy had Jason Bay, Damaso Marte and, for most of his tenure, Xavier Nady. Russell had those three for only about 2/3 of the year, and the teams' win/loss record for '08 suffered considerably once those three were traded. Russell seems much more even-handed and competent than his predecessor, though part of this perception is due to team president Frank Coonelly and GM Neal Huntington. I'm not sure, if under Tracy and former GM Dave Littlefield, we would have seen Matt Morris, and his ginormous salary, released a month into the season. I also have doubts that Ronny Paulino and Tom Gorzelanny would have been sent to the minors after their disappointing performances. The only real instance last year of a player getting more chances than he earned would be with Andy LaRoche, but since he was a key component of the Jason Bay trade, and the Pirates were out of contention, I can understand it. Well I guess the continued use of John Van Benschoten was a little dubious too, but that really had more to do with pitching depth than anything else. So as we move into year two of the Russell era, I feel confident in our skipper. Hopefully we will see an increase in major league talent over the next two years to justify my faith in him.

In ex-Pirate news, former can't-miss-savior-pitcher Kris Benson has signed a minor league deal with the Texas Rangers. Benson has not pitched in a majors since 2006, and he has not pitched well since 2000. Well, he did alright for the Mets in '05, but 2000 was really his only season of much quality. I have no hard feelings for him; it's not his fault that he failed to become a perennial Cy Young candidate. He just symbolizes the Pirates' failures in the Bonifay/Littlefield era. I wish him luck though.

Also, Pirate single game tickets went on sale today. Now that I live within a day's drive of PNC Park, I really have no excuse not to go. The prices are not too bad either. Okay, I have a new goal: One game this season. And at least one game each year we're in Indiana. That's doable.