Next Moves For NL Central Teams Are...

The Hot Stove season is past the halfway point, and all the clubs in the National League Central still have important offseason goals to accomplish before Spring Training. As has been the case several times in recent years, the division title could very well be another wide-open race to the end.

St. Louis Official Site

Cardinals Winter League Notebook 11-17-19: Geddy Guerra Three Six Scoreless Innings For The Win; Brandon Dickson Named To All-World Team; Arturo Reyes Strikes Out Five Over Five & A Third Scoreless Innings

Cardinals Winter League

Clint Hurdle Retires After Considering Padres Hitting Coach Job

Kevin Acee Twitter

Pirates Fired Clint Hurdle

Ken Rosenthal Twitter

Clint Hurdle Believes He'll Be Back With Pirates In 2020

Clint Hurdle will reportedly be back in the Pirates’ dugout next season. At the very least, it’s clear that Hurdle wants to return as Pittsburgh’s manager.

Pittsburgh Official Site

Patrick Corbin Cruises With Arm, Bat In Stellar Outing

Thursday has been the date circled in red for many Nationals fans, as they await the return of ace Max Scherzer. But the rest of Washington's rotation has flexed its collective muscle in the first three contests of a four-game series against the Pirates.

Washington Official Site

Yasiel Puig, David Bell, Clint Hurdle, Others Receive Suspensions

Mark Feinsand Twitter

Clint Hurdle Defends Pirates Day After Fracas

In the hours between Tuesday’s brawl-interrupted win over the Reds and Wednesday’s series finale at Great American Ball Park, players popped into Pirates manager Clint Hurdle’s office to give their support. Hurdle offered a sincere thank you to hitting coach Rick Eckstein, who defended him during the fracas. He spoke to Pirates general manager Neal Huntington about the day's Trade Deadline and potential fallout from the fight. Hurdle also called Joe Torre, Major League Baseball's chief baseball officer, to discuss what happened.

Pittsburgh Official Site

Walk The Plank: Pirates' Pitching Inside Has Drawn Ire, Awareness From Division Rivals; Matt Carpenter, Mike Mayers Near Returns; Yairo Munoz Mans Center; Brett Cecil, Etc

Having cut his teeth and delivered a few bruises as a young starter for the Pittsburgh Pirates, Houston righthander Gerrit Cole heard Cubs manager Joe Maddon’s furious criticism earlier this month about the Bucs’ “pitching philosophy,” which can be aggressively inside and sometimes up in the zone.

Post-Dispatch

Chris Archer Exits As Precaution As Pirates Rally To Win

Nine days ago, the Pirates erased a six-run deficit to beat the Tigers. On Sunday, they dug their way out of two three-run holes to beat the Padres in 11 innings. Over the last two days, they racked up 24 runs against one of the best teams in the American League.

Pittsburgh Official Site

Cardinals Reside In Division That Has Been Consistently Strong

Since 1995, the case can be made that the Central Division is the strongest division in the National League.

Post-Dispatch

Jung-Ho Kang Wins Starting Job With Pirates

Kang Jung-ho and Erik Gonzalez have won starting jobs in the infield with the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Korea Times

Corey Dickerson Makes Spring Debut As DH

Corey Dickerson made his Grapefruit League debut in Thursday's 8-6 loss to the Yankees as the Pirates’ designated hitter. He won’t get his first look at left field for a few days to come, however.

Pittsburgh Official Site

Jung-Ho Kang Homers Twice In Spring Debut

Jung Ho Kang has never really had a normal Spring Training with the Pirates. This is no exception.

Pittsburgh Official Site

Rick Eckstein Works To Fuel Pirates' Bats

The Pirates' most important offseason additions might not have been in the bullpen or batting cages at Pirate City during the club's first full-squad workout on Monday morning. One was behind the cage on Field 1, talking to Starling Marte during live batting practice, while the other watched Jung Ho Kang hit on another field.

Pittsburgh Official Site

Chris Archer 'Can't Wait To Experience' Home Opener

Chris Archer learned last season what it's like to pitch in front of a passionate Pittsburgh crowd. When he made his Pirates debut on Aug. 3 at PNC Park, fans roared for every two-strike pitch and erupted when he got out of jams.

Pittsburgh Official Site

Jung-Ho Kang Gets Pinch-Hit Single In First MLB Game In Two Years

He's back.

Yonhap News Agency

Managerial Change Won't Sway Adrian Beltre Decision

Third baseman Adrian Beltre hasn't decided if he wants to play next season. He said the Rangers managerial change won't influence that decision.

Texas Official Site

Chris Archer Authors His Best Outing With Pirates In Win

Sitting in his office on Wednesday afternoon, Clint Hurdle thought back to the Trade Deadline afternoon the Pirates acquired Chris Archer. It was a thrilling day for a club that had surged back into the postseason picture. The Bucs have since fell behind and eventually out of the race, but Hurdle isn't any less enthused now about having Archer on board.

Pittsburgh Official Site

Cardinals Look To Gain Ground In Standings With Chance To Sweep

Looking to buy their starting pitchers some rest during the final three weeks of the season, the St. Louis Cardinals have opted for a six-man rotation on this turn through it.

Fox Sports Midwest