PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – Pirates President Travis Williams called it a ‘very frustrating year in 2025’. He said they know they need to get better and will be better in 2026. That being said, they announced Monday they will retain general manager Ben Cherington and extended the contract of manager Don Kelly.
Williams said the belief within the organization is that the team is a lot closer than their performance and record would suggest.
"I think given where this team is at this point in time, the strengths that we have in terms of our pitching staff, the young core of position players that we have and what we have in our farm system coming up, we felt at the end of the day that making any changes as a general manager would set us back,” Williams said Monday at a news conference to announce Kelly’s contract.
“It's not what our fans expect, that's not what we expect. We're looking in 2026 to make the playoffs. Period. Full stop. We did not want to veer from that. We're pushing it all in to make sure we're able to make the playoffs in 2026."
He said they know they need to be better and do some things differently. Williams said he understands they need to acquire or build on their offense. In his sixth year as team president, Williams said they will do that through trades and free agency and that ‘we need to be willing to do that aggressively and decisively through the offseason’.
Do they feel they have the money to build a winning team?
"We have sufficient resources to go out and build a team that can make the playoffs in 2026,” Williams said. “It's not a resource issue. We just have to go out and execute."
Spotrac.com lists the Pirates as spending $84.4 million on total payroll in 2025. The team, nor Major League Baseball, makes the payroll public. That ranks 27th in baseball above only the A’s, White Sox and Marlins.
Will that number increase in 2026?
"We're not going to speak to payroll,” Williams said. “We never have in the past. But we have the resources sufficient to be able to win, to make the playoffs in 2026."
Williams said winning is more than just spending money.
“There's lots of things that go into making sure you're able to be successful in a season,” Williams said. “That includes taking from a position of strength, like pitching, and being able to turn that into hitting. There are opportunities there.”
“It's not just a matter of what you're adding in terms of payroll and free agency acquisitions. There's lots of ways you can do that. But in addition to that, we need to be able to make the changes inside of baseball operations to continue to improve, that allow our players to continue to improve at the major league level and have success on the major league level."
"Just like our fans, our players deserve to have an organization that they can be proud of and gives them the opportunity to go out and play every day to the best of their ability. We’re going to provide the resources that are necessary to make sure that that happens."
“I came here six years ago to win. I came from an organization (Pittsburgh Penguins) that won. I know what it takes.”
“We're looking in 2026 to make the playoffs. Period. Full stop.”