Pirates GM Ben Cherington: Win streak could 'clarify' whether to be trade buyers or sellers

Ben Cherington called July an “incredibly exciting” time but also a month in baseball that can be “exhausting,” and the Pittsburgh Pirates general manager knows his work is far from done.

“We’ve made July into quite a month in baseball,” Cherington said on his weekly radio show on Pirates flagship station 93.7 FM. “We embrace that, love it, lean into it.”

Amid a week that began with the MLB Draft, included the All-Star Game and the start of the second half of the season, Cherington turned his attention toward the July 30 trade deadline.

Cherington said the recent run of success — they won six consecutive games and eight of their last nine entering Sunday’s game against the Philadelphia Phillies at PNC Park — that pulled the Pirates to within a half-game of wild-card contention only can “help the math.”

“It hasn’t changed our outlook, preparation or goals,” Cherington said, “but the wins do clarify what opportunities might make sense or do not make sense.”

Whether that tips the Pirates toward being buyers instead of sellers remains to be determined by how they perform over the next two weeks. While Cherington expects “traditional” major-league player-for-prospect deals he also didn’t rule out teams, even division rivals, swapping major leaguers to address their needs.

The Pirates picked the player regarded as having the highest ceiling in the draft in prep shortstop Konnor Griffin — scouted by Darren Mazeroski, son of Hall of Fame second baseman Bill Mazeroski — with the No. 9 overall selection in the first round and hope to sign Griffin and their other draft choices before Aug. 1.

By Thursday, Cherington and his baseball operations department were back to working the phones in search of potential trade partners as the Pirates search for ways to improve their offense.

“We’ll see where that leads us,” Cherington said. “We want to find ways to help this team get better, starting now in 2024 and also helping this team continuing to get better into the future.”

One position where the Pirates have depth is in the starting rotation, especially with the eventual returns of left-hander Bailey Falter and rookie right-hander Jared Jones.

Cherington said he’s “pretty optimistic” about Falter’s recovery from a triceps injury, but the “expectation is that he’ll probably do a rehab assignment, relatively short term.” Jones (right lat strain) will “take a little longer” to return, with Cherington estimating it would be “into August, at some point.”

Cherington said the return of lefty reliever Ryan Borucki, dealing with a nerve-related issue, has been harder to predict.

“It’s been a little bit of a grind in his recovery,” Cherington said. “We still really believe in Ryan and getting him back to the bullpen. … I still believe he’s going to impact us.”