Cherington’s moves over the past year have mostly been pretty good, but signing Ozuna might have been the worst decision of his tenure.
Bucco Ball
@buccoball.bsky.social
A Pittsburgh Pirates blog — watching the Bucs so you don’t have to https://buccoball.wordpress.com/
The Pirates's bullpen has been atrocious this year. It was the team's most clear and obvious area of need, and Cherington focused exclusively on fixing it this deadline. My thoughts on the Pirates' four new relievers and the trades to get them:
Pirates overhaul bullpen at trade deadline
Photo By D. Benjamin Miller. Holy smokes. It's been almost two days since the trade deadline passed and I'm just now catching my breath after the flurry of furious activity leading up to 6 pm on Monday. Just about every team in baseball made some sort of move, and after plenty of handwringing from the national press about whether the expanded playoffs had lead to less sellers and prospect-hugging organizations had led to less buyers, there were enough trades on deadline day to keep baseball writers busy through early September.
buccoball.wordpress.com
Sometimes I think Kelly just wants to go hang out in the clubhouse
Had a late night/early morning so I won’t have my trade deadline recap up until tomorrow
Turning Ke’Bryan Hayes into Luke Weaver is a nice bit of business
Bucco Ball@buccoball.bsky.social · 2d agoWeaver deal is done
It is deadline day. The Pirates still need relievers. Here are five guys who would help the team and are still available: buccoball.wordpress.com/2026/07/31/f...
Five relievers the Pirates could acquire (other than Mason Miller)
Photo by luvsd. The Pirates have a very obvious need, and that need is relief pitching. As a team, the Bucs rank 20th in ERA and ninth in FIP (which suggests that defense might be a bit of an issue…
buccoball.wordpress.com
Pirates are going to head into deadline day closer to last place in the NL Central than a playoff spot
That Skubal return is so weak that this feels like collusion among MLB teams. You mean to tell me no one was offering more than THAT? And why did the Tigers feel the need to jump on that deal 2 days before the deadline?
It took Ben Cherington seven years to build this roster. We sat throw 100-loss seasons, Evan Phillips batting third, 20-run losses to the Cubs for this.
Yes, the Pirates are still going to be buyers this deadline, no matter how badly this Cincinnati series goes. They have an obvious need — relievers — and I took a look at five potential targets beyond the most obvious one.
Five relievers the Pirates could acquire (other than Mason Miller)
Photo by luvsd. The Pirates have a very obvious need, and that need is relief pitching. As a team, the Bucs rank 20th in ERA and ninth in FIP (which suggests that defense might be a bit of an issue as well), but it's mostly the young, talented rotation that is carrying the staff as a whole. When just looking at relievers, the Pirates rank 24th in ERA at 4.48, and their FIP isn't much better at 4.31, which ranks 19th.
buccoball.wordpress.com
It rocks that we sat through six years of Cherington’s bullshit and multiple 100-loss teams so Ben could build a roster capable of winning 83 games
With Valdez possibly headed to the injured list, the Pirates don't have as much hitting depth as people think. They're not in a position to trade that depth away for bullpen help buccoball.wordpress.com/2026/07/24/t...
Trading Peter to add Paul
Yes, I could only find a photo from his time in the minors. Photo by Minda Haas Kuhlmann. The days are getting shorter and yet, ironically, they are also getting hotter — which can only mean we are…
buccoball.wordpress.com
As others have stated, this is a big series with Arizona because the tiebreaker is at stake. Eduardo Rodriguez, a lefty having a great season, looms on Wednesday. It is imperative that they take care of business tonight
As the last few days have shown, the current iteration of the Pirates' offense could use some help. The focus should still be on adding to the bullpen, but the Bucs shouldn't do so by trading away guys who could help the lineup buccoball.wordpress.com/2026/07/24/t...
Trading Peter to add Paul
Yes, I could only find a photo from his time in the minors. Photo by Minda Haas Kuhlmann. The days are getting shorter and yet, ironically, they are also getting hotter — which can only mean we are…
buccoball.wordpress.com
The Pirates can and should improve the bullpen at the trade deadline, and they don't have to move Oneil Cruz — or any other big-leaguer, for that matter — to do it.
Trading Peter to add Paul
Yes, I could only find a photo from his time in the minors. Photo by Minda Haas Kuhlmann. The days are getting shorter and yet, ironically, they are also getting hotter — which can only mean we are approaching the end of July and the date that so preoccupies the average baseball fan: the trade deadline. As this midsummer event has approached each year for the past decade, Pirate fans have mostly been concerned with who would be leaving Pittsburgh.
buccoball.wordpress.com
The “Baseball Spy” employed by the Angels was caught when several members of the Rockies noticed him walking around their facility in a trench coat and fedora, holding out his Motorola Razr at arm’s length and taking pictures with the shutter sound effect turned up as loud as possible
No team is willing to trade away a major leaguer for minor leaguers only, I say, after years of watching the Pirates trade away major leaguers for minor leaguers
It's been a frustrating season at times, but that doesn't mean we should overlook how incredible the offense's turnaround has been buccoball.wordpress.com/2026/07/15/h...
How the Pirates’ offense went from bad to historically good
The last time the Bucs had an offense this good, he was on the roster. Photo by Photojunkie. During the prior decade, the Pirates made roaring into the All-Star break on a hot streak something of a…
buccoball.wordpress.com
I wanted to use this break in the schedule to sing the praises of the Pirates' offense, which has undergone the most incredible turnaround in one season that I can remember from any team buccoball.wordpress.com/2026/07/15/h...
How the Pirates’ offense went from bad to historically good
The last time the Bucs had an offense this good, he was on the roster. Photo by Photojunkie. During the prior decade, the Pirates made roaring into the All-Star break on a hot streak something of a…
buccoball.wordpress.com
Just fell to my knees at the 7th St/Penn Ave. bus stop
Chris Briem (www.briem.com)@chrisbriem.bsky.social · 3w agoMore office cleaning. Here is a 'vision' of regional transit for Allegheny County and the Pittsburgh region circa 2003. Just leaving it at that....
A year ago, the Pirates had the worst offense in baseball. This year's lineup is one of the best in team history. I spent the All-Star break looking back on this incredible turnaround and what the Bucs need to do now
How the Pirates’ offense went from bad to historically good
The last time the Bucs had an offense this good, he was on the roster. Photo by Photojunkie. During the prior decade, the Pirates made roaring into the All-Star break on a hot streak something of a habit. The 2015 Bucs were the most memorable club to do so; they won 10 of their last 12 contests heading into the break, concluding with two instant-classic walk-off victories over the St.
buccoball.wordpress.com
National League getting beasted on with no Pirates in the lineup
These lineups? Kinda booty. The people demand to see Ozzie Albies I guess
I think the return the Pirates received from Chicago on Friday was fair value for the 34th pick of the 2026 draft — but that doesn't mean it was the best use of that pick in a trade buccoball.wordpress.com/2026/07/11/p...
Pirates make a trade without really addressing the bullpen
Photo by daveynin. The Pirates were facing a deadline to make a trade three weeks before the actual trade deadline. The MLB Draft begins on Saturday, July 11, and the Bucs held a competitive balanc…
buccoball.wordpress.com
The Pirates finally swung a trade on Friday, but it didn't really address the team's biggest weakness. My thoughts on the deal with the White Sox: buccoball.wordpress.com/2026/07/11/p...
Pirates make a trade without really addressing the bullpen
Photo by daveynin. The Pirates were facing a deadline to make a trade three weeks before the actual trade deadline. The MLB Draft begins on Saturday, July 11, and the Bucs held a competitive balanc…
buccoball.wordpress.com