Blue Jays VP of baseball operations and former Red Sox general manager Ben Cherington is a candidate to be the Pirates’ next head of baseball operations, The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal reports (Twitter link). Cherington has worked for Toronto for the last three-plus seasons, after taking a little over a year away from baseball after being fired by the Sox in August 2015.
Cherington joins Pirates assistant GM and current acting general manager Kevan Graves as the only known candidates to take over the Pittsburgh front office. Other notable names have already been mentioned as potential candidates, including another name from the Jays in senior VP of player personnel Tony LaCava, and another former Red Sox GM (and Orioles GM) in Dan Duquette. Interviews with potential candidates were expected to begin this week, though there isn’t yet any indication that Cherington has officially sat down with Pirates top brass.
The Pirates cleaned house after 69-93 season that was disastrous on and off the field, as the club parted ways with manager Clint Hurdle, team president Frank Coonelly, and GM Neal Huntington, though all in somewhat staggered fashion over the course of a month. Travis Williams has already stepped in as the new team president, though the managerial search that was already weeks old was put on pause while Huntington’s replacement was found.
After Theo Epstein departed the Red Sox following the 2011, Cherington (following 13 years in various role in Boston’s front office) took over as general manager. His tenure with the club saw the Sox finish in last place in the AL East in 2012, 2014, and 2015, yet win the World Series in 2013, giving him one of the most unusual resumes of any top executive in recent memory. While several mid-tier acquisitions were key to the 2013 championship, Cherington was hampered by bigger-ticket signings that didn’t pan out, most notably Hanley Ramirez and Pablo Sandoval. Cherington was credited, however, with the development of such young starts as Mookie Betts, Andrew Benintendi, Rafael Devers, and Eduardo Rodriguez, all of whom were either drafted or largely developed during Cherington’s time as general manager.
Multiple teams have had interest in hiring Cherington for GM openings in recent years, though he declined interviews last year, with Rosenthal reporting at the time that Cherington was mostly interested in a situation that would allow him to completely rebuild a team. The Pirates could represent such a situation, as while the team has talent on hand, an argument could be made that a revamp could be necessary before the Bucs are able to again be truly competitive in the tough NL Central.
Tough job rebuilding for the pirates. No cash and perennial trade our stars at the deadline.
And the one time they didn’t trade their star… they wish they had traded him.
They have cash, just don’t spend it. Nutting is annually among the most profitable MLB owners but most reports.
This would be such a typical move by the Pitates
Why?
I think this would be a perfect hire
The situation is exactly what he wants
For as cheap as the owner is he doesn’t meddle & lets his baseball ppl do their job
He just doesn’t want to spend any money
Hanley and Panda will be in his price range again.
Hmm
..in 2007, hes the one that pulled off the trade for Beckett & Lowell which helped get the 2007 WS.
2013, was suppose to be a rebuild year. He made mistakes like most anyone but he produced a second WS. Can you do that? No so then shut it
Can you?
The trade for Beckett and Lowell was 2006, not 2007, and that was Epstein not Cherington.
Actually, it was while Theo had taken a leave of absence from the Red Sox.
They would still have an incompetent FO even though Huntington is gone lmao.
But it’s perfect!
Time to run the Pirates like
the Ray’s, not the Pirates…..
From the Red Sox to the Pirates?
The reverse of Bloom to the Red Sox.
There must be video of Cherington somewhere doing something terrible. He wins a World Series with the Red Sox and this is the result?
Yeah but his other three seasons in Boston were last place finishes. Seems like the perfect man for the job.
Does this mean there’s a chance the pirates could trade for Betts?
How are the two things even remotely related?
You know what sarcasm is
Don’t want this Bucs fans. Easily the most boring guy for the job. Aside from 2013, he was a nightmare. Panda, Rusney, Hanram…meh.
those were all big money FA signings, the pirates havent had 1 of them in their entire history
That’s a good point. It feels like Cherington’s big screw-ups were primarily related to throwing big money around. He shined when it came to drafting and developing players. Being on a team where he doesn’t even have the option of spending too much money might be perfect for him.
I think this is a really bad idea if it is for the GM position. He is VP of baseball operations now, but Pirates are offering him a head role in that department. Which I am ok with. He can’t do any worse than what we had before. This guy is a hit or miss with getting talent. Maybe he is good at getting prospects but bad at Free Agency signings? Nutting doesn’t spend so no fear there
he wont be happy, not that he was amazing or anything with us( im in boston) but he was AWFUL and speaking and press conferences, Also its the red sox, he literally had an owner saying spend whatever you want, we NEED to win a world series and make our team look better, he will have an owner in Pittsburgh telling him not to spend money, im not saying he wont be good or bad, he just wont be used to it.
I know this is a minor technicality BUT he wasn’t actually “fired” by the Red Sox… he was offered to stay on and work under Dombrowski but declined and therefore technically departed on his own terms. It doesn’t really mean all that much now other than to say that the Red Sox obviously still thought he had something to offer them even after bringing in DD – so one would assume the sentiment is similar across baseball and it will probably just be a matter of time before he’s back in the driver’s seat for some organization be it the Pirates now or someone else not too far down the road.
Correct assessment.
Need to correct one other misconception as I read the comments……
At that time the Red Sox had the owner and others calling the shots on free agency and major trades. Theo Epstein claimed he left Henry & Co. because he was “forced” to sign big name free agents as opposed to putting money in the farm system (that martyr-like manta sounded great for him at the time, but once he got the Cubs built he’s done the exact same thing of overspending on so-so free agents as his farm system has withered).
