Two months after they inked four-year contract extensions with general manager Neal Huntington and manager Clint Hurdle, the Pirates announced Thursday they will retain Hurdle’s entire coaching staff through 2019.
The two-year contracts apply to the following coaches:
- first base coach and outfield/baserunning instructor Kimera Bartee
- hitting coach Jeff Branson
- third base coach and infield coach Joey Cora
- major league coach Dave Jauss
- assistant hitting coach Jeff Livesey
- bench coach Tom Prince
- bullpen coach Euclides Rojas
- pitching coach Ray Searage
Bullpen catchers Heberto Andrade and Jordan Comadena will also be retained.
Huntington previously said the Pirates expected to keep their coaching staff intact despite a lackluster 2017 campaign in which the team went 75-87 and finished fourth in the National League Central.
“We as an industry are all too quick to anoint gurus and want to fire coaches when the team doesn’t produce,” Huntington said in early October. “It’s a group effort. It’s a collective effort. … Our coaches worked really hard to get the most out of what they’re given, and that’s a testament to them.”
Elizabeth Bloom: ebloom@post-gazette.com, 412-263-1750 and Twitter: @BloomPG.
First Published: November 2, 2017, 6:37 p.m.