Ben Cherington's Trade Comments Add More Worry for Pirates Fans
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PITTSBURGH — The Pittsburgh Pirates don't have a bullpen that will get them to the postseason and both general manager Ben Cherington and fans of the team know this.
The Pirates bullpen has struggled massively in 2026, as they haven't had pitchers they can rely on in high-leverage situations, or really even low-leverage situations, costing the team numerous games in a season that they have playoff aspirations.
Cherington spoke about the bullpen on The Pirates Insider Show on 93.7 The Fan and said much of the same when asked about it prior, that they will make moves, but can't do anything at the moment.
“....Yeah I think urgency, absolutely, I think we should have urgency," Cherington said. "...Trades are inevitably gonna happen at some point, but we’re two weeks from the draft and usually, and there’s a good chance, really, that nothing picks up until after the draft.”
Cherington Can't Keep Making Excuses
The words Cherington uttered do make sense, as trades likely won't happen for a few weeks and especially not until the draft, which takes place July 11-12.
Only one real trade has had this season of significance so far in MLB, with the Chicago Cubs adding New York Mets left-handed pitcher David Peterson, who has been more a starter than a reliever.
The issue for Cherington is that, while making trades for a serious addition to the bullpen at this time isn't really feasible and he is right, you can't just rely on saying that every time the bullpen implodes and expect Pirates fans to be fine with it.
Another problem from Cherington was him spending almost six minutes talking about the bullpen and most of it was about three incidents and whether they were unlucky or something to make more about, which doesn't really illustrate the problems to the fan base.
He did end his speech with a summary of what he said to make it more digestible, but there wasn't anything concrete towards saying what the real fixes of the bullpen are going forward.
“...So long way of saying, we need to be better," Cherington said. "We all have a job to make it better. What we want to make sure is we separate out things that are probably just rotten luck that maybe smooth out over time from things that we can actually improve from an execution standpoint and then that’s putting aside, can we add guys to the team? At some point, I hope we can, and we’re working on that. It’s still pretty early and not a lot of trades happen this early.”
Pirates Fans Know This Team Needs Bullpen Additions
Baseball fans are tough to satisfy, but Pirates fans aren't ignorant. They know the quality of this team and they can see a bullpen that isn't reliable or strong enough to back the rest of the team.
Pittsburgh was above .500 at the midpoint of the season, 41-40, for the first time since 2015, the last time they made the postseason.
The Pirates are a few games back in the National League Wild Card and with one of the best offenses in baseball and a generally solid starting rotation, there is a realistic chance they could finally play meaningful baseball this fall.
Cherington and the Pirates front office did make one bullpen addition, but it was just right-handed pitcher Hunter Stratton, reuniting with him in a trade with the Atlanta Braves, sending catcher Joey Bart, not really the move that seriously improves the bullpen.
Pirates fans want to hear that you not only understand the problem, but that you're going to fix it and not making any excuses doing so.
Cherington is right that they won't make their biggest move until closer to the trade deadline, but it's a season where there is a lot on the line, including potentially his job as general manager.
Pirates fans have seen so little success over the past 30 years, so Cherington doesn't need to parse words or hold back.
The fan base knows the issues, so Cherington being as blunt as possible is the best option for him and there's no reason for him to act otherwise.
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Dominic writes for Pittsburgh Pirates On SI, Pittsburgh Panthers Pn SI and also, Pittsburgh Steelers On SI. A Pittsburgh native, Dominic grew up watching Pittsburgh Sports and wrote for The Pitt News as an undergraduate at the University of Pittsburgh, covering Pitt Athletics. He would write for Pittsburgh Sports Now after college and has years of experience covering sports across Pittsburgh.