It’s been another tough season for the Pirates, and things went poorly enough early in the year that manager Derek Shelton was fired just six weeks into the regular season. While the club showed at least some signs of life in the aftermath of Shelton’s firing, with a 52-51 record under interim manager Don Kelly through September 4, they’ve gone on to lose 12 of their last 14 games and now look sure to end the season on a sour note. With a 66-89 record entering play today, Pittsburgh is more than 20 games underwater for the year and has already locked up a worse record than the club posted in back-to-back 86-loss seasons during the 2023 and ’24 campaigns.
A step backwards in Paul Skenes’s first full season in the major leagues could not possibly have been something Pittsburgh was expecting, and none of the team’s woes can be attributed to their ace given his 2.02 ERA and status as the heavy favorite for the NL Cy Young award. The problem lies elsewhere in the organization, and yesterday GM Ben Cherington was asked by reporters about his job status and plans for the future. Cherington (as relayed by Kevin Gorman of TribLive) told reporters that he “hasn’t heard anything to the contrary” from ownership when asked if he expects to return for 2026.
“I don’t know if any of us in this room ever have full assurance of anything, but I want to help the Pirates win more games,” Cherington told reporters. “That’s it. I don’t do the job because of the job. I do the job because I want to be a part of making this thing work. Winning more games and being able to leave PNC Park at night feeling better and everybody feeling better. That’s why I do it. I still want to do it. I badly want to do it.”
Cherington went on to discuss the status of Kelly headed into the offseason, and made clear that he’s holding off on evaluating the interim manager’s performance until the season comes to a close. He went on to say that he expected Kelly would do “a really good job” in the role from the moment he took over back in May, and that his performance “is one that’s not surprising” to him. While Cherington’s review of Kelly’s work was largely positive, he also noted that not having a manager locked in for 2026 at this point creates “an opportunity to really have a culture that feels different” next season. If Pittsburgh brass think a significant change in culture is necessary to get the team back on track, it could be argued that Kelly isn’t the right person to change that culture after spending six seasons in the organization between his time as bench coach and interim manager.
Despite uncertainty in the dugout and the team’s poor performance this year, Cherington added that he expects the team to contend next season. At the same time, he acknowledged that “you can’t just hope it’s going to happen” and that “some really important work” needs to be done to improve the club around Skenes. The most obvious place improvement will be needed is on offense, as Spencer Horwitz and his 107 wRC+ represent the only above-average offensive contribution the club got from any of its hitters this year. Perhaps the team can expect better performances from Oneil Cruz and Bryan Reynolds next year given their track records, but the rest of the lineup has posted uninspiring numbers with little reason for optimism going forward.
The microscopic budget handed down by ownership is a perennial challenge in Pittsburgh, but Cherington and the Pirates’ front office do have an exciting farm system and a deep pitching staff from which they could try to swing trades that would upgrade the offense. Top prospect Konnor Griffin isn’t going anywhere, of course, but with Skenes, Jared Jones, Mitch Keller, Johan Oviedo, Mike Burrows, Bubba Chandler, Hunter Barco, Thomas Harrington, Braxton Ashcraft, and Carmen Mlodzinski all likely to be in the mix for starts next year there should be plenty of room to move an arm or three for help on offense. Indeed, that’s how they were able to acquire Horwitz, as they traded Luis Ortiz to the Guardians to acquire their first baseman last offseason shortly after he joined Cleveland in the Andres Gimenez trade. If they can follow a similar road map more aggressively this winter, they should be able to leverage their bevy of young pitching talent in order to augment the offense without breaking the bank.
What he should have said…
“As long as the Pittsburgh Pirates have an owner who doesn’t care about winning, I’m just here to provide lip service and the fans will be disappointed year in and year out.”
Can’t criticize ownership on the spot.
If he criticized ownership then he’d never be a president of baseball ops again
He’s not president now and no matter how much he kisses up he might not ever be in the future. If he gets fired from Pittsburgh will he ever be gm again? Maybe of a car dealership or Applebee’s.
as if the the pirates owners makes player decisions, scouts the players or develops them. His main down fall is hiring staffs that have not lived up to expectations.. or they have and they’re just that bad lol.
Ben has done a really poor job, the best things he has done (so far) is get Paul and fire Shelton.
I assume that the main gripe with the ownership is the money but the past few years no amount of money would have fixed the problems
Skenes fell in his lap.He was the obvious choice to everyone.
He did get the last two guys and was smart enough to pick them.
He probably would do a good job as head of scouting but general manager is beyond his talent level.
I doubt head of scouting is a great position either. His involvement in drafting and international signings in boston is inflated. Not bad but certainly not over the moon. But still probably an upgrade to what we got currently 😀
I think that Cherington has talent as a baseball person but it is limited to certain categories and is not great enough to enable him to be a fine GM.
