PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – Pirates General Manager Ben Cherington said manager Derek Shelton is under contract for next season and he will return. The GM also said his coaching staff will be back as well.
“I love working with Shelty and this staff,” Cherington said Friday. “They work their tails off every day. They care so much about getting this right, getting better. Outcomes are hard on them too, hard on everybody. He has been consistently open to feedback. I’m so confident at the level of effort every day this staff puts in to get better.”
“I’m looking forward to this group benefitting from the fruits of their labor because I believe they will as our roster matures and gets stronger.”
In his third season, Shelton is 126-214, a .371 career winning percentage.
100 losses
A second straight 100 loss season is staring at the Pirates, Cherington doesn’t believe that stat will accurately tell the tale of the improvement in the organization.
“We made a decision to go down a path because we believe we need more talent, more players,” Cherington said of rebuilding. “We need to build a stronger base of players that can be here for a longer period of time. We believe that’s the best chance we have to get to winning as quickly as possible and then sustain it.”
“Most of those decisions were made in a way that wouldn’t help the team the next day at the Major League level. I acknowledge that and despite that I believe we are making progress at the Major League level. I believe the way we are playing baseball continues to improve.”
“I don’t know what our record will be at the end of the year. I hope it shows progress, I believe it can. All of that is happening when the decision we are making aren’t helping the roster the next day.”
“I think we are at a moment in time that progress should not be measured entirely by wins and losses. That doesn’t mean the games aren’t important, I do not think right now it’s the best way to measure.”
“We are getting closer to better outcomes.”
“We really do see progress and we will need more of it. Eventually the outcomes matter, but those get better because of more players, players maturing and that will happen.”
Frustration
Cherington said it’s not that they aren’t frustrated by what is going on with the team, but it also motivates them to get better.
“In baseball there is no single solution,” Cherington said. “No single move or shortcut that will get us from Point A to Point B. It’s a lot of stuff that adds up over time and all of a sudden you are in a better spot and you are winning games.”
“You need a lot of good players. It takes some time to get a lot of good players. Then even after you have them, they have to go through a transition. Good young players don’t always show up in the big leagues on day one and helping you win. It takes some time.”
Too much youth
Cherington disagreed with the notion when presented in a question that they could have too many young players at one time in the majors.
“No. because every one of them is getting benefit of their experience,” Cherington said. “It’s a fact of life, that’s what we need to do. Even if there are going to be some struggles, we’ve got to be willing to do that because sooner or later they will have to. We trying to pick the best spots.”
“I don’t think we will ever be hesitant to give young players an opportunity here even if it’s a bunch at one time. Obviously as you get to a deeper, stronger roster and get to winning more games the complexion of the team looks different because it’s more mature. We think we are really getting benefit of this young group playing and we’ll see more of that.”
“It’s really valuable that we’ve had so many young position players have as many reps as they’ve had at the Major League level and it’s only going to help some of them be stronger contributors sooner rather than later. It’s part of the process. We are going to have to rely on young players. I think that represents progress.”
“On the pitching side, we are excited about the group of young pitchers we are accumulating and starting to get either at or close to the Major League level. Obviously, we still need to improve but we can see guys either taking steps forward in a rotation and becoming guys you can look at as part of a good rotation or other young starting pitchers who are getting experience and steps.”
“We are excited about the direction of our pitching. We understand it has to be better, but we are excited about the direction of it.”
Hodgepodge of Nothingness
Cherington asked by the Post-Gazette’s and 93.7 The Fan’s Jason Mackey about the Red Sox broadcasters’ comments on Tuesday including the one of the Bucs lineup being a hodgepodge of nothingness.
“I was disappointed for our players that anybody would speak about a player in the Major Leagues or any professional player in that way,” Cherington said. “What our players said about it, I thought was completely appropriate. I will let that speak for itself.”