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Hurdle Addresses Off-Season Challenges Facing The Pirates

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- The Chicago Cubs are not only world champions for the first time in 108 years, they also figure to make the next several years difficult on everyone in the National League Central Division, including the Pirates.

Manager Clint Hurdle is now addressing the challenges facing his team now that baseball season is officially over.

KDKA's Bob Pompeani: "As a manager, how do you close that gap on that team [the Cubs]? What do you have to do, what does your team have to do?"

Hurdle: "Well, we've talked about a lot of things. We played them 19 times against this year, and it didn't end well for us… a lot."

Just five wins in those 19 games and the Cubs return just about the same team that finished 25 games ahead of the Pirates in the division.

"They have an owner that spent half a billion dollars in free agents, two years. Not many teams can do that," Hurdle said. "They have grown their own talent remarkably well. When you look at Baez, you look at Bryant, you look at Rizzo, Addison Russell was in a trade, the two starters in the rotation - Arrieta and Hendricks - two trade guys, Lackey is a free agent, Lester's a free agent, Fowler's a free agent, Heyward's a free agent, Zobrist's a free agent. They've done and used all the tools that they have."

The Pirates don't have the spending tool the Cubs have under the salary cap-less system. They are not forced to spend as much as every other team, but they do have to do something with their starting staff, which was biggest reason for going from 98 to 78 wins.

"When your best player, McCutchen, has an off year and rebounded late. When your best pitcher, Liriano, has an off year, your other best pitcher has an incomplete year that challenges you dramatically out of the shoot," Hurdle said. "We need Cole to come back healthy, Taillon to be in play, Kuhl to take a step forward. You are looking at really getting two more pitchers, somehow, someway in externally with some experience, with strike throwing ability that can compete with an edge on the mound, with some athleticism helping out. Four young pitchers in the starting rotation that can be very challenging and very interesting."

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There is also the challenge of what to do with Andrew McCutchen - with his position nd with his future.

"You got to have good conversations, good communications about what's best for the team moving forward. What's best for him, would it help him just going to a corner and … just swing the bat, go play a corner, focus on where that can take you 'cause there is still a lot of life in that body, and I still think there is a lot of baseball left," Hurdle said.

Pompeani: "Social media has been abuzz with, will the Pirates trade Andrew McCutchen? If that happens, how difficult will that be given what he represents to this organization?"

Hurdle: "Well, I'm not gonna spent a lot of time on it because if we ever get to that point, we will deal with it at that point in time. It would be challenging. I just think from an organizational perspective, for what he's put in, the buy in. He is the face of the franchise, been the face of the franchise. He's been so up front on the field and off the field, community involvement, Clemente Award winner. The one player who lives here year round. It's pretty special and pretty significant. So, that's the hard part of what we have going on as an industry right now for any player to stay in one place throughout the course of his contract. He's getting to a point in time also of how much more of that contract can we take. Is there an extension beyond this one? What would it be? It would be significant numbers? How does that play in our payroll dynamic."

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