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Before fellow Pittsburgh Pirates fans reach for their torches and pitchforks, let me state that Clint Hurdle is the best choice to manage the Pirates. I am in no way saying that Hurdle should be replaced by Ray Searage. What I am saying is that Pirates fans should be thanking their lucky stars that no other team has asked Searage to be a manager.
Searage has shown over the last two seasons that he is more than capable of getting the most out of his players. For proof of Searage’s talent just take a look at the career paths of Francisco Liriano and Edinson Volquez. Players like to play for Searage, and he clearly has a good rapport with them. Shagging fly balls with his pitchers during batting practice is evidence of this rapport. His ability to take underwhelming players off of the scrap heap and turn them into players who start in consecutive elimination games (Liriano in 2013 and Volquez in 2014) is spectacular.
Two years ago no team wanted anything to do with Liriano. He lost whatever it was that he had with the Minnesota Twins and teams were not willing to risk time and money to see if he would ever bounce back. The fact that Searage saw something in Liriano’s delivery led Pittsburgh to sign him to a two-year deal. Searage worked with Liriano, and he made a surprisingly quick turnaround, returning to his previous form.
After seeing Searage work with Liriano, the Pirates brought in Volquez and gave him a one year contract in which he was paid $1 million for each full point that his ERA was over zero. In return, Volquez produced a season that erased from memory his disastrous season with the San Diego Padres and Los Angeles Dodgers in 2013. He started for Pittsburgh in the 2014 NL Wild Card game and, if it weren’t for Madison Bumgarner’s gem of a game, could have come away with a victory.
Despite these successes, Searage seems content to remain the pitching coach for the Pirates. With a lot of woeful franchises sputtering and falling apart this season, why have no organizations contacted Searage? Losing him would be a major blow to a Pittsburgh team that has clawed and fought its way back into playoff contention the past two years. Until that day comes, though, Pirates fans need to hope that Searage continues to work his magic with pitchers in the Steel City.
Andrew Lenz is a Blogger for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @RealAndyLenz, “Like” him on Facebook or add him to your network on Google
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