‘Looking to seize an opportunity’

Ben Cherington was rather direct when describing the efforts the Pirates are making to expand their search for bats that will help improve the offense in 2026. 

“Looking to seize an opportunity,” Cherington said today. “We believe we have the foundation. We’ve got to add to it. We believe we can win in 2026 if we do the necessary work to do that. Part of that is going to be roster building. Part of that is going to be building the culture of the team and just executing well. So we’re pursuing a whole host of free agent and trade options as part of that strategy. A lot of different shapes of free agency, trades. Some stuff gets out. Some stuff doesn’t. We’ve just got to stay on it and be in a position to land the ones that we can land.”

Earlier today, Don Kelly expressed confidence in Cherington’s ability to execute the plan to acquire additional offensive reinforcements this winter. Whether that’s through free agency or trade, Cherington shares that same belief. Even if deals aren’t completed while everyone is assembled at the Signia by Hilton for the annual Winter Meetings this week, he believes external additions will be on the way. 

“I am very confident we’ll be able to execute between now and spring training,” Cherington said. “I don’t know when it will happen. I don’t have a sense if it’s going to happen in the next three days, next week or next month. Confident that we’re going to be able to land some stuff that makes us feel better about the team, and specifically the position player group and the depth of the lineup going into spring training. Believe that the best way to do that is to be engaged on as many fronts as possible. You chase down 100 things, and three, four, five land. That’s just the way it works. That’s still the stage we’re at.”

In regards to the Pirates’ pursuits, there isn’t one particular trait they’re eyeing when it comes to hitters. That’s why they’ve been connected to so many, including the likes of Kyle Schwarber, Jorge Polanco and Ryan O’Hearn.

Considering the team’s dead-last rankings in home runs (117), slugging percentage (.350), OPS (.655) and, most importantly, runs scored (583), they’ll gladly look at players with more power, solid contact skills and high on-base percentages.

“You name it, we need all of it,” Cherington said. “I think we need some combination of better depth. One through 18 position players, kind of what we have on the pitching side so that there’s that stiffer competition amongst the group, but also more certainty. We want both and are pursuing both. Sure, it would be great if that includes power. It would be great if that’s a little more left-handed than right-handed, but we just need more production period. I don’t think we’re in a position to be too narrowly specific about it. We need to raise the bar and we’ll do it any way we can. Our aim is for it to be some combination of some certainty we bring in, but also more depth.”

The Pirates already made one move to add a bat to the mix, acquiring top-100 prospect Jhostynxon Garcia from the Red Sox in a five-player deal that sent Johan Oviedo to Boston. 

Cherington raved about the defensive value, base-running ability and power of the young, fully controllable outfielder, who is stepping into a position of need, both in the short and long term.

It was a trade the Pirates felt the need to make, dealing from a position of strength in order to upgrade the position player group. 

“You have to give to get,” Cherington said. “We went into the offseason thinking you’re probably going to trade a pitcher somewhere along the line. Didn’t know when and what the situation is going to be. We have explored all kinds of things. That one, we felt, made sense.” 

While the Pirates now have to fill an additional void in their starting rotation with Oviedo’s departure, Cherington isn’t opposed to trading more pitching if it means the return is appropriate. 

“We’re open to that,” he said. “We’ll have a high bar. We’ll more likely consider that if it’s something that’s coming back immediately into our lineup. Then also open to adding pitching. We’re not only engaged on position players; we’re talking about adding pitching, too. If we did trade a starter, probably increases the motivation to add back to the pitching also.”

Cherington believes this particular trade fits into the strategy of improving in an area that desperately needs it. But he insists it’s “not the end of the strategy.” 

“We’re gonna keep going,” he said.