‘That’s Our Only Focus,’ Cherington Looking to Make Pirates Better in ’26 and Beyond via Trade Deadline
The Pittsburgh Pirates already finalized one trade with an eye towards the future when they shipped Adam Frazier to the Kansas City Royals for Cam Devanney.
Frazier, who will be a free agent at season’s end, was an obvious trade chip the Pirates had been expected to move. Devanney, 28, was called up by the Royals before the trade deadline but is still waiting to make his MLB debut. The infielder is having a strong season in Triple-A and should play into Pittsburgh’s plans at some point this season and perhaps beyond.
It’s the type of move fans can expect, given the Pirates enter Friday’s game against the Chicago White Sox in last place in the National League Central with a 39-60 record.
General manager Ben Cherington discussed the organization’s mindset leading up to the deadline with Pirates’ broadcaster Greg Brown on 93.7 The Fan.
“Obviously we’re in a situation we don’t want to be in,” Cherington explained. “We need to find ways over the next several days until July 31 to put ourselves in a better situation going forward, to increase the chances of the Pirates being a winning team in 2026 and beyond. That’s our only focus.”
Cherington says the Pirates have been fielding calls, which have become more frequent since the draft began to wind down on Monday.
The Pirates have several rentals on the roster who are expected to be traded for players who could help not only the rest of this season, but also in future years. Those players include left-handers Andrew Heaney and Caleb Ferguson, infielder Isiah Kiner-Falefa and outfielder Tommy Pham.
“Yeah, I think in those cases they understand that [they could be traded],” Cherington said on the rentals. “It doesn’t mean that they’re gonna be traded. It doesn’t mean they’re gonna be traded, and honestly we don’t know. I expect we’ll continue to get phone calls on those players and others as we go forward.”
In addition to those on expiring contracts, the Pirates have a handful of players under control beyond this season who are drawing interest.
Mitch Keller is among the most appealing starting pitchers available this month. Relievers David Bednar and Dennis Santana are in high demand. The Pirates have gotten hits on third baseman Ke’Bryan Hayes, too.
Cherington won’t rule out trading one of those players, or others, but wants to ensure he is doing what’s in the Pirates’ best interest for next season and in future years.
“Our goal is to win in 2026, so we’re looking to improve the team going into 2026, so anything that would involve a player that has a chance to be a Pirate past 2025 is gonna be different than a player who’s a free agent at the end of the year.”
The biggest area the Pirates will look to address is their broken offense. Pittsburgh owns the lowest OPS of any team in baseball (.640) and has scored the fewest runs of any team (331).
Scouts from several contenders, including the New York Yankees, Philadelphia Phillies and others have been at PNC Park this weekend.
The trade deadline is 11 days away.
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