I still remember sitting in a Pizza place in Nashville Tennessee Watching game 7 of the 1979 world series with my friend. I never dreamed that that would be the last time the Pittsburgh pirates would make the World series let alone win 1.Such a shame.It was a great franchise growing up.
I remember in the 1960’s they had had the third best all time record in the NL behind the Giants and Dodgers.
Now they are basically 500.
Still a great franchise. Just Pittsburgh is too small and too poor. Bob Nutting being stupid doesn’t help.
Bro is full of crap
You don’t play much poker do you? If you did, you would fold 80% of the time lol
“You play the hand you’re dealt, and you do the best you can.”
-Gary 9:21
If the Pirates don’t win anything for the rest of this decade with Skenes, Chandler, and Griffin then the franchise will have to be disbanded entirely.
Mlb wants a team in Pittsburgh so they would just make Nutting want to sell team.
I hope that doesn’t happen. The Pirates have a rich history and potential to be good again. If only they replaced the current clowns in the front office.
The Pirates need to spend some money. Everyone talks about how we need a salary cap but teams like this are allowed to spend as little as they want with no rebuke from anyone other than the poor fan base. its pathetic.
Correct me if i’m wrong… there is a soft floor. There was kinda one before but not really.
IIRC: Teams are required to spend what they get back from the league + 50% after the last CBA i think. I don’t remember exactly but part they changed it so that the money has to have more effect on the mlb team not just somewhere in the franchise.
I cannot seem to find a reference to it again.
Its very plausible the franchise is now running in or close to the red again as some rumors suggest.
Enough of the BS, it’s time to build a winner. The Bucs excellent pitching requires the support of excellent offense.
With excellent pitching, they don’t need an “excellent offense”. They only need a better offense. They can’t afford to buy excellent developed hitters. They have to improve their hitter development and their game approach. Hopefully they are able to get some better hitters either through trades or free agency. They also don’t have a lot to trade realistically. Keller is probably their best trade chip. To trade Skenes, Chandler, etc. would be an exercise in incompetence as you would be destroying what strengths the team has.
Free agency isn’t happening. Trades are possible. They have the farm system to get pretty much anyone available.
except that you can’t win every game by the score of 1-0
They must have hitters who don’t strikeout every plate appearance.
Cruz should be traded. Jack should be non tendered as he’s eligible for arbitration as is Cruz
For the life of me I can’t understand why they dont trade Skenes. I know parting with generational talent is hard to swallow but there is less than a 0% chance that Skenes signs with Pittsburgh long term. Pittsburgh could literally rob a teams farm system if they traded him. It’s not like they are going to be super competitive so what’s the point in holding on to a winning lottery ticket and not cashing it in?
theyll be able to get as much for two years of him as they would for five, though. no point in selling him too early. look at the soto package (1.5 yrs club control)
Skenes is about the Pirates’ only draw. Gives the fans some hope of a W when they show up to the ballpark. So they trade Skenes and hopefully have two more Skenes in perhaps four or five years. That’s no guarantee and doesn’t move the needle anyway. Don’t slay the golden goose when there are no future plans for the org beside making profits.
Lol.
You mean the Skenes bobblehead is their only draw.
@Vealparm you and the anti-Pittsburgh Nutting bootlickers have been outnumbered. The more you stand for Nutting like RichardJarzynka, the more you look foolish.
Your ignorance of teams other than your own has been exposed, mouth breather.
Are attendance figures too complicated for your tiny brain to comprehend?
But, but the numbers of stupid people all disagree with reality!!!
Great argument, Einstein
😂 😆 😂
Richard has returned under a new name
I always thought that Richard was a well meaning gentleman who used biased stats to satisfy his judgements..
He stuck to his guns but was not combative.
Barring an injury of course. But, in this case, I believe they can get a truckload more for 5 instead of 2. There is no point to holding onto him imo
And get him out of your division, right?
No team is willing to pay the full prospect value for 5 years of Skenes service
I’m sure several would back up that talent truck and unload, then go back for a 2nd load- for a young, generalational talent.
“Look at the Soto package”
Okay, and where are the Washington Nationals right now? They have a worse record than the Pirates and their farm system is ranked bottom 10 in mid-season rankins by both MLB.com and Baseball America.
No, Soto alone would not make the Nationals that much better, but it’s very rare you see teams make a Soto-esque trade and come out winners of that deal. But it’s clear that doing that alone isn’t going to make you a winner.
True. An early career trade seems nothing more than a draft. There are some great first round draft picks (that are recognized as great by their teams) and then there are some first round picks that are offered in trade for proven winners. You don’t trade Skenes for maybes; you trade him for proven MLB performers.
