The Pittsburgh Pirates have exercised the 2010 club option of manager John Russell. The announcement was made by Neal Huntington, the Pirates Senior Vice President and General Manager. Russell will begin his second season as the manger of the Pirates this year after being named to his current position on November 5, 2007.
“JR met or exceeded expectations in his first year as the Pirates manager. His club worked hard to play the game properly and battled from the first out until the last,” said Huntington. “His leadership, knowledge, attention to detail, ability to see the big picture and passion for things being done the right way made him the ideal choice as our manager a year ago and made the decision to pick up his option for 2010 an easy decision. I look forward to working closely with him for years to come as we build a consistent championship caliber organization in Pittsburgh.”
Russell guided the Pirates to a 67-95 record in 2008.