‘We’re Not Satisfied,’ Pirates GM Ben Cherington Talks Looming Trade Deadline

PITTSBURGH — As is to be expected this time of year, Pittsburgh Pirates general manager Ben Cherington is busy working the phones in preparation of Tuesday’s trade deadline. This year, however, the conversations will be different.

For the first time during his tenure as Pirates general manager, the Pirates are in a position to buy.

Entering Wednesday’s game against the St. Louis Cardinals, the Pirates are in third place in the division with a 51-50 record, seven games behind the National League Central-leading Milwaukee Brewers. More importantly, the Pirates are only 1.5 games out of a wild card spot.

“We are in a different position this year than previous years,” Cherington told reporters at PNC Park on Wednesday. “We’re not satisfied, at all. But we’re in a position where we can rationally justify looking at trying to add to this team, add to this team currently. To the extent that we find those opportunities, we really want to do that in a way that helps us be better right away and helps us be better past ’24. Or at least doesn’t get in the way of that. It is a different feeling. It’s exciting.”

The Pirates are one of about 10 teams still theoretically within striking distance in the Wild Card race. In the American League, there aren’t quite as many teams still in contention, but there are still only a handful of clear sellers.

The unique situation of having so many teams in contention presents unusual circumstances leading up to the deadline. Cherington feels like how the next six days unfold for the Pirates and the rest of the league is still hard to predict.

“I think every team is acknowledging and aware that it’s a little bit of an atypical deadline in terms of the amount of traditional, sell-buy teams,” he explained “And a lot of teams that are somewhere in between, wanting to improve, not looking to take a step back in their major league team but wanting to improve. You have more of those and fewer traditional sellers. It just means that the conversations are different than they would be in a typical year.”

After the trade talks across the league were pushed to the back burner during last week’s draft, negotiations have picked up again.

The Pirates have already had opportunities they could have taken, but Cherington hasn’t yet found a match that he feels makes sense from an organizational standpoint.

Because of the nature of this year’s atypical deadline, all options are on the table for Cherington as he looks to upgrade the offense and other areas of the roster. That includes traditional major-leaguer for prospect deals, an active roster player for active roster player swap, and even trading from their own major-league roster if it makes sense for the team.

“Anything is possible,” Cherington said on the possibility of trading from the MLB roster. “Are there ways to make the team better? How do we do that? And what’s necessary to do that? If you’re talking to a team that’s clearly in it, a team that’s going to be in the playoffs or has a good chance to be in the playoffs, well, if they’re making trades, it’s more likely they’re going to be making trades that somehow help their major league team or at least keep them strong in a certain area or add depth to a certain area.

“In those scenarios, yeah, you gotta give to get. So it just depends on how it lines up. There are gonna be those kinds of conversations this year. Not just with us but across the league.”

With that being said, Cherington made it clear that the focus is the make the major-league team better. That includes both this year and beyond, as long as it makes sense.

While the Pirates’ general manager believes the current group has what it takes to reach the postseason, the focus over the next six days will be to support the major-league roster.

“Lot of confidence in this group. We’re going to work our tails off for the next 6-7 days or whatever it is to see if we can help it.”