Pittsburgh Pirates general manager Ben Cherington has shared a rather bold strategy for the MLB offseason.
The Pittsburgh Pirates have long been one of the least successful organizations in American professional sports, and there does not appear to be any end in sight.
While the Pirates do have Paul Skenes and some interesting young arms, their roster is mostly barren of talent, particularly when it comes to their position players.
Pittsburgh had the worst offense in baseball this past season, and it's going to take one heck of an overhaul to get it to a point of relevancy.
The Pirates are apparently willing to spend some more money in free agency, but of course, we will believe it when we see it.
Regardless, general manager Ben Cherington recently shared his plan for Pittsburgh's offseason, and it definitely sounds nice.
Pittsburgh Pirates general manager Ben Cherington. Credit: Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images."Run-scoring was the thing that got in our way more than anything and we got to add to that," Cherington said, via Jorge Castillo of ESPN. "Some of that has to be internal improvement, but we want to strengthen the roster too. So whether that's through free agency, trades, combination, you name it, we'll pursue everything and I'll be disappointed if we don't add to the position player group in a way that makes it look like a stronger group."
The question is, which free agents will actually want to join the Pirates heading into 2026? Will Pittsburgh actually be able to land a couple of nice young bats? Will the Bucs sign some veterans on one-year deals? Will they have to overpay just to get players to join their squad?
The Pirates' offense is in such bad shape that's going to take more than just two hitters to fix it. Not even getting both Kyle Tucker and Kyle Schwarber in free agency (which obviously isn't happening, but it's just an example) would make this a good offense.
But baby steps are okay so long as Pittsburgh is clearly going in the right direction.
Skenes made it very plain after the 2025 campaign concluded that he wants the Pirates to actually go out and start making some moves to show progression, so perhaps Cherington is ready to do that. Of course, much of that will also depend on how much of a budget owner Bob Nutting provides for Cherington.
Either way, it does look like Pittsburgh will at least try to get aggressive this winter, so it might be an exciting few months in Steel City. Or at least more exciting than usual.