John Russell gone - let the healing begin

It is official, John Russell is out It is no secret I have been calling for his firing for some time. I think there were just in excusable mistakes all year. Base running, outfield defense, infield defense, and frankly use of players. Even if we cut him slack for his late use of Ryan Doumit and his use of Ryan Church to try and get trade value, there are still several other things that demand a firing. His misuse of pitchers was an all season long thing. Look no further than sticking with Morton, short use of D. McCutchen, and inability to figure out how long Karstens could throw in a game. He over played Garrett Jones driving his stats into the ground. McCutchen too was over used after apparent injuries. Also he overplayed Alvarez having a visible deterimental effect on his play. I could go on, but why bother, the Pirates did the obvious thing. On to who will replace him.

Frankly the list ought to be short. Eric Wedge should be the manager of the Pirates next year. Wedge has all of the attributes the Pirates are looking for: communication, experience, wins. Wedge has it all. He even did it in a small market by training up young guys. I think he should be the top candidate.

However here are some other names that I would like to see considered.

Ken Macha. Macha has great experience coaching small market young teams with loads of talent. He did this with the A's both as a bench coach and head coach. He won a lot of games there and saw the post season. He talked to the Pirates in the past, but maybe this time he will join us. He is not returning to be the 3rd base coach of the Brewers so he is available.

Art Howe. Howe gives you a connection to the successful 70's for the Pirates. Howe has also shown a decent ability to manage at the big league level with a lot of success coming in Oakland. He has a .468 winning percentage, which is not great, but better than the Pirates have now. Howe was recently with the Rangers as a bench coach, but I believe has not done anything since 08.

Tony Gwynn. Okay a long shot. Gwynn manages San Diego St University and has no major league managing experiece, but is a Hall of Famer.

Ryan Sandberg. Sandberg is an outside possibility. He has been managing in the Cubs minor league system and has shown success with the Iowa Cubs this year. He appears to be a front runner for the Cubs opening, but if for some reason they pass him up, I think he might be willing to jump at another Major League offer. Sandberg is ready for the Big leagues, has openly expressed his desire for the big leagues, and is not going to be doing anything other than be the head coach.

Andy Van Slyke. Probably not a great choice, but it would be a popular one. Van Slyke has been a 1st base coach for the Tigers, but was not picked up for the 2010 season, so is currently available. In Dertoit, he learned from the great Jim Leyland, what more do you need. He was in charge of baserunning and outfielders as well in Detriot, which are areas that the Pirates particularly stunk in this year. Pittsburgh fans have great memories of this guy. He would spark some community support right out of the gate.