After pulling over the boldest and, perhaps, best trade of his tenure as Pittsburgh Pirates general manager, Ben Cherington spoke like someone who finally had the freedom to make major changes to the roster.
Signing left-handed high-leverage reliever Gregory Soto, a two-time All-Star, to a one-year, $7.75 million contract was a solid first step. But landing two-time All-Star second baseman Brandon Lowe, left-handed reliever Mason Montgomery and outfielder Jake Mangum from the Tampa Bay Rays in a three-team trade that sent starting pitcher Mike Burrows to the Houston Astros pointed the Pirates in the right direction.
Cherington promised there are still more moves to come following a 91-loss season in which the Pirates ranked last in the major leagues in home runs, RBIs, slugging percentage and OPS.
“Look, we knew that we were going to need to engage in some trades this offseason, continue to pursue free agency, also,” Cherington said. “What’s been great is just the level of clarity, I think, as an organization we have about the opportunity in front of us.”
Cherington credited Pirates chairman Bob Nutting for providing the resources and support to improve the team this offseason, capitalizing on a talented, young pitching staff led by 2025 National League Cy Young Award winner Paul Skenes.
“Bob and I have been really aligned on that and with the belief of what we can accomplish and knowing that we ought to be out there pursuing aggressively in ways that we can, ways to improve the team,” said Cherington, entering his seventh season as Pirates GM. “We’ve done that in more aggressive ways in free agency this offseason than during the time I’ve been here. You’re not going to land everything, but it’s a good feeling to be aligned and for that to be really clear. We just all appreciate that support, and we’re looking forward to doing more. I mean, we haven’t hit Christmas yet and there’s a lot more out there for us.”
The Pirates struck out on free-agent targets in sluggers Josh Naylor, Kyle Schwarber and Jorge Polanco, but Cherington said they are still in the market for “one more position player who’s got a little bit more of a proven track record at the major-league level.”
One international possibility came off the market Sunday, when Japanese third baseman Munetaka Murakami agreed to a two-year, $34 million deal with the Chicago White Sox. But the Pirates have been linked to another Japanese third baseman, 29-year-old Kazuma Okamoto.
Cherington said the Pirates could consider rotating players through the designated hitter spot. That’s only if they don’t re-sign Andrew McCutchen, who has handled that role the past three seasons.
They also will take long looks in left field at Jack Suwinski, Mangum and top-100 prospect Jhostynxon Garcia (aka, “The Password”), who was acquired from Boston in exchange for starting pitcher Johan Oviedo. Garcia made his debut for the Red Sox last summer but played in only five major-league games.
“The Password is obviously a young, less proven player with a ton of upside,” Cherington said. “We want to get to know him better. He’ll have opportunity in spring training to show people if he’s ready for that. We expect at some point he can make an impact on our team, and maybe that’s Opening Day or early in the season. We’ll see.”
The biggest questions for the Pirates are what they will do on the left side of their infield, now that Cherington confirmed Lowe will start at second base. That leaves Nick Gonzales in limbo after a shaky season that started with a home run on Opening Day but saw the 2020 first-round pick miss two months with a fractured ankle then bat .260 with a .661 OPS, five home runs and 30 RBIs in 96 games.
Cherington called Gonzales’ status “an important question” and said he sees him “having a really important role on the team.” It’s just a matter of where he plays, given that the Pirates have confidence in Gonzales on both sides of the bag after playing 13 games at shortstop last season.
“Nick is an important player for us,” Cherington said. “Think he does some things offensively that are unique and believe fit well with our group. Aggressive making contact. He works his tail off. He’s worked his tail off to become a really good and versatile defensive player. And the biggest thing about Nick, we can go back to his amateur days in the draft, he’s just always met the challenge in front of him.”
Cherington also expressed confidence in Jared Triolo, a 2024 Gold Glove utility winner, at second base, shortstop and third base but was clear the Pirates don’t know what the Opening Day alignment is going to look like on the left side of the infield. Shortstop Konnor Griffin, the top prospect in baseball, could be given a chance to win the starting job in spring training, but he has only played 21 games above Class A ball and doesn’t turn 20 until April 24.
That’s not the only area of uncertainty.
After dealing Oviedo and Burrows, Cherington said the “bar is pretty high” for the Pirates to trade another starting pitcher, with a return requiring a player that was an “immediate fit for the lineup.” Cherington will never say never but essentially ruled out trading Mitch Keller.
He expects to add another starting pitcher to the rotation and didn’t rule out his annual shopping for a veteran left-hander after signing Derek Holland, Tyler Anderson, Jose Quintana, Rich Hill, Martin Perez and Andrew Heaney in years past.
Cherington said Skenes and Keller are locked into the starting rotation, and lefty Hunter Barco and righties Braxton Ashcraft, Bubba Chandler, Thomas Harrington and Carmen Mlodzinski have been advised to prepare for spring training as starters even though all have spent time in the bullpen and could possibly serve in bulk relief roles.
“We’re not making any decisions right now,” Cherington said. “We’ll get into later March and make those decisions. I think we have a number of really talented young pitchers who are going to come in this spring training as starters. We may add to that group. Then we have time during spring training to figure out exactly what those roles are.”