‘We weren’t good enough’: Pirates GM focuses on improvement in '24 after sobering season

As Ben Cherington discussed the improvement by the Pittsburgh Pirates in a season with a 14-game jump in the win column, he couldn’t help but share he’s “not satisfied” and already starting to concentrate on the upgrades necessary to be a contender next season.

The Pirates general manager spent nearly 40 minutes Tuesday morning reflecting on a campaign in which the team had the best record in the National League through April and spent 33 days in first place in the NL Central before a 10-game losing streak sent it spiraling into last place.

Although the Pirates (76-86) ended the season on a positive note by winning 29 of their final 57 games, they finished 16 games behind the division champion Milwaukee Brewers for fourth place in the NL Central and eight games out of NL wild-card contention. Cherington called it “sobering” to watch the Philadelphia Phillies and Miami Marlins clinch playoff berths against the Pirates.

“Some of it was as simple as we weren’t good enough,” Cherington said. “My job, ultimately, is building the roster to be deep enough, strong enough to get through a year successfully, withstand the harder parts of the schedule. Every team is going to go through them. The season showed us that we weren’t there yet.”

Pirates GM Ben Cherington addresses how the team fell from first place to last in the NL Central from May to July. pic.twitter.com/h793eMpHOq

— Kevin Gorman (@KevinGormanPGH) October 3, 2023

Cherington accepted responsibility for that failure — “That’s ultimately on me,” he said — and called the strong start a learning experience for players, coaches and the front office.

Although the Pirates added veterans through free agency in the offseason and had nine players age 30 or older on their Opening Day roster, they finished the season with the youngest team in MLB (an average age of 26.1 years) after trade deadline deals and the promotion of about a dozen prospects once they fell out of contention.

“The game hits you in the face, and you have to respond,” Cherington said. “That’s, in my experience, often something that we all have to live through and experience and learn a little bit how to deal with it and be better off for it the next time, be stronger for the next time.”

To Cherington, that conversation begins with scoring more runs and allowing fewer. The Pirates finished with a minus-98 run differential, the fourth-worst in the NL, so there will be a focus on adding starting pitching and a power bat to the position player group.

Cherington cautioned that some of the help could come internally, with the expectation that shortstop Oneil Cruz will be ready for the 2024 season after playing only nine games before requiring season-ending surgery on a fractured left ankle. Cruz returned home to the Dominican Republic but is expected to return to train in Florida and possibly play in game situations this offseason. Cherington emphasized how much the Pirates missed Cruz, who had 17 home runs and 54 RBIs in 87 games as a rookie in 2022, at both the leadoff spot in the batting order and at shortstop on the field.

“He can impact the game in a lot of ways, as we’ve seen. It’s a different presence when he’s in the lineup,” Cherington said. “It doesn’t mean it’s going to be perfect all the time. It’s a hard game. He was still learning at the major-league level, but he can do some things in a game that others can’t, and I just think we missed that. It wasn’t specifically defense or hitting or baserunning. There’s just things he can do that others can’t. Unfortunately for us and our fans, we just didn’t get to see that this year. So the focus is on helping in any way to get back to where he can do that next year.”

After nearly doubling their 2022 Opening Day payroll by spending more than $30 million in one-year contracts through trades and free agency, Cherington said he’s excited about the opportunity to explore adding players in free agency, through trades, the waiver wire and the Rule 5 Draft.

“We have the resources we need to get better and to compete and contend. I’m confident in that,” Cherington said. “It’s not going to be a single avenue. Internal improvement will always be a critical part of that.”

After the Pirates locked up outfielder Bryan Reynolds to an eight-year, $106.75 million contract, Cherington said he also will explore extensions for a pair of All-Stars in starting pitcher Mitch Keller and closer David Bednar. Both are eligible for arbitration. Where Keller avoided arbitration by signing for $2,437,500 this past season, Bednar made just above the major-league minimum at $745,000.

“When players do good things on the field, I’m their biggest fan,” Cherington said. “There’s nothing but good that comes from players doing good things on the field, and that’s gonna help the Pirates. It helps them, it helps all of us. So we root for that, and we do whatever we can to make that happen.”

Cherington praised the coaching staff led by manager Derek Shelton and bench coach Don Kelly for how it weathered the disappointment of going 27-49 from May through July, keeping a team that got younger focused on playing with effort late in the season. Cherington said his expectation is the Pirates will keep the coaching staff together for next season, though that hasn’t been decided yet.

“We went through a difficult stretch in the middle third to half of the season,” Cherington said. “I didn’t see any wavering from the staff in terms of effort, mindset, positivity, commitment. It was difficult, but I didn’t see any wavering. Then to see how the team responded after the (trade) deadline, continued improvement from individual players and the team … I think speaks to the environment that’s being created, the messaging and the focus. We kept getting better.”

Attendance also improved by 373,166 — or an average of 4,607 per game — thanks in part to the return of Andrew McCutchen after a five-year hiatus. The most popular Pirate of the PNC Park era, the five-time All-Star and 2013 NL MVP had 19 doubles, 12 home runs and 43 RBIs in 112 games playing primarily designated hitter before suffering a season-ending left Achilles strain in early September.

McCutchen, who signed a one-year, $5 million deal, is sitting one homer shy of 300 for his career and has expressed a desire to return next season. That’s a conversation Cherington welcomes this offseason.

“Certainly interested in him wearing a Pirates uniform next year,” Cherington said. “That would be a great outcome.”