If Skenes was smart and he seems to be he would sign a extension. Would only be 2 years but it’s something. Who’s traded the best player pitcher in baseball with 4 years left? It’s usually 1 year left maybe 2. Why Soto trade was such a big deal and costed so much. Pirates are in good spot with elite farm system and mlb pitching. They are playoff contenders with the right trade and free agent.
They will do Skenes (and all of baseball) a ‘solid’ and trade him eventually. He has one more year i believe of making the league minimum before his salary skyrockets. Then Nutting will have a decision to make. But whats the difference, really?… without spending money, they arent winning with Skenes or without him.
Worry about your own craptastic franchise.
Unfortunately Skeens is going the get expensive real quick. I don’t see Pitt even able to afford his 3rd arb year. Try to win over next 2 years, then trade him for a boat load.
IF they trade him this off season- Boston has alot of good young(cheap) talented players that Pitt could stock their roster(and I’m not talking about a land of prospects).
Hayes plus Bednar plus Keller. 3rd arb year covered. Will likely trade him for prospects before that though. If they win the attendance increase will pay for his arb year. Or new CBA will give Nutting more $. Or new TV deals. 3rd arb isn’t a issue.
Trading skenes now would require more than any team would be willing to part with.
A couple years his trade value will go down due to control and still be out of the price range for pretty much everyone. assuming his performance doesn’t dramatically drop off.
There may be only a couple of farm systems that could support a trade for him.
If you got even near ready ML players you would have to assume that only half would eventually be worth keeping.
That would mean that you would need to get six of the top ten prospects in a good minor league system and they would have to match the Pirates needs which admittedly are many.
Skenes is the Pirates only selling point and he should not be traded before having just two years left and even then should still command an outstanding return.
This guy is a sure fire HOF pitcher if he remains healthy.
They are rare.
I don’t think anybody there should be making long term plans including Skenes. I think Paul and Livvy should be thinking more West Coast.
For what? Sunsets? Looking at the standings, they would best be served by the East and Central divisions.
They have apartment in NY. NY he can make most $.
With the Dodgers his grand kids can be getting paid.
He does not seem like a NY kind of player to me.
Lots of pressure there.
Bednar seems to like it.Skenes may.But I do not think that he needs that kind of attention.
Skenes doesn’t like big market teams, he’s said as much
Less pressure
What? You don’t see limelight Liv wanting to settle down in Pittsburgh?
Cherrington needs to be tared and feathered, tied to a lampost, and frog-marched out of town. He has done a deplorable job regardless of how little resources he is allowed to fiddle with. The resources he is allocated are frivolously and inefficiently squandered, it appears to me. Time for a new brain trust in the front office to figure something else out.
I agree. I’m not saying Bob Nutting isn’t a problem, but Jack Suwinski’s +2.0 fWAR in nearly 400 games is the most valuable position player prospect Cherington acquired and developed himself, and he’s been outright horrible in 2024 and 2025. Spencer Horwitz is looking like about the best position player to come out of Cherington’s time with the Pirates, and he didn’t even develop him. It was with the Jays he was drafted and developed by, and had a strong 2024 rookie season with.
It’s hard to believe this is the same
GM who won a World Series in Boston. There was nothing even close to resembling any decision making that could be elite or foundational that has his stamp in Pittsburgh. With the Red Sox, he must have had a lot of support and guidance from those guys in the front office who had been there for years. I’m sorry you guys deserve so much more.
He also left behind a lot of players that helped the Red Sox win the 2018 WS. He acquried Brock Holt, Rick Porcello, and Eduardo Rodriguez, drafted Jackie Bradley Jr. and Andrew Benintendi, and pretty much oversaw most of the development of guys like Mookie Betts, Xander Bogaerts, Christian Vazquez. He wasn’t perfect, but he made plenty of smart moves in Boston.
Finances. In his case anyway.
@son. He had a lot of money. The big successes came with money (and failure too). He bought the right players.
The “foundation” of players people talk about is over hyped. Not bad mind you but his part is inflated.
Jack had 950 ops AA SD. 750 with Pittsburgh. Pirates didn’t do anything to develop him. When they they tried to develop him they made him worse. Much worse. Cherington hasn’t developed anyone in MLB yet. Few DR kids looked good this year.
Boston he just took over a team that already had development and payroll. All he had to do was maintain it. He did well to dump salary and bring in some new guys.
Haines tried to make Jack more of a contact hitter and that severely damaged his power stroke
I think that would be “run up a lamppost….”that’s the cliche you are looking for.
Thank you. I knew something was off.
The writer said skenes took a step backwards this year. The writer is full of crap. Skenes didn’t take a step back. 2.02 era. In top 5 in ks. If anyone took a step back it was the pirates. Skenes should have 16 wins if he had any hitting support.
