PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – Bucs GM Ben Cherington said he talked to All-Stars Mitch Keller and David Bednar over the last couple of days. He warned them the Pirates would get calls about them, which they did. In the end the desire was to build with the pair of pitchers.
“We have to take the phone calls and listen,” Cherington said Tuesday after the trade deadline. “That’s part of the job. That happened. When that happens, there’s going to be rumors out there. We just wanted to get ahead of that with them. But they’re Pirates, and we’re excited about that. Also excited about the other work we were able to get done.
“You just try to look past it,” Keller said. “I mean, there’s nothing I can do about it. I just go out there and pitch every five days and do the best I can. The rest is out of my control. I try not to worry too much, enjoy the ride and think of it as a cool experience. It’s pretty cool that somebody talks about wanting me on their team.”
"I mean, obviously it's great,” Bednar said of staying. “I think you guys know how I feel about being here and playing here and how fun this is gonna be when we are winning here."
“Extremely relieved, you are talking about two guys that are really important to the Pirates moving forward,” said Pirates manager Derek Shelton. “There’s a lot of speculation, a lot of talk that goes out there. When you have two all-stars of their caliber, people are going to talk about them. People are going to inquire on them. I’m excited that both guys are still here.”
The Pirates have won two straight series and will at least split the series with Detroit. Many of the players they are counting on for the future are a big part of those victories.
“No doubt,” Keller said. “It’s really special. I was just over there with Bednar and was like, ‘Dude, good to surprise some people even this year.’ We just keep winning. Just keep winning. It’s fun. I think we have a really good core, a really good group of guys, young guys coming up, too.”
“I’m just using these last two months as experience and keep compiling experiences as a group together and getting to know each other. I think it’s going to be special.”
"I think you look around this clubhouse and you see some of the young guys growing up, getting their feet wet and getting some reps and continuing to grow and learn how to fail up here and then continuing to learn from that,” Bednar said. “So, it's exciting. It's going to be fun to watch."
Traded are a 43-year-old, 37-year-old, 32-year-old and a 30-year-old, which means Bednar at 28 and Keller at 27 are some of the experienced guys in the room now.
"Yeah, definitely,” Bednar said. "A little interesting, with what three years now? But, it's cool to see all these young guys do their thing.”