While the Pirates’ record under Don Kelly (17-18 before last night’s game) has improved from their 13-26 mark under Derek Shelton before the latter’s firing, let’s not confuse Kelly with legendary managers.

But Kelly’s 17-18 record seems legendary in comparison with Shelton’s lifetime record that is 134 games under .500.

But even though the Pirates have greatly improved on their 13-26 start, not much has changed where it counts: in baseball’s standings.

After Shelton’s May 8 firing, the Pirates were 13 games under .500, 10 games out of first place and 6.5 games out of fourth place. Before last night, the Bucs were 15 games under .500, 15.5 games out of first place and 8.5 games out of fourth place.

The Pirates are still among MLB’s bottom feeders, actually losing ground in Kelly’s almost one quarter of a season.

So, as usual at July trade deadlines, the Pirates again will be sellers in 2025. It’s the reason they sign the mid- low-ranking free agents each off-season, hoping that they will perform well enough to send them packing in exchange for other organizations’ prospects that they hope might become solid major leaguers in Pittsburgh, something their own organization rarely achieves.

Other than Andrew McCutchen, try to name all of the recent Pirates’ free agent signees who lasted the entire following season with the Bucs, and you’ll come up empty.

As this column reminded last week, the main motive in keeping or dumping any player depends upon his ability level to bring the team more than it costs to sign/keep them. The more the team pays a player, the harder in the team’s eye it is for that player to justify his salary. The less money a player gets paid, the easier it is for that player to earn his keep.

That’s why Paul Skenes is going nowhere as long as his cost to the Pirates far surpasses his cost.

While most other teams value a player’s ability to improve the performance in the standings, the Bucs value a player’s ability to improve the performance in the ledger.

Pirates fans have learned not to hope that a player, usually a pitcher like Andrew Heaney in 2025, will last into August, despite how well he is performing.

The moving of Tommy Pham costs nothing and will have zero return.

Like Skenes, outfielder Oneil Cruz is still cheap enough that sending him elsewhere would be a PR disaster. But we all know that day will come.

So whose day is coming next month for the Pirates.

Three players come to mind:

• Third baseman Ke’Bryan Hayes is in the middle of an eight-year, $70 million deal. Hayes will be paid $7 million in each of the next two seasons and $8 million in the each of the last two years of the deal. The Pirates own a $12 million option for 2030 with a $6 million buyout.

These days, $7 million is a good deal for middling players. While Hayes disappoints with his wet noodle bat, he is an elite defender and is valuable in cutting off runs, perhaps just as important as driving them in.

• Outfielder Bryan Reynolds inked a team record eight-year, $106.75 million deal two years ago. He is being paid $12 million this season, $14 million next year, and $15 million in each season from 2027 through 2030. The Pirates hold a $20 million option for 2031 with a $2 million buyout.

Able to block a trade to six teams, Reynolds value decreases each remaining season of the deal.

• Starting pitcher Mitch Keller is the most probable to go next month. He signed a five-year, $77 million deal that paid him $5.44 million last year. Although mostly innocent of his 1-9 record this year, he is making $15 million this year, with paychecks of $16.5 million in 2016, $18 million in 2027, and $20 million in 2028.

While that’s the going rate for a number two or three pitcher, the Pirates have always promoted Keller as an ace. But Keller is lifetime 22 games under .500, with only one of his seven major-league seasons ending with a winning record. In that 2023 season, he went 9-3 through June, but 4-6 the rest of the way; last season he posted 9-4 mark through June, but 2-8 afterwards.

With a strong (translation: cheaper) group of young pitchers, the Pirates will work hard to move Keller by the end of July.