Cherrington has no business having a job. Neither should Kelly. Both should be fired after the last out of the the lady game of the year.
And this writer needs to rework his words or go back to flipping 🍔s
You misread this. It may have been somewhat of a dangling participle but they were referencing the team taking a step backwards
“A step backwards in Paul Skenes’s first full season in the major leagues could not possibly have been something Pittsburgh was expecting, and none of the team’s woes can be attributed to their ace given his 2.02 ERA and status as the heavy favorite for the NL Cy Young award.”
Yes I did read it fast. Reread it and I give my correction to the writer of the post
The writer should have been more careful with that first sentence
It doesn’t justify you being all defensive and bringing up flipping burger emojis, though. Calm down first, then type.
I apologized. I dont need preached to by a entitled Yankee nutjob
I did the same thing, then looked at it again. Ignore the haters who aren’t human enough to admit their own mistakes. They (Steinbrenner and others) will suffer from their own arrogance in the end.
A+ article for those with a grade 3 or higher reading level.
BTC is, like many of us here, lifelong Pirate fans
I had to read it twice or three times myself. I was thinking the same as you did so no worries here.
As much as nutting crushes this teams chances. They don’t needa ton more in the budget to compete. They just need to turn some of the pitching into hitting. Maybe they take a chance on someone like Tristan casas and he stays healthy. I still think those two teams line up well, but casas certainly lost some value.
Pirates have Horwitz. Nothing special but they probably think they are fine with him.
I like Caissie from the Cubs for RF and Casas too as the DH.Maybe the Red Sox will take Cruz for him.
Yep, it’s definitely a “culture” problem. Or maybe the infield grass needs to be a little longer or a little shorter. Or maybe the souvenir cups they sell in the concession stands need a new design. No matter what, you know Cherrington’s on top of it.
They had this pirates bat 20 some ounces filled with pop corn wanted like 20 or 25 or 30 bucks or something crazy for it. Hyped it up during broadcast. Cheapest plastic thing you could imagine and they hyped it as collector item.
The Rays are contending year after year with a low payroll… even the A’s have had winning seasons with minimal payrolls. There is no excuse for the decades of ineptitude in Pittsburgh!
It’s all about player development. Pirates cannot develop players. Nor can they seem to be able to help a player who gets exposed in the majors. If a player can’t figure it out himself he’s cooked
They’ve developed pitching, but hitting is a different story. The Pirates have yet to draft or trade for a prospect since Cherington took over, and put up a 100 wRC+.
Of course they’ve “developed” pitching.
That’s where they spend their draft bonuses.
They don’t “develop” hitters because they spend their high draft picks for hitters on diminutive middle infielders.
BCs first draft was a blueprint. Nick Gonzales , then all pitchers.
The skenes draft was 12 pitchers, 3 hitters, two of whom were soon traded.
This year? Started off the draft with 2 pitchers. At least they went for sluggers later. Yippee
Ben Cherington definitley prioritized pitching above hitting. I’m not denying that. But it’s still been 5 full seasons since Cherington took over, and he has yet to find a hitter on his own, regardless of what he drafted.
The Pirates are at least decent in developing arms.
1st round they simply took the best player available. Unfortunately there wasn’t a KG available those early years. 2nd 3rs round they seemed to take best player available. Pitchers will be that player more often. Rounds 4 through 20 I don’t know because I don’t scout that hard.
But if pitching is all you can develop it makes sense to draft pitching. Probably should have done that.
First 3 drafts all bitters first round so didn’t prioritize it much. Took not 1 but 2 freaking 2b instead of pitching and a catcher many believed couldn’t catch.
Padres need pitching. Pirates have it. Pirates need hitting. Padres have it. I would discuss what they want for Jacob Wilson, SS.
More importantly, Padres are willingly to trade
First the Padres need to get Wilson from the Athletics.
You’re certainly right, the problem may be far more complex that just striking a trade or two for some reliable bats. For example, Cruz may be traded and then he’d go and have a +100 OPS season somewhere else.
Rays have had the player development.
The A’s have had Billy Beane and Bob Melvin.
Ben Cherington’s only future plans should be checking LinkedIn for new job opportunities.
I know the team is never going to tell him he’s out of a job at the end of the year, but he has to go. We’re looking at a team with the 6th best ERA+, the 3rd best FIP, 5th best WHIP, and lead the league in shutouts. They’re also top ten in defensive runs saved, outs above average, and fielding runs. But they are far and away last in runs per game, wRC+, wOBA, OPS, and only trail the Rockies in wRC+.
Since taking over as GM in 2020, the most valuable position player he drafted or acquired via trade as a prospect, and developed himself is Jack Suwinski with 2.0 fWAR. All of that comes in his first two seasons though, because he’s been below replacement level the last two years.
