'We want to add to the team': Pirates GM Ben Cherington turning to trade market for offense

With the Pittsburgh Pirates in the thick of wild-card contention, Bob Nutting and Ben Cherington are in regular discussions about adding a major-league bat to improve their chances of making the playoffs.

Given that the July 30 trade deadline is still five weeks away, the Pirates general manager explained Saturday why swinging a deal isn’t as simple as getting the green light from the Pirates chairman.

“We want to add to the team. We want to make the team better. And that is our job. We’re going to be engaged in an effort to do that,” Cherington said. “And, of course, it won’t surprise you that teams don’t just line up and eagerly hand over good players.”

On Friday, Nutting said it was “incredibly important” for the Pirates to take advantage of their window to win while cornerstones Ke’Bryan Hayes, Mitch Keller and Bryan Reynolds are signed to long-term contracts and rookie right-handed pitchers Jared Jones and Paul Skenes remain under years of club control.

Problem is, the Pirates (36-39) have plenty of competition in the trade market. They were 1 1/2 games back in the wild-card race entering Saturday’s game against the Tampa Bay Rays, making them one of seven National League teams within two games of making the playoffs as they approach the midway point of the season.

“There are so many teams that are still in it,” Cherington said. “Those teams are as motivated as we are to stay in it, and find ways to improve. So, the pool of players that are realistically available right now is seemingly small, and the list of teams interested in those players is pretty long.

“That just makes that dance interesting right now. But we’ve just got to stay in it. We’ve just got to stay engaged, keep talking to teams regularly and hopefully that leads to finding an opportunity that can help us. And in the meantime, we have to continue to support our guys here and find ways to get better internally.”

That’s why Cherington continues to emphasize the need for improvement by players already on the team’s active major-league roster or within their system. The Pirates rank among the NL’s worst and MLB’s bottom third in most major offensive categories this season. They rank 28th out of 30 teams in slugging percentage (.359) and OPS (.657), prompting a need for a power hitter.

“I think by now, we all have a pretty good sense of where the team is,” Cherington said. “Look, I still believe we have players that are capable of more. I’ll continue to say that because I believe in them. We’ll continue to focus energy internally, as far as how we can continue to get better.”

That’s not to suggest trades don’t happen prior to the deadline with teams aggressively pursuing upgrades. The San Diego Padres acquired two-time batting champion Luis Arraez from the Miami Marlins on May 4 in exchange for reliever Woo-Suk Go and three top-11 prospects.

Cherington didn’t rule out acquiring a rental, a player on an expiring contract. But that brings up another issue: What are they willing to give up for a player who has no club control beyond this season?

Where pitching always is at a premium for contending teams, there is a competitive market for offense this year. That prompts sellers to raise the asking price on their trade assets, sometimes expecting astronomic — and unrealistic — returns.

“Usually, if you stay on enough, you will see some prices drop. That tends to be the way these things happen,” Cherington said. “They don’t always, and then sometimes while you’re waiting, someone else swoops in and pays whatever price it is.

“So, that’s the risk you take. There’s no foolproof science to it. There’s no guarantee that if you wait this long, you’ll get what you want at your price, which I think is all a reason to say, again, that the best way to give yourself the best chance is just to stay engaged. Stay in the conversation, keep talking to teams as much as possible. Keep learning, keep sharing information. If we do that consistently enough and stay disciplined to what our needs are and our process, then we give ourselves the best chance to land on the thing that makes sense.”