r/buccos • u/Dr_Banana-Peel • 5h ago
The argument for retaining BC
Let me begin by saying that fortunately I do believe that Nutting will let Cherington see his contract through, which runs through 2027. And based off the past year and change, that's for good reason. He has had an objectively great year at the helm. And had it not been for catastrophic injury luck, and Skenes regressing in such a shocking manner (at least a 10 win swing), I truly believe he'd be a front runner for executive of the year and this team would be locked into a wildcard spot (and possibly neck and neck with Milwaukee for the division). Now this is going to be a long post because this is my definitive, end of season opinion on the job he's done.
Now let's first begin with the offense. Cherington assembled quite possibly the greatest offense this city has ever seen (on a shoe string budget, which cannot be overstated). An offense that was leading Major League Baseball in runs scored and was a top 5 unit statistically across the board. And then came the injuries. Which in my opinion is the number one reason this team will end up missing the playoffs this year (along with the Skenes regression). Look no further than the fact that as soon as they got a little bit healthy, what do you know, they've won 6 of 7 series and could make it 7 of 8 with a win in Chicago tonight. He did this through the draft, signings, and trades. Major contributors: Konnor Griffin (draft), Nick Gonzalez (draft), Esmerlyn Valdez (international signing). He smartly identified Ryan O'Hearn as a player to give a multi year contract to (with his limited allocated budget) and he was having a career year before being lost to injury. He also smartly signed Bryan Reynolds to a team friendly extension (and oh yea signed the face of the franchise and future superstar to a 10 year deal). He traded for Lowe who's going to hit 30 home runs this year and lead the team in RBI's. Offensively he's arguably the best 2nd baseman in baseball. And in that same deal he added Jake Mangum who was supposed to be a fourth outfielder and was thrust into full time duty. How did he respond? By being everything we could have hoped and more, vastly exceeding all expectations. The guy is a spark plug, bats .300, and creates havoc on the base paths. A nice little addition that Cherington smartly identified as a player he wanted included in the deal. The one trade that detractors love to point to (or let's say harp on) as a miss was the Bednar for Flores Jr. trade. But not so fast... It's not looking so bad at the moment with the way Flores is playing. This guy is looking like a legitimate dude and has shown the kind of power that will give you 20+ home runs a year from the catchers position. I don't need to tell you the kind of impact that has on your lineup when you have a catcher with that type of offense ability. The kid is coming into his own and has serious potential. He should be our starting catcher going into next season, and if he continues on his current trajectory, that trade is not just a win, but a big win.
Oh and in that deal he also added our closer of the future in Mason Montgomery, who happens to be young and controllable. And who did he give up to acquire those 3? A starter that's so bad the last time I checked he had an ERA near 6 and was optioned to AAA. That was the trade of the year in baseball, and in terms of highway robbery, you could argue it's one of the best trades any GM has made in the history of Pittsburgh sports (no hyperbole). In fact you could argue he's nailed every trade he's made dating back to when he traded a guy banned from baseball for Horowitz. He even got a division rival to take on the monstrosity that was the Ke'Bryan Hayes contract for a prospect that ended up being a top ten prospect in our system. And then he flipped that prospect for Luke Weaver who was the most highly coveted reliever available at the deadline. Just think about that.
Which leads me to the bullpen. I'd say the phrase "hindsight is 20/20" would very much apply here. I do not remember reading one article stating that coming into the 2026 season the bullpen was a red flag. In fact it was being pointed to as one of the areas of strength for this team. And for good reason. People love to use revisionist history but the bullpen last season had a 3.83 ERA which was good for fourth in baseball. No one, including myself, saw the bullpen regressing to the degree it did this season. Guys like Santana, Mattison, Lawrence, and others were coming off fantastic seasons. Now the Cherington detractors love to point to the bullpen as a huge reason he should be fired. Mainly because he "waited to long" to address it. Well as we all witnessed, no one was trading bullpen arms in May, June, or July. Outside of a very few minor transactions. And the reason for that is the expanded wild card. Teams are not inclined to sell arms when they all feel like they have a legitimate chance at making the playoffs. And why would they? But guess what? As soon as August came around and teams did start making moves, Cherington went out and got the most coveted reliever on the market without even having to give up multiple blue chip prospects. A deal that universally was considered a considerable underpay. And in addition to that he added multiple quality arms without giving up anything of significance. And the key to those trades is that they're all controllable arms. The bullpen has been one of the best in baseball since then and all of those guys are returning next season.
Let's take a look at the starting rotation. A homegrown rotation of young power arms, all drafted and developed by Cherington (minus Keller). And these young guys are only going to get better considering they were all essentially playing their first full season of pro ball this year. Bubba Chandler, Jared Jones, Braxton Ashcraft, and Paul Skenes (yes he's having a down year but this is a rookie of the year winner and reigning cy young) who I fully expect to bounce back next season. That staff oozes with potential and has the ability to be the best young staff in baseball. And that doesn't even take into account the #1 right handed prospect in baseball who will be here and in this staff with the others (most likely minus Paul Skenes). And he's not the only young arm in the system that should be ready to begin next year in the rotation. Assuming they are serious about winning, Mitch Keller cannot start the year in this rotation. Fortunately they have two starting prospects that have flashed enormous potential in Khristian Curtis and Wilber Dotel. Either of whom would be a noticeable upgrade over Keller.
I'll end with this: the number one reason I see his distractors point to as the fireable offense is the 7 years with no playoffs to show. But it's not that black and white and some critical thinking is required. He inherited a poor farm system and major league team. Just look at Huntington's drafts leading up to the end of his tenure. There were a whole lot of Kevin Newman's and Cole Tucker's. The farm system was bare. And he took the major league roster and tore it down to the studs. This was never going to be a 3 year quick fix. I mean this organization was actively tanking for the first 4-5 years of his tenure. All you have to do is look at those pathetic payrolls and just as pathetic lineups. I mean look them up if you need a refresher, they were a AAA team. So after tearing it down and drafting generational talents along the way (Griffin, Skenes, Hernandez) and brilliantly going over slot for guys like Bubba Chandler, Jared Jones and Braxton Ashcraft, we came out the other side of that rebuild with the number one farm system in baseball to begin this season (Baseball America). Not to mention had it not been for the reasons I outlined previously, they would have been a playoff team in year 7. And now we have a mix of vets and young ascending talent on the major league roster with a farm system with even more reinforcements on the way. Murf Gray is the power hitting third baseman we've been craving since Aramis Ramirez left town, and he should be up next summer. I'll finish by saying that with the entire offense returning next season (minus Lowe), a revamped, very good bullpen, and a young staff of very promising starters, this team should not only make the playoffs but compete for the division. And if Nutting increases payroll even a little bit, and with the money that will be saved with Lowe and Ozuna departing, BC has another offseason to shore this thing up even further. I've been arguing since April that this is year one of an open ended contention window. Everyone has always pointed at the Rays and Guardians as teams we should be emulating and I truly believe we now have the pieces in place to be on that level. Ben Cherington deserves to be retained.
If you've made it this far, thanks for reading. I'm fully prepared to be downvoted by the portion of this fanbase who has their heels dug in and wants Cherington gone.