He’s had about five full MLB and MILB seasons to find and develop a hitter on his own, and Jack Suwinski is the best he can do? C’mon man.
“I don’t know if any of us in this room ever have full assurance of anything, but I want to help the Pirates win more games,” Cherington told reporters.
If Cherington wants to help the Pirates win more games he should resign.
Kelly should no be brought back. His last 20 games have been atrocious
Yeah but his first 105 were pretty good considering what he had to work with.
It’s not so much who he had to play with, it’s his managerial strategies. HE HAS NONE
I disagree. He has been a lot better with his choices when it comes to the bullpen and line-up than Shelton, not that that is saying much. But me personally, I think he’s done enough to get another shot next year. There are plenty of problems with the Pirates right now, but I don’t see Kelly as one of them.
I see an idiot every time he pencils Suwinski in the starting lineup card.
That’s on Cherington more than Kelly. He’s left Kelly horrible options beyond the regulars like Cruz, Reynolds, and Pham. Who else are you going to pencil into the outfield? Alexander Canario? He’s just right-handed Suwinski. Billy Cook has been on the IL since the begining of August. The Pirates only other options are Ji-Hwan Bae, and Ryan Kreidler. The best option would be Nick Yorke, but that’s when he’s not playing the infield.
Canario is far from great but his chances of getting a hit are twice those of Jack’s. Suwinski must have the lowest batting average of any semi regular in MLB history.
1225. I respect your takes on the pirates and your loyalty. Im 70. Im a die-hard pirate fan. But for the last 5 years Kelly/Shelton and cherrington have tested my patience. I know you love analytics. But the pirates suck at it. And the money cherrington wasted on analytics was insane.
And again kellys game day management skills are non existent.
And yet, they have the same chance of reaching base. Suwinski has a .275 OBP and Canario has a .279 OBP. Plus they have a similar rate of getting an extra base hit.
Imo, part of the problem is they aren’t spending enough on analytics and data analysis. I remember posting in another thread that they have far less data analysts or R&D employees than other mid-to-small market teams like the Rays, Guardians, and Brewers. Iirc, they all had 25+ while the Pirates only had abou 18 or 20.
I understand your frustration. It’s not like I’m happy where the team is at right now, but analytics isn’t the problem. It’s part of the solution but the Pirates haven’t figured out how to most efficently use them.
I’d advise eliminating the entire analytics department and buy a newspaper. Giddy up giddy up 409
I hope you’re being sarcastic mlb1225, because Cherington has spent over $20m on analytics that could’ve gone to payroll. Who needs analytics anyway when you have 7 players in the lineup batting under .250?
Could you point me in the direction where you seen they spent $20 million on their analytics department? Currently, they list 17 players on their R&D page on their directory. For reference, the Brewers have at least 23 employees listed on their directory who are involved with R&D, or something similar like analysts. Either they’re not spending very much in analytics compared to other teams, or aren’t spending it very wiseley/efficently, which if Ben Cherington has a say in who gets hired, that would not surprise me.
mlb1225
pittsburghbaseballnow.com/ben-cherington-mistakes-…
msn.com/en-us/sports/mlb/pirates-insider-reveals-b…
Appreciate that. But still, if we’re talking about a Ben Cherington-formed analytics department, I’m not convinced Ben put together both an efficent and effective analytics staff.
Mlb1225-I certainly believe that.
Guy isn’t much of a insider. Refresh my memory but I never seen him break any news.
Could be true though. And no pirates fan should have a problem with this. Significant though is pushing it. Technology isn’t cheap and good analysts can cost 100k a year. But to get remotely close to 20 million is a heck of a lot of equipment.
After the Priester disaster they needed to scrap every employee and start from fresh. Need to scrap current group as well because they are still failing.
Not a news breaker for sure, but he’s covered the Pirates forever. Ben may not have spent the entire $20m on analytics but this teams needs a lot of dollars sent to payroll.
The reasons that they have been playing both Canerio and Suwinski is that both of these guys are decent fielders,they hustle,and they have power,which is in very short supply on the Pirates.
The biggest reason though is that they have had no one better.
Keep all of the pitching coaches throughout the organization.
they also strikeout with great consistency
Pirates were crappy the last 20 games, so maybe considered that draft position matters?
Draft position matters but they just lack the talent and motivation.
My offseason to improve the offense would look like this:
-Extend Konnor Griffin off the bat. That gets you a real shortstop in the Major Leagues on Opening Day and pushes Jared Triolo into a utility role.
-Sign Kazuma Okamoto for third base. Yeah, they’re probably not going to get much defense from him, but he’s crushed the ball in a league going through their own deadball era. If the defense is that bad, then use Triolo as a late-game replacement.
