John Gibbons Reportedly Withdraws Name as Candidate for Pirates Manager

Filed under: Pirates, MLB Rumors

After losing 105 games in 2010 and stretching their MLB record franchise losing streak to 18 seasons, it would stand to reason that maybe the Pittsburgh Pirates' open managerial gig isn't the most attractive job in baseball. That must be what John Gibbons thinks, at least, because The Kansas City Star's Bob Dutton reported Thursday that Gibbons has withdrawn his name from consideration to be the Pirates next manager and will remain in Kansas City as the Royals' bench coach.

Gibbons had been one of six remaining interviewees for the job after Eric Wedge accepted the Mariners job last week. Dale Sveum, Jeff Banister, Bo Porter, Carlos Tosca and Ken Macha are the remaining candidates, though earlier Thursday The Pittsburgh Tribune Review reported that it's possible the Pirates are waiting to interview someone who's still coaching with a team in the playoffs. It's certainly true that the team's search has slowed down after seven interviews in rapid succession when the season ended.

There's no official reason for Gibbons' withdrawal, but, Gibbons told the Trib earlier this week that he thought the Pirates had an exciting core of young players and their future was "bright." He actually said he was "hoping" to be considered for the opening when he found out John Russell was fired. His withdrawal this evening is a pretty far cry from that, so perhaps there's something bigger at play behind the scenes that we just don't know about yet.

 

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Vanessa Simmons Veronica Kay Veronika Vaeková Victoria Beckham Victoria Pratt