Pittsburgh Pirates general manager Ben Cherington introduces Pittsburgh Pirates first-round draft selection, Termarr Johnson the media after signing him to a contract with the team before a baseball game between the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Philadelphia Phillies in Pittsburgh, Friday, July 29, 2022.(AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)
The 2026 season did not deliver what the Pittsburgh Pirates promised or what their fans wanted.
However, contrary to popular belief, that does not mean the Pirates’ season was a failure. It also does not mean the organization needs to make major changes.
Pirates club president Travis Williams said at the end of last season that the organization’s goal for 2026 was to reach the postseason. That didn’t happen.
It’s usually not wise to heed much of what Williams and owner Bob Nutting say. They really aren’t baseball people.
The Pirates went 82-80 and finished 21 games behind the division champion Milwaukee Brewers in the National League Central standings. The Pirates also ended six games short of an NL wild card playoff berth.
So, Pirates fans will be denied seeing postseason baseball for an 11th season in a row since 2015. They will have to wait another year for the franchise’s first division title since 1992. That improbable comeback victory over the Baltimore Orioles during the Pirates’ last World Series in 1979 recedes further from memory.
Yet it is difficult to consider this season as a bad one for the Pirates.
They finished with 11 more wins than last season, when they finished 71-91. A double-digit improvement is not insignificant.
The Pirates also posted their first winning season since 2018 and just their fifth in 34 seasons since 1992. Banners aren’t hung for winning seasons, but finishing above .500 matters to a long-downtrodden franchise.
It should be enough for general manager Ben Cherington and manager Don Kelly to return in 2027, despite many fans’ wishes to the contrary.
Cherington has been on the job for seven years, which is usually enough time to build a playoff team. However, I believe Cherington deserves one more year to continue the long rebuild.
I feel that way because Cherington was dealt an incredibly bad hand at the start of his tenure in November 2019. Nutting bungled badly by waiting until a month after the 2019 season to fire Neal Huntington as GM.
By the time Cherington was hired, most executives, scouts and player development people were already under contract with other teams for 2020. Cherington was limited to making the necessary changes that winter.
Then the COVID-19 pandemic cut spring training short in 2020, reduced the regular season to 60 games and wiped out the minor-league schedule. That also delayed the start of the organization’s much-needed reconstruction.
So Cherington has been playing catch-up for the entire decade. The rebuttal could be that Cherington has had ample time to catch up, up, but most executives around the game say it takes seven seasons for a total rebuild to reach fruition.
While Cherington just finished his seventh season, he has essentially had six seasons to put his stamp on the organization. Even the most pessimistic fan has to admit the Pirates are in their best shape since making the last of three straight appearances in the NL Wild Card Game in 2015.
The Pirates had a stellar class of rookies this year that included the franchise cornerstone in shortstop Konnor Griffin along with burgeoning power sources in catcher Rafael Flores Jr. and right fielder Esmerlyn Valdez and ultra-talented right-handed Bubba Chandler.
Chandler gives the Pirates a chance to have a dominant rotation when paired with Paul Skenes, Braxton Ashcraft and Jared Jones. Ashcraft is oldest at 27. Mason Montgomery is an emerging elite closer.
The Pirates will miss the power of second baseman Brandon Lowe, who they are unlikely to re-sign in free agency. However, one of the promising developments of the season was center fielder Oneil Cruz finally committing himself to the game mentally and, in the process, setting himself up for a potentially monstrous 2027.
Cherington has work to do this winter, as the Pirates need extra bats and veteran rotation and bullpen depth. Kelly needs to keep learning, especially when it comes to running the bullpen and holding players accountable.
The darkest days are over for the Pirates, though, even if they won’t be playing in October.
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