Tim Benz: Bob Nutting’s wallet better back up Ben Cherington’s comments
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It could’ve been just a throw-away line from Pittsburgh Pirates general manager Ben Cherington after a long day of working the phones in advance of Tuesday’s trade deadline. Maybe he didn’t even know the significance of what he said.
Significant, that is, if we are to take him at his word and assume there was weight to the sentences coming out of his mouth.
After the team decided against trading All-Star pitchers David Bednar and Mitch Keller (despite reported interest in both), Cherington shared his message to those players.
“I’ve had a chance to talk with both of those guys over the last few days (and) shared that we fully anticipated we’d get phone calls about them. We did,” Cherington said via TribLIVE’s Kevin Gorman. “Also shared with them that we’re trying to win here as fast as we possibly can. First priority would be to do that with them on the team.”
Now, when Cherington said, “We’re trying to win here as fast as we possibly can,” that could’ve been just something of a reassurance to Keller and Bednar. It could’ve been just something he knew would sound good on air and look good in print.
Or maybe he knows “as fast as we possibly can” still isn’t very fast and that was just a subtle way to couch the messaging.
However (as was aired on 93.7 The Fan), Cherington also said in a separate clip, “The only message is what we’ve already said. And that is that we want to win as fast as we possibly can. … We are all focused on winning as fast as we possibly can. We all have a role in that. It certainly starts with me. I’ve got to do my job. Everybody in the clubhouse has to do their job. That’s our focus.”
If you are scoring at home, that’s three “we’re trying to win as fast as we possibly can” quotes. As a result, I’m going to do something I rarely do when writing or talking about the Pirates. I’m going to take something said by a member of their front office at face value. I’m going to believe they actually meant what they said.
I know! That’s quite a leap, isn’t it?!
But, let’s give Cherington — and I can’t believe I’m writing this about a Pirates front office executive — the benefit of the doubt. Let’s assume he meant what he said with utmost sincerity.
Why?
Well, first of all, I’d love to believe it’s true. How great would it be to know that the folks who run the Pirates finally want to fast-track winning around here as much as anyone who has ever rooted for the team has wanted for the past 30 years?
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How great would it be to witness a cessation of the never-ending sequence of three- and five- and seven-year rebooting plans, and, instead, hear that it’s time to start thinking about assembling a team that contends for a playoff spot coming out of spring training?
Next year.
So, first and foremost, I want what Cherington said to be true. Secondly, I want to make it clear that — if he really means it — there are only two people that can make it happen: him and owner Bob Nutting.
Nutting has to expand payroll, and Cherington needs to spend it wisely. Like in 2011 and 2012, this Pirates team gave the city an early glimmer of hope before eventually collapsing. Some of the players that helped them do that in April (including Keller and Bednar) will be back next year, as will injured star Oneil Cruz. The midsummer prospect call-ups who have been the core of the farm system are big leaguers now too.
Perhaps this is earlier on the curve, but it’s not entirely dissimilar to when Andrew McCutchen, Neil Walker, Pedro Alvarez and Gerrit Cole were the perceived core of the Pirates in the early 2010s.
Now it’s time for Nutting to open the wallet and Cherington to reach in and use the money to acquire the modern-day likes of A.J. Burnett, Russell Martin, Francisco Liriano, Marlon Byrd, Justin Morneau, et al. to supplement this core with veteran quality from other teams.
Or the words can just look good in print and sound good on the radio, but be empty in real life.
I think we can all guess how this will probably end up going.
Trade deadline day in Pittsburgh this year was largely looked upon as a good day because of who the Pirates didn’t deal. In fact, Bednar’s father went so far as to post a celebratory picture on social media that his hometown hero son wasn’t being shipped out of Pittsburgh.
Happy to see 6 PM today!!! pic.twitter.com/TnaQ9bG9YR
— Andy Bednar (@BednarAndy) August 2, 2023
Well played.
Now, if Cherington (and Nutting) are serious, maybe next year in Pittsburgh, the bar can be raised to celebrate who the Pirates actually acquired on deadline day instead of who they avoided spinning off.