It's not that Ben Cherington doesn't care about winning.
It's that it's not No. 1 with him.
Thought I'd seize the opportunity on this Fourth of July weekend, with the Pirates having just lost two of three to the Cardinals in a series that really felt like it should've been seen as at least somewhat pivotal, given the National League's wild card standings ...
MLB
... to share an accumulation of what I've learned -- from people on the inside at 115 Federal -- about Cherington in this broader regard and why, in turn, he's been so strikingly passive within a season in which maybe any other executive might embrace the opportunity to make a meaningful difference.
For this one, it's all about process. And I mean all.
Back when Cherington was chosen by Bob Nutting over Matt Arnold, who's proceeded to become far, far more successful with the Brewers in Milwaukee, a market two-thirds the size of Pittsburgh, his calling card -- and acknowledged passion in early interviews -- was building an organization from scratch. Every level of it, every facet of it, from the Dominican Summer League on up. And as such, he's been relentless in his pursuit of excellence, working as hard as any GM I've covered.
Which isn't to suggest he's achieved that excellence. Or even come close. There've been some drafting hits, like Jared Jones and eventually Nick Gonzales, and there are a couple others that are promising. But the system's not highly regarded by anyone, even allowing for the variable of Paul Skenes rocketing through it. There are hardly any hitters. And, to single out one area no one seems to discuss, there's been hardly any Latin American talent in the pipeline under Cherington. I thought about the latter a lot, incidentally, upon covering the series this past weekend in Atlanta, where the Braves have been blessed with prodigious players from that part of the world.
It's been a borderline bust, if I'm being honest, Cherington's entire tenure. Including systemically.
That's what eats at him, I'm told. That hits him harder than any individual loss or series loss or even ... wow, however anyone would care to characterize overseeing a big-league operation in which the rotation's now produced 19 starts of six-plus innings that resulted in losses.
Think about that. In the year 2024.
Still, he won't budge. He won't do a damned thing, as evidenced by his full ledger of external moves since the season started:
March 29: JT Brubaker and future considerations to the Yankees for prospect Keiner Delgado
April 2: Traded prospect Austin Strickland to the Giants for Joey Bart
April 7: Traded Colin Selby to the Royals for prospect Connor Oliver
May 10: Traded prospect Rodolfo Nolasco to the Giants for Daulton Jefferies
May 16: Sold Roansy Contreras' player rights to the Angels
June 6: Signed Justin Bruihl as a free agent
June 11: Claimed Dennis Santana off waivers from the Yankees
June 13: Sold Jose Hernandez's player rights to the Dodgers
That's been the totality of his reaction to the Skenes/Jones phenomenon, to Mitch Keller again shining like an All-Star, to Bailey Falter surprisingly making that a quartet, to Andrew McCutchen having an amazing age-37 season, to Bryan Reynolds again being his best self, and to all else that's got some experts around Major League Baseball buzzing about how tough this team might be in a brief playoff series.
That's it. Only Bart. The only bat added to this offense.
Why?
Because it's the process that weighs on him. It's why he'd have waited till the end of time for Rowdy Tellez to start hitting, just as it's why he and his staff now can't stop crowing about how Tellez has started hitting. He wants to be right rather than face the reality that his cumulative $34 million in free-agent spending on Tellez, Michael A. Taylor, Yasmani Grandal, Martin Perez, Aroldis Chapman and Josh Fleming, plus another $2.5 million flushed away on known injury risk Marco Gonzales ... was an epic waste of the most precious resource of all in a Nutting-run company.
He'll wait on all of them. Every one of them. Because it's more important to him than winning games to demonstrate that the scouting evaluations and, above all, the analytics involved in investing those dollars was sound. Even though it plainly didn't work. Because, if it takes something of that scope until July to work in baseball, it didn't work.
And don't even get me started on his handling of Andy Haines.
And if that's Exhibit A, then Exhibit A-plus will always be firing Jon Nunnally, Altoona's hitting coach, for having the audacity to help Ke'Bryan Hayes become the Pirates' most productive hitter in the second half of 2023. Because that's not how the process was supposed to go and, in fact, it exposed that part of the process as flawed. So, Nunnally had to go.
The process hasn't worked and isn't working. And rather than realizing that he could make everyone forget about all of it by doing his part to add to the current team and win a few more games, Cherington's obsessing over what's long since floated under the figurative bridge.
• This, by the way, was my 2019 column advocating in favor of Arnold vs. Cherington.
• Jack Suwinski's on edge. He's of the mind that his swings and approach are trending well, but he also knows results are what count.
This shot into the North Side Notch yesterday would've been one of those results, maybe even the winning moment in breaking a tie in the eighth ... instead of just another double and just another stranded runner:
Jack Suwinski with a double thanks to @northsidenotch
— Platinum Ke’Bryan (@PlatinumKey13) July 4, 2024
99.9 MPH exit velocity, .570 xBA, 394 feet, HR in 12/30 ballparks pic.twitter.com/mBj1TFEyqL
He and I talked about it:
“It is what it is," he'd tell me. "You can complain about it all day long, but that’s just how it is. Those are the dimensions. We can talk about if it was different, but it’s not. So what are you gonna do?”
He's not complaining, nor citing an excuse. But he's 4 for 8 with that double, a home run and three RBIs to open this month.