-Re-sign Tommy Pham. He likes playing here and he’s been solid since he got his new contacts. Put him in a platoon with Billy Cook.
-Trade for Adley Rutschman if the O’s make him avaiable. He still has a solid .338 xwOBA and is a good defender. The Pirates have plenty of pitching. Make it happen.
only dont like the resigning of pham – definately going to regress, and konnor griffin is not yet an opening day shortstop, yet i do think they should sign him to a long term contract off the rip like colt keith. I would love if they traded for adley, especially since his market has gone down, he would be much cheaper.
I don’t love the idea of re-signing Pham either. But the Pirates probably aren’t going to find a better option for a similar or cheaper price. If you put him out there with Billy Cook, I think you can at least get semi-passable overall production between hitting and defense.
Again, I’m not setting the bar high. I’m looking for semi-passable. Not good, not even average. Just good enough to not completley regret having them out there.
We need more intelligent dudes commenting over on the Red Sox articles. Could you possibly change teams?
There’s so much garbage over there. It’s difficult to go through the comments lol.
I come to the Pirates articles just to read you and your buddies’ intelligent exchanges. It’s refreshing !!
Billy Cook has just a slightly better chance of being a good player as you guys girls do.
We don’t call him bright eyes for nothing!!!!!!!!!! Go ahead and steal him though. I don’t know how we will survive but somehow we will manage.
Triolo has been batting over.300 since the middle of August. Playing him regularly, he’s become a good offensive player and his defense has been very solid
I think that he is a good replacement for Hayes but I do not see him being a regular shortstop.
They don’t need a 38yr old outfielder and Adley is about to get expensive. They can roll with Davis at catcher because of the defense and hope he hits .225. Trade Keller, Cruz and a younger pitcher for hitters.
Adley only made $5.5 million this year, and even an increase to $9-10 million is still worth it. He’s so far and away better than Davis is with the bat. He has a 184 point leg up on Davis in OPS. The difference between Davis and Rutschman in OPS this year is the same as Rutschman and Freddie Freeman.
He’s a great player, but the pirates simply can’t afford to keep him.
Hold on to your hats! Another offseason of a couple free agent signings under $5 million and a trade of Keller incoming!
You’re wrong! Cutch will get 5 million exactly!
If you want a 240 hitter with 13 home runs yes.
Cutch again leads the team in walks, and is 4th in runs batted in
True,but my guess is that the stats have been going downhill and the guy will be 38 years old soon.
And comparing anyone’s stats to this team is damning with faint praise.
I like Cutch too but if the Pirates actually want to win they need to get over the tradition of having Cutch on the team,especially since he cannot play the field anymore.
I do not want him to get to the point that he embarrasses himself.
BC also said he’s going to be aggressive on the trade front. Within reason, of course.
When scoring an extra 100 runs will move you up to Next To Last in NL scoring, one must be reasonable.
There’s zero evidence to support BC staying in his job. He should’ve been shown the door last year. Nothing he’s done this year to show he deserves more time at the helm.
What’s James Click doing these days? Could he make it work on a $0 spending budget?
He drafted the best player in draft 3 years in a row. Got Skenes. Got one of the best farm systems in baseball. Every big decision he runs by Williams and Nutting.
I think he should be fired but you can make the argument for 1 more year since you are probably paying him anyways.
Nutting paid both Huntington and Hurdle for two more years when he fired them both.
Ben’s got to go.
Six years is plenty.
Word I got was he wanted to draft Crews over Skenes, and only gave in because everyone else in the FO was against him.
His drafting the last couple years has improved thanks to the hiring of new Scouting Director.
Nobody in MLB should get to run an organization a 7th year after 6 straight last place, or 2nd to last place finishes in the division.
I like Horowitz but the draft classes were simply better last few years. I hate dwarf 2b but he had to pick TJ.
The only good thing was beating the Cardinals out in 2023 to make up for 2013,2014,and 2015!
Third straight year that Keller had a great first half and the Pirates don’t trade him at the deadline. Then he has a horrible second half and ruins his offseason trade value. Can they make it four next year?
If you know this don’t you think other teams do?
Would you been happy if he was traded for a prospect? A non top 50 prospect? They tried to trade him and few teams at least wouldn’t give a top 50 for him.
Who in their right mind would ever expect the Pirates to do anything other than suck?
He began the presser with…
“I THINK that we have to win more games…”
DUUUUHHHHH!!!!!
Please FIRE THIS MORON!!!!!
Trading pitching should be plan Z!!
