Pittsburgh Pirates general manager Ben Cherington has opened up on his future with the franchise.

If you asked most Pittsburgh Pirates fans, they would probably say Ben Cherington should be done as general manager. After all, since Cherington took over as Pirates general manager in November 2019, Pittsburgh has shown absolutely no progress. In fact, a serious argument can be made that the Buccos have gone backward, which is certainly a mouthful.

However, it doesn't appear that Cherington will be losing his job anytime soon.

When asked by the media if he thought he would keep his job as Pirates GM this offseason, Cherington essentially stated it was business as usual.

“I'm certainly doing the job that way,” Cherington told reporters, via Noah Hiles of The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. “We talk all the time. Haven't heard anything to the contrary.”

It should be noted that Cherington qualified his statement by saying no general manager in the sport ever has full assurance from their respective owners.

If that's the case, then the 51-year-old should absolutely be walking on eggshells.

“It’s been really tough,” Cherington added. “I think that we have to win more games. There are some things that have happened at the major league level this year that have been really good, but certainly not nearly enough. Good things have happened. While we really do believe that with the players in the organization that we have, the players on this team, that not only can we be better than this, that we will be better than this.

Pirates star pitcher Paul Skenes also called out the front office earlier in the week, and while he didn't go so far as to give Pittsburgh an ultimatum (hard to do that when you are under team control through 2029), he did say that he expects management to make the necessary moves to improve the roster this winter.

The question is, what are those moves? And do the Pirates have the financial capacity — or desire — to complete them?

Pittsburgh is a notoriously frugal organization, and it isn't exactly a hot spot for free agents. The Pirates may just have to rely on building their farm system, which has certainly been a trying exercise for them over the years.