Pirates GM Neal Huntington announced today that John Russell has been relieved of his duties as the club's manager. "I have a tremendous amount of respect for JR, both personally and professionally," said Huntington. "He took on a difficult challenge, overseeing a major overhaul in the make-up of our team. JR is a quality baseball man and a good friend. He put his heart and soul into this difficult challenge and was tremendously committed to the organization and the plan we implemented three years ago."