Those that followed the situation when Mr. Cherington “ran” the Red Sox knew that he was a young guy that had gotten a high-viability (seemingly) plum position in MLB, but had little autonomy in the moves he made. There was interference from the owner, major investors, and FO people vying politically for more power – not to mention the notorious Boston media rallying the fans to put pressure on the guy to do something he wasn’t given the authority to do…..so he became the fall guy….while their ratings and clicks made them a nice living.
To my mind, I have no idea if Mr. Cherington is capable of running an MLB Baseball Ops division. If the Pirates bring him in, stay consistent with the budget that will be low (like the Rays, Indians, A’s, Royals, etc.), and allow him and his hires to make the baseball decisions, then we’ll all find out.
There are no guarantees in this life.
So LaCava is a native Pittsburgher, knows the terrain, the team, the baseball business, but the search firm is looking at his underling instead. I don’t know if he’s even interested in coming home, but if so, it would appear nothing has changed with Nutting
By “his underling” you mean that former GM who won a World Series?
Yinzers never change.
This would be absolutely a good a hire as they could expect to find.
Who did you think they’d get? Billy Beane? Friedman?
I was initially hesitant on Cherington but if he is good at hiring scouts and coaches then he is a candidate,
I was hesitant because of his free agent signings but maybe he learned from the bad experiences and like other posters have said he will not have the money to spend.
I would prefer someone with experience and contacts and he has some of both.
You may be right in saying that he is the best that they can get.
Pirates rebulding seems like a dumb thing to do. Bell, Frazier, Newman, Reynolds, polanco, Williams, Musgrove, Keller, Tailion all have long term control. If they’re shooting for a typical rebuild 5 years down the line they’ll all be gone.
Marte with two years of control
Need a catcher and a third basmen with at least a bit of power and average+ fielding, At least one starter.
Getting someones like Moose for third at projected 2/20, Castro for catcher projected 2/10 and Odorizzi as a starter 3/52 projected would add 23M in payroll and give them a hell of a team.
Time is now while they have Marte.
I’m betting a quality catcher with a new pitching coach will bring the pitching back to respectable.
If it looks bad at the deadline then they have 4 players to trade to refill the farm and it only cost them ~15M to give it a legit shot. (little more than half the salary on a one year deal) Trade bait being Marte, Moose, Castro, Archer and Odorizzi.. Archer would be a hard sell but he can get back near a 4ERA with extended stats supporting it.. a midrange prospect…
Add in archer and marte’s contract for money saved and your looking at about 20-25M total and probably a top farm system.
the only real draw back is the loss of a draft pick due to Odorizzi’s QO.
Now if Ben is okay with picking up and running with a mostly finished rebuild that needs tweaking… GREAT… if not.. i’d look else where.
Joe- seems like a plan.
I am amazed that Moustakis has not received a multi year contract,and that the Pirates have not gone after him.Moran is a decent player but does not have a high ceiling.I do think that he will be in more demand this year and they may have to overpay for him.
I do not know Castro but again it seems that that may be a bit too low for him.I do not know what they would do with Diaz who actually was a good backup catcher in 2018.
I think that Odorizzi May have been a one hit wonder but perhaps Nutting will take a chance inasmuch as he was embarrassed by the torpor that had set in after he extended Hurdle and NH for four years after two mediocre at best seasons.They do need another starter at least to provide depth.
You have Hayes in AAA ready to come up to the majors at any point next season. Why block his path to 3B by acquiring some free agents on a long term or multiple years contract? I don’t understand the logic behind that way of thinking. Hayes improves his offense as time went on his Triple A and his glove and arm at 3B is gold glove caliber. Let Hayes get the taste of MLB for a few season before thinking about a alternative solution.
With all that said, pitching is what the Pirates really need. From SP to bullpen, the Pirates need depth at that area as well as MLB experience pitching. I wouldn’t complain if they traded Marte and/or Bell to help in that area. I prefer Marte as he is hitting his age 32 season. He has some value and teams will be interested in a gold glove and above average offensive CF. Pirates have Jason Martin that can play LF as Reynolds moves to CF. Sign a veteran OF like Billy Hamilton who can spot start as needed. You also have Jose Osuna who can play RF or 1B. The Pirates May lose their best player in Marte, but that will add pitching that the Pirates desperately need. I would really consider Frazier as trade bait as well. Pirates could get some Double and/or Triple A prospect out of it. Maybe a catcher if the right team is interested.
Last year the Pirates were middle of the pack in all of baseball in offense. Some of that offense is some now FA looking for a team. But it looks promising with Reynolds, Newman, Bell, (hopefully a healthy) Polanco, and Hayes waiting in the wings. Kevin Kramer is also close to the majors and he can play 3B/SS/OF. There are options in Triple A and next summer, they can be utilized. I see Kramer coming up if Marte is traded and one of the starting OF is on the IL. Hayes could see July in Pirates uniform unless something drastically changes at the 3B depth position. I think Pirates want Hayes to have 200 more at-bats in AAA before considering bring him up. That is why I am thinking about July.
Shannon you are right in bringing up Hayes but I think that the Pirates need the power that Mousakis would provide.I am not sold on Hayes and his hitting and I think that he needs another full year in AAA to see if can develop some power.He is still fairly young.Kang was a key and though he provided some power this year his career was ruined by his off field dalliances.
If they trade Marte they should do it quickly and sign Dickerson for left field.Martin is a fourth outfielder at best.
Kramer could play second if Frazier is traded but I would need to get something decent for him as Kramer has not hit in his two limited chances and there is no guarantee that he will pick it up like Newman did this year.
The Pirates had one of the best team batting averages in all of baseball but they need power and Mousakis could provide some.You need that in your third baseman and Hayes is not ready to provide it yet.Plus signing a significant free agent would restore some faith in ownership while Hayes is sill learning to hit.