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.”
The 47-year-old Russell is the 38th manager as the club enters its 123rd season. In his first season at the helm with Pittsburgh in 2008, Russell guided the Bucs to a 67-95 record. His club posted a National-League best 50-2 record when leading after seven innings last year.