1. Catcher with strong pitcher management skill
2. Acquire semi productive players under contract where that player has fall3n out of favor with the team
3. With the strong pitching they need position players that can provide abit of power and run production( .260+/12-14 hr/70+ rbi’s
4. Strong arms in the BP- shorten the game(like Sea does)
5. Moving Keller and his $ to fullfill 1 of the above. Opps, that goes against #1
Give us names
There has to be some kind of cancer in the pirates organization. I believe it’s the management and the coaching. 2 batting coaches and even worse results. It’s just hard for be to believe that a whole teams offense would go south. I’ve heard that these coaches love to tinker with the hitters techniques. Case in point jack suwinsky. Coming off a 26 homerun year.then he completely forgets how to hit. I believe they messed with his beating and screwed him. Who knows how many others they screwed. This is why the manager,the gm and coaches all need fired
Honestly, the team is not going to change until the current owner is gone.
While watching the steelers,they also need to clean house in the coaching department. New,older players, same offensive woes
Bucs up 7-0. Moron Jr takes burrows out after 4. GIVE THE KID 1 MORE INNING so te kid can get the win. Oh so they say watch his pitch count and innings. It’s the kids last game of the year. Proves my point thst Kelly is moron jr
He’d get the 4 innings if he gave up 5 runs and 9 baserunners also. Its not even results based… its just scripted
He’s thrown nearly twice as many innings this year than he did during 2023 and 2024 combined, and it’s also the second time he has ever pitched more than 55 innings in a season. There’s zero reason to make him go another inning at this point in the year other than to reach an arbitray stat that doesn’t even matter. If you’re really that upset about it, then maybe Burrows shouldn’t have used 75 pitches to get thru 4 innings.
One more inning will not break the aem. Maybe kellys one brain cell but not the aem
You don’t know if one more inning would injure him. Regardless, he has still pitched over twice as many innings as he did in 2023 and 2024 and there’s zero reason to push him beyond his limits at this point in the year. That was also the most pitches he had thrown in a game since August 10. The large lead is only more of a reason to pull him if you ask me.
Burrows is on a pitch count because he’s one year removed from TJ surgery
I agree BC needs to move on to his life’s work. I’m most disappointed with the hitting coaching and development. The only hitter to get better this year than last was Adam Frazier, who was the first to go at the deadline. Pham, Cutch, Horwitz, Gonzalez broke even. Everyone else regressed. The typical game goes like this: score a run or 2 early, then nothing, not even a well struck fair ball, the rest of the way. Constant pop-ups, soft grounders, and strikeouts looking. No evidence that hitters go to the plate with a plan. No situational hitting. Davis can be a decent hitter if he would stop trying to pull everything, but no evidence that he is working on it. Random chance should show some hitters improving – it almost looks like sabotage.
Please Ben Cherington, PLEASE look for another job! And take Bob Nutting with you. The Pirates are never gonna contend with the two of you still around.
Pirates can’t develop hitters. Period. MLB should be more proactive like the NFL and NBA in forcing out bad, relatively poor owners.
Until the development team changes along with the owner or at east his spend level, there is no hope ar all.
Smart Owner/GM spends this offseason on 3 bats and brings up Griffin and starts he and Flores, hoping to get more out of Reynolds and Cruz and same out of Horowitz. Add a corner OF and 2b, say Gleyber Torres and Cedric Mullins, realistic for this franchise as far as $ and willingness to sign there. At that point the tram has, if you squint hard, credible MLB hitters almost everywhere, a major improvement. The swidd army knife backups like Triolo can then play their role and with some closer luck, be a team that at the deadline adds a couole guys to make a run.
Maybe? Bout as good as it gets without being unrealistic.
What do you like about Mullens? Had 1 year with a ops over 723 in 2021. Speed and defense likely declining as it does with most all 30 somethings. .183 average with Mets.
Cedric Mullins has a .203 batting average with 47 hits, 6 home runs, 25 RBIs and 29 runs scored in 76 games since June 16, 2025
Cedric Mullins is batting .199 with 68 hits, 11 homers, 39 RBIs and 41 runs scored in 105 games since April 29, 2025
Guy had 1 good month and other than that he’s been Canario Suwinski
Torres sounds better. What if another team signs him? Who do you pivot to? Why Torres is probably too expensive for Pittsburgh.
Grisham might be expensive too but maybe steroid scare? Maybe Pirates should be scared as well.
The reality is the Pirates are a bottom 5 destination team and will be picking through bounceback guys. He has as much or more upside than older guys or similar age guys, and generally a positive health history. Sorry.
Fair enough. He was never good though so nothing to bounce back from. 1 year wonder. Basically you are getting Pham again. Useful but not moving the needle.
Robert would be someone with potential but will be in demand. Grisham if not roids and can repeat would make a difference.
C – Endy
1B – Horowitz
2B – Gonzales
SS – Griffin
3B – ?
LF – Reynolds
CF – Cruz
RF – ?