• Players, in general, hate the Notch. Even more from a defensive standpoint. That goes back to the place's opening when the likes of Kenny Lofton, Jason Bay, Starling Marte and, of course, Cutch, had to learn how to navigate angles between left and center to avoid collisions. Purely for health purposes. One path would go to the left fielder, another to the center fielder. And to this day, it's different for everyone, meaning every opponent that passes through. And they all hate it.
• Why's the Notch a thing? That's easy: It mimics a gap that forever existed in a similar space at Forbes Field, but that outfield was so massive -- and hitters weren't nearly as strong -- that for a long time a batting cage was shoved back there ... in play. It's not about to change, either.
• Ji Hwan Bae, up for a cup of coffee last month and then sent right back to Indy, continues to pick apart the International League with a .355/.442/.446 slash line ... but might not get a sustained look in Pittsburgh in 2024, I'm told. The reason: Baseball ops is of a general viewpoint that Class AAA pitching's some of the worst they've seen in years. I don't know if that's shared across the sport, but that's the stance in Pittsburgh. And with Bae, specifically, he makes it here and can't catch up to big-league fastballs. That's quite the hole.
• Henry Davis was back behind the plate last night in Indianapolis, fresh off a paused rehab to care for the lingering effects of a concussion. Here's hoping for the best of health for a terrific young man and for all the best in his baseball career. He's hardly done. He doesn't turn 25 until September. He's got the pedigree to be a 1:1, and the Pirates aren't the only ones who'd have picked him at that position. There are scouts who doubt he'll amount to much, and some of their sentiments are much more pointed than that. I share that not to be mean and not because I agree, but because they know better than I do. And I'll bet they'd welcome being wrong, as well.
PENGUINS
• The acquisition of Kevin Hayes might appear to make Lars Eller's future here uncertain, except for a few factors:
1. Eller's a better, more complete hockey player at this stage of both of their careers.
2. As I reported in Insider a month ago, Kyle Dubas tried to trade Eller at the NHL deadline and wasn't offered what he felt was fair value in return.
3. Eller, who'd been consistent all season, was then among the driving forces, on and off the ice, in the Penguins' ill-fated but exceptional push for the Stanley Cup playoffs.
4. Eller and Sidney Crosby became visibly tight, developing a mutual trust as team leaders.
5. Well ... why?
No, really, if only because Evgeni Malkin's turning 38 at the end of this month, having one or even two spare top-six types -- both Hayes and Eller have been that -- shouldn't be seen as a luxury. And, even if both end up bottom-six, there's no crime in getting depth scoring for the first time in years.
• All these mobile, somewhat undersized lefty defensemen Dubas just brought aboard ... it's not an accident. They're not about to hand Jack St. Ivany a roster spot, but they're very much prepared for him to take one. As they should be. In which a Matt Grzelcyk type fits multiple needs to round out the third pairing as St. Ivany's partner.
• There's a massive difference between signing a bunch of borderline late-20s vets and blocking the kids. If Valtteri Puustinen, Sam Poulin or even Brayden Yager wants to make the team out of camp, then make the team out of camp. Beat those new guys out. Be better. That'd be an ideal scenario, actually. This coming season, I'm told, will keep such doors wide open. But passing out roster spots based on age is a great way, for example, to not fully impress upon Puustinen that he needs to shoot the bleeping puck.
• Tired of writing this week after week, but the goaltenders are the goaltenders. There'll be no further change there. Because the same has to apply to Joel Blomqvist: He's got to be good enough not just to be in Pittsburgh but to play regularly in Pittsburgh. Can't have him sit on the folding chair and stunt his development.
• If it hasn't come across already, I really like the offseason Dubas has had so far. Almost as much as I didn't like his first offseason.
STEELERS
• Broderick Jones will be the starting left tackle, as had become plainly obvious through OTAs and minicamp. Which, theoretically, would have Dan Moore and Troy Fautanu dueling to start on the other side. And given Moore's out-in-the-open admissions about the right side never having been a great fit, one might think he'd have no chance.
There's a catch, though: I'm told by a source close to Arthur Smith that the new coordinator's taken quite a liking to Moore. Particularly as it relates to run-blocking, which, of course, is going to mean a ton this fall. That's always been Moore's strength, far more than pass-blocking, and it might not weigh nearly as much where he's aligned. He can just knock heads.
I'll keep putting this forth until I'm purple in the face, but I have a hard time digesting two rookies (Fautanu and Zach Frazier) plus a second-year player (Jones) making up 60% of a successful offensive line right out of the chute.
• That said, Frazier's the center. Oh, man, do they like him. And I mean right now.
• Not once, not from anyone, have I gotten the impression that Justin Fields will simply stand on the sideline and hold a clipboard. Notably, including from Fields himself. I don't know what's up there, other than that Russell Wilson's the starter. But something's up.
• Don't take it personally that Omar Khan's being quiet. The whole NFL's quiet for the month leading into training camp. It's a culture thing. Even the agents are sunning in Aruba.
• Thanks for reading our franchise feature. Next week's edition will be done by the city's preeminent hockey beat writer.
• I'll be at the HQ/shop most of the day, beginning at around 2 p.m. Stop and see us, yeah?
• Oh, and hope everyone had an awesome Fourth!
• Thanks for listening, as well:
