PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – Multiple times on Sunday Pirates general manager Ben Cherington was asked if he had the resources (another word for money) to make deals before the August 3 trade deadline. He repeated he’s not worried about financial flexibility. What he also said about weighing long-term and short-term needs.
“We have the resources to win games and be playing baseball in October,” Cherington said. “There will be flexibility to do what we believe makes sense for the Pirates to improve the team.”
It’s a question that is debated not only in Pittsburgh but many small markets about the ability or desire to take on contracts. The Pirates obviously have needs if they want to stay in the playoff race, which currently they are a game behind the Diamondbacks, who come to town on Monday, for the final spot. Washington has the same record as the Pirates. The Cardinals are a game-and-a-half back of Arizona, the Padres are two back, Miami is three, even the Reds are only five games out of the playoffs.
“We feel urgency every day,” Cherington said. “Everybody has a job to do to get better. That starts with me. That urgency is felt. I think we just have to stay at it. We’ve already done some things that we felt made sense at the time and felt were improvements to the roster.”
Then he sounded like he was trying to motivate his group.
“We should be using every minute we have to our disposal,” Cherington said. “We still have a lot of minutes left in the next few days to use. Keep working it.”
It hasn’t been often where the Pirates have been the buyers at the deadline. It’s been what the team can get for an expiring contract or aging player to make the Pirates better in the future. Before Cherington, Bryan Reynolds was one of those returns. Not much else in deadline deals.
Most of the prospects the Pirates got in return under Cherington have yet to make a substantial, or really any impact. During Cherington’s tenure, he’s traded the following players on the Major League roster to contending teams--closer David Bednar, starting pitchers Tyler Anderson, Clay Holmes, Bailey Falter, Quinn Priester and Martin Perez, relievers Austin Davis & Richard Rodriguez, 3B Ke’Bryan Hayes, 2B Adam Frazier, 1B Carlos Santana
Of those 11 players traded for prospects, only two prospects—catcher Rafael Flores and reliever Evan Sisk, both on injured reserve, are on the current Pirates roster.
Many of those coming back in return looked good on paper, but never changed the course of the Pirates or came back to bite the team that traded them.
Is Cherington now ready to part with prospects in a prospective deal to acquire MLB players.
“I think we need to stay really open-minded,” Cherington said. “All of that is baked into the decisions. We would consider trading for rentals. We would consider trading for controllable players. We would consider trading for prospects.”
“And we need to stay open-minded about who we’re using to trade, too. We try not to be in the untouchable world for the most part.”
He said they weigh not only the immediate impact, but long-term and try to balance it as best as they can.
This comment though might speak to them being ready to trade a bigger prospect for an immediate need.
“When you have a chance — I believe Major League seasons, each one is precious — if you’re in the middle of one and have a chance, you should do everything you can to give that team a chance.”
It’s also worth noting what else Cherington said. That they will turn down deals because of the fear of the downside being too big long-term. He believes you can always balance both. You can improve 2026, while building for the future.
That is a very difficult needle to thread, especially when you don’t have the money to make up for your mistakes like the big market teams do.
“We’re open to whatever,” Cherington said. “There will be some stuff that we just don’t believe in. I think we should stay open-minded.”
It’s been seven years, it’s a critical time not only for the Pirates but their general manager.
The team is in contention and needs help. What will they do?
LISTEN to the most recent thoughts of Ben Cherington before the trade deadline
LISTEN to the most recent thoughts of Ben Cherington before the trade deadline
