No, Bob Nutting hasn't made up his mind.
Not about Clint Hurdle. Not about Neal Huntington. Not about Frank Coonelly.
On Wednesday night, the Pirates were hit with a report by The Athletic's Stephen J. Nesbitt that Hurdle "believes his job is secure" into the 2020 season, borrowing from the article's opening sentence. The next sentence included that Hurdle "recently received assurance from the organization that he will be back as manager next year."
Those quotes I have there, by the way, are from the author, not from Hurdle. Hurdle himself isn't quoted directly anywhere in the article confirming his status in any way. There are quotes from Hurdle in the article, culled from a one-on-one interview Wednesday afternoon at PNC Park, but those were mostly repetition of remarks he's been making for two months, beginning in mid-July during a series in New York.
What follows is not at all a criticism of Nesbitt or his work. He's a good reporter. Rather, it is my own reporting of a situation that, while fluid, has remained mostly out of sight and had been expected to remain that way until after the season ends this Sunday.
I'm here to tell you, without hesitation, Hurdle hasn't received any assurance he'll be back from the only man that counts: Nutting.
And I'm here to tell you, also without hesitation, Huntington and Coonelly haven't, either.
Not yet and maybe not at all.
I spoke with several sources, including within the front office, late Wednesday night and confirmed all of what's above and below. Those sources were submitted to Dale Lolley, our editor-in-chief, and two other staff members. Lolley approved.
Nutting's plan, befitting precedent with all his businesses, is to take a prudent approach, as well as a private one. He doesn't share specifics of his plans with anyone, and he proved that when he fired Dave Littlefield as general manager in 2007. No one in the organization knew it was coming until Nutting showed up that morning at PNC Park with the directive. Even afterward, his process for searching for replacements was a one-man operation. He traveled extensively, met with candidates face to face, interviewed them alone.
Nutting and Hurdle have a close relationship, as I've written many times. Because of that, there's a chance Hurdle survives any purge, as I've also written many times. But the concept of Nutting being the one who told Hurdle he's safe isn't in line at all with his history. In fact, it would be insanely out of character.
Equally absurd is the concept of Hurdle, a man who conducts more media interviews in the course of a week than a sitting world leader, accidentally spilling such information. Or that he'd have done so without the awareness that it would sting people all around him, who'd suddenly be scared that one individual got an assurance while they didn't. He's way too smart, way too meticulous a speaker to have simply slipped up.
So, what's happening here?
Why would Hurdle say what he did -- presuming it was reported accurately, which I do -- to Nesbitt?
Only Hurdle can know that. He's an honest man, but he's also passionate and defensive about his job. He genuinely wants to fulfill the final two years of his contract, and he genuinely believes the Pirates, horrendous as they've been in the second half of 2019, aren't far from saving. Maybe he wanted to send that out as a Bat-Signal of sorts to Nutting. Maybe he wanted to not be perceived as silently sinking with the rest of the ship.
Also, maybe he really did receive such assurance ... from Huntington, his immediate superior and, in a normal situation, the man who'd fire him.
After the Wednesday game, a 4-2 victory over the Cubs, Hurdle was delayed 21 minutes getting to the press conference room, which is down the hall from the manager's office. That's because he and team officials were huddled in that office trying to find out what he actually said in the earlier interview and to figure out what he should or shouldn't say in facing the waiting reporters.
Once he arrived, the session opened with the obvious question: Had he been told he's been assured of coming back for 2020?
He asked instead for questions about the game, but it eventually swung back.
"Every conversation I've had with Neal is how we come back and get better — and anybody in the organization," Hurdle finally replied. "So, my mindset is, I want to come back. I plan on coming back. And the opportunity for us to improve and get better is important to me, as well as to everybody I've had conversations with."
He was asked if assurance came from Huntington?
"You know what, I'm just going to pass on all that because it's taken its own little life, the story here. And my intent, desire, is to manage this team next year. And I don't want anybody to misread or I don't want to misrepresent. I plan on being back. The conversations we have, Neal and I, are planning for the future. All along those ways. So that's what I've got for you."
One more time: Did someone assure him he'd be back?
"That's what I've got for you."
He smiled, stood, rose and left the room.
That's neither the look nor the sound of a man who's been assured of anything by anyone who matters.
In mid-game, Huntington, through the team's media relations staff, emailed reporters covering the game in the PNC Park press box: "As we have in the past, we will publicly address any personnel decisions at the end of the season."
That's also neither the look nor the sound of a man who's been assured of anything by anyone who matters.
Because they haven't been. And neither has Coonelly.
What I was told by these sources late Wednesday night is Nutting is deeply disappointed in the way the 2019 season has gone and it's inconceivable he isn't on the cusp of making major changes to the organization, including the front office. But again, as ever when it comes to Nutting, specifics are nowhere to be found. Because he's the only one he trusts with those.
My expectation, based on the conversations late Wednesday night and others over several weeks now, continues to be major change is coming. And, if anything, the angry, emotional reaction from within to the aforementioned report only buttressed that.
