It’s probably similar to many others, but with some of the talent on the roster, it’s tough to see it potentially wasted.
The title speaks for itself. This offseason has been the most embarrassing and frustrating—at least in my lifetime—and that speaks volumes about this organization.
What makes this one the worst, though? The Pirates have always had to deal with the complaints of low payroll from fans, but to do this little with what should be a make-or-break season for this GM and coaching staff in year six of their tenure is startling. My expectations were very low after a lackluster Winter Meetings, in which I noted that what we were told about a higher payroll seemed false. But not even addressing the offense with one additional player with any upside since the Winter Meetings is probably worse than I imagined.
This is not even mentioning the PR nightmare of selling expired sodas, spelling the name of a franchise legend wrong, and having the team’s CEO have to save face for the owner in front of hundreds of disgruntled fans at their own fanfest. Then, in panic, they send a laughable fan survey through email days later, but I digress.
In a previous article, I gave Ben Cherington credit for his work on the bullpen this offseason. But there are still a lot of question marks there, and in this era, bullpen and starting pitching won’t get you anywhere if you have a below-average offense. And this guy has no feel for identifying and acquiring good hitters at any professional level.
This week on 93.7 The Fan, Post Gazette columnist Jason Mackey said he doesn’t think that “Bob (Nutting) is thrilled with what’s happening here.” Mackey believes that he is conserving more dollars than usual this offseason because he doesn’t trust Cherington to spend it correctly. This is hilarity and irony from the man up top, as apparently, he feels stuck with Cherington under contract for this season.
But even with an added leash for Cherington, that doesn’t give him any excuse. He certainly earned it by spending last offseason on Michael A. Taylor, Rowdy Tellez, and Yasmani Grandal and eating up the payroll by overpaying Martin Perez and Aroldis Chapman. Cherington still had a viable path to improve the offense by making multiple trades for younger, cheaper offensive talent, for many of the high-end pitching prospects that the Pirates don’t need and would be much more useful elsewhere, considering that they won’t fit in this five-man rotation anytime soon.
And when I say pitching prospects, I mean prospects, not a guy like Luis Ortiz, who was coming into his own as a big-league starter and could be missed this season. Spencer Horwitz was an ok addition, but offloading two pitching prospects and Ortiz for one guy with little power as a first baseman is not using your resources to get a proportional offensive return.
Even with that move, 8 of the Pirates’ top 15 prospects are pitchers; Cherington has had all the time in the world to move off a few of these guys to make some big moves and has failed to do so. The conservative nature of not taking any significant risks for legitimate hitters and hoarding unneeded pitching prospects, along with continuing to draft and hoard middle infielders with limited upside, have been the ultimate killers for this general manager.
In comparison, let’s look at the state of the division rival Cincinnati Reds this offseason. Like the Pirates, they are a smaller market and have the pitching capable of winning but haven’t gotten over the hump with their young core. The Reds knew that manager David Bell was an average manager at best and wasn’t helping them win games with significant in-game decisions or by elevating his players around him. Despite being under contract for two more years, they moved off him. They got a massive upgrade in Terry Francona, a winner in Boston and Cleveland (two very different situations), and a future Hall of Famer. Meanwhile, the Pirates are sticking it out with Derek Shelton, who, like Bell, hasn’t shown any unique qualities as a manager.
The Reds recently made a good move to add to their young core of hitters like Matt McClain and Elly De La Cruz by signing outfielder Austin Hays to a $5 million deal – a guy who had been consistently productive and is coming off a down year mainly due to injury. Hays’ career could be starting to fade, but it certainly would’ve been better to spend a few extra million on him to fill a significant hole in right field rather than signing 37-year-old Tommy Pham. Pham is an experienced hitter but has limited upside, and his personality may not gel with this young clubhouse.
This combination of general manager and owner is as dysfunctional as it gets right now. It is genuinely sad when you have a starting pitcher like Paul Skenes for a limited time, who we may see in Cooperstown one day, an All-Star caliber hitter in Bryan Reynolds, and a freak athlete like Oneil Cruz in your lineup, and to have such a narrow path to win this year with those guys because of poor management. You can win as a smaller market team if the organization is run correctly with drafting, development, and smart spending, but the Pirates do not hit the mark with any of these.
All in all, with Francona, the Reds could be closer to where the Pirates should be by the end of next season, and the Buccos may be looking for a new general manager and manager again while the Skenes window closes further.