DH – ?
Bench
Triolo / Suwinski / Bart
Those are the only pieces I see for 2025. We will see if the Pirates make real moves to address 3B, RF and DH. If they do, they might have a chance to be .500. But will they unload pitching prospects or drop 50-60 million to get real players? I doubt it.
Triolo would be at 3b and why is Reynolds going to LF when he played RF all year? Why no Davis who is the most proven best healthy catcher?
C Davis Bart
1b Horwitz
2b Gonzales
SS Triolo
3b Trade Free agent
LF Trade Free agent
CF Cruz
RF Reynolds
One of those could be Pham back in LF and Yorke at 3b. We tried! Nothing was available that was better than our in house options!
In June KG and TJ could should be up which improves lineup. Add another bat at deadline. Playoffs here we come!!!!!!!!!
You asked for names-
Castellanos DH RF
Casas DH 1B
Caissie RF
Put Triolo at 3rd
Move Horwitz to 2B and Gonzalez to SS
Play Connor in CF next year in AA and AAA- make sure that he can play either in ML
Castellanos? Looks like Tired will put them down for 70 to 72 wins again.
They could get him cheap.
He is an all star fielder in the 25 square feet that he covers.He does have a good arm in right field.
The Phillies will pay probably 2/3 of his $20M annual salary just to get rid of him.
He would look like Hank Greenberg on the Pirates and provide some of the power that they desperately need.
The Phillies would promote Crawford next year to replace him.
Would be thinking out of the box for Cherington but maybe not the next GM.
They can pay all his contract he isn’t improving the team.
He has 17 home runs and 707 ops.
Compare that to the combination of Canario and Suwinski.
He would have the second most home runs on a team that needs power.
Pham has 9 home runs and 690 ops.
We’re talking the Pirates here.
Any decent ML hitter would be an improvement.
Castellanos negative war player. He isn’t doing anything other than making them worse.
That may be true but it may be because of his fielding and running.
We’re talking the Pirates here.
17 home runs would be a gold mine on this team.
They can get him for pennies on the dollar.
You said that power was expensive.
Who says that he cannot improve back to close to where he was a few years ago.
Griffin is 2yrs away and Cutch will DH. Endy is terrible and Suwinski should be washing cars somewhere. Trade Cruz while he has some value and hope that the return, along with Keller’s return, will bring in a few young OF hitters.
Griffin is probably ready for opening day. Better than Yorke Devanney Cook Bae Canario Suwinski Peguero Davis already. I just want the extra year and imagine the pirates do as well. Nothing wrong with giving him a month or 2 in AAA to make sure he is ready and more importantly try to get that extra year.
He’s already better than every SS on their major or minor league rosters, but I don’t think he’ll be in the mlb full time until 2027. He’ll get the Bubba treatment next year.
Endy is injury prone and can’t be counted on to make it through an entire season without getting hurt
Suwinski is arbitration eligible and should be nom tendered
Cutch most likely is coming back next season and Triolo should be the starting third baseman
Cruz should be traded. He’s regressed this year and really doesn’t like playing here
I’ve heard enough of his vague empty interviews in the past. He has made horrible trades. He’s drafted ok, but absolutely nothing from the international side. With all that said the balls in Nuttings court. He is simply going to have to spend some money. Personally I believe half the fans who commented could do a as good as job as this front office
International had great year in 2025.
Yes some guys in AA who have a chance but no major league impact yet
If he wants the pirates to win so badly why doesn’t he resign so they can bring in a GM that can make solid trades and sign a few good free agents!!
Cherington & Kelly should both have a week left before they are dismissed. Cherington has stunk in his time as the Buccos GM the last 5 years. Yes there is plenty of pitching depth at the MLB and minor league levels, but you cant just put all your eggs in 1 basket. The organization has no offensive talent except for Konner Griffin. The constant 5 mil here for players like Cutch and 10 million to Martin Perez and 4 million to Tommy Pham are wastes. If you want to develop players, let the young guys play and spend the money you have on actual hitters who can hit and are jot past their prime. Kelly has no game management skills because he watched Shelton who had the worst game management skills of any MLB manager in the last century. When you have inferior coaching the players are not going to get any better. Hopefully, Nutting will appease most of us and let these 2 go next Monday and then hire a legitimate GM who has the knowledge of building a winner and can develop players at all levels of the organization.
“… Impossible to win more games if you can’t score more runs.”
This, clearly obvious, is still very good.And very true.
I laughed when I read it.
Who should be catching tonight? Bart who is swinging a hot bat or Davis who is not. We will see if Kelly passes this test.
The new guy Flores who is now hitting 375.
Impressive debut behind the plate. Bart was going to DH but a late scratch due to wrist soreness. Good move by Kelly for once.