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Pittsburgh Pirates general manager Ben Cherington talks with reporters during Major League Baseball’s general manager meetings, Wednesday, Nov. 10, 2021, in Carlsbad, Calif. (AP Photo\/Gregory Bull)\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tPittsburgh Pirates general manager Ben Cherington talks with reporters during Major League Baseball’s general manager meetings, Wednesday, Nov. 10, 2021, in Carlsbad, Calif. (AP Photo\/Gregory Bull)\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
Ben Cherington has already completed one major offseason task, but the Pittsburgh Pirates\u2019 general manager still has plenty of work ahead of him.\u00a0<\/p>\n
On Monday, Cherington took the stage at PNC Park for a press conference to formally announce that Don Kelly<\/a> had his contract extended and will be the Pirates\u2019 manager moving forward.\u00a0<\/p>\n One problem solved. Many, many more to go.<\/p>\n Despite six losing seasons to begin his tenure with Pittsburgh, Cherington will handle the Pirates\u2019 offseason as he looks to drastically improve a team that finished in last place in the National League Central in 2025 with a 71-91 record \u2013 five games worse than they were each of the two previous seasons.\u00a0<\/p>\n But despite the poor showing, Cherington feels the Pirates aren\u2019t as far from contending as that record indicates.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cIn terms of being able to play in October, I do believe we are close and we\u2019ve got really important work to do,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s not just going to happen by being passive and hoping for it to happen.\u201d<\/p>\n Offense is far and away the biggest need for the Pirates this winter. As a unit, Pittsburgh finished last in the league in runs scored, home runs, slugging percentage and OPS. Of all the players to have at least one plate appearance with the Pirates this season, Spencer Horwitz (118) was the only one to finish with an OPS of at least 100.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ll get into the exact details of that strategy,\u201d Cherington explained. \u201cYou never know exactly what opportunities will be there. It\u2019s clear to me we\u2019ve got to improve the roster, and that certainly includes on the position player side.\u201d<\/p>\n Cherington\u2019s track record of acquiring hitters whether in free agency or through trade has been abysmal, but the Pirates\u2019 GM feels like they have a better understanding of the type of players they should be targeting.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI believe we\u2019re getting more clear all the time on what the combination of traits are that we should be making the best bet on,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Under Cherington, the Pirates have yet to sign a free agent to a multi-year contract. Additionally, Pittsburgh has largely shied away from trading any of the organization\u2019s top prospects for established big-league help.<\/p>\n With more urgency and an even hotter seat underneath him, both will need to change if the Pirates are serious about getting better in 2026.<\/p>\n \u201cI think we\u2019ve got to be ready to be aggressive in acquisition this offseason whether it\u2019s free agency or trade,\u201d said Cherington. \u201cIn our situation we\u2019ve got to be willing to assume the risks of trades because free agency is not an open ocean for us. We\u2019re going to be able to be targeted there and we will be and we\u2019ll try to be able to put ourselves in the best position to do that we possibly can, but if we want to give ourselves every chance, it\u2019s got to be the trade market also.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve got to be prepared to chase down every single thing that we think has a chance to help this team win more games in \u201926, execute on the ones we can get to and just be dogged about it all offseason.\u201d<\/p>\n But part of the reason the Pirates haven\u2019t delivered a multi-year free agent contract \u2013 and there are a few \u2013 is because of the perpetual stinginess of owner Bob Nutting.<\/p>\n Despite the Pirates\u2019 track record as an organization, Cherington believes there\u2019s enough support from ownership to build a winning team this offseason.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve got the resources to win. We\u2019ve just got to execute,\u201d said Cherington. \u201cMy conversations with Bob recently have been every combination of challenging, productive, difficult at times. I leave every one of them more clear on how we\u2019re both seeing this and what\u2019s important and how we\u2019re going to go about executing. I believe that and we\u2019ve just got to go do it.\u201d<\/p>\n Time will tell if anything changes this offseason or if the precedent that\u2019s been set for decades continues. If Cherington fails to deliver a winning product, this will be his last year as general manager of the Pirates. <\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tMentioned in this article: Ben Cherington<\/a> Pittsburgh Pirates<\/a> <\/p>\n