John Perrotto stories, Page 3

The trend in the major leagues recently has been for teams to hire pitching coaches with varied backgrounds who haven’t necessarily played professional baseball. That fits the description of Oscar Marin, whom the Pirates will hire as their pitching coach. Two baseball sources confirmed to the Tribune-Review on Monday that...

The Pittsburgh Pirates are looking for a pitching coach for the first time since 2010. Ray Searage was promoted from assistant coach in August that year to replace the fired Joe Kerrigan. Searage then spent the next nine seasons overseeing the pitching staff. However, Searage was fired at the end...

Unless Rob Manfred has a change of heart, it will be a rule change that has the greatest effect on how managers deploy their personnel in more than four decades. MLB’s commissioner said this past week during the winter meetings in San Diego a rule requiring pitchers to face at...

SAN DIEGO — Ben Cherington left his first Winter Meetings as general manager of the Pittsburgh Pirates on Thursday without making trade. However, it seems likely center fielder Starling Marte will be with another team by the time spring training opens in mid-February. Second baseman Adam Frazier could also be...

SAN DIEGO — There is a certain segment of fans and media members who have advocated that the Pittsburgh Pirates fire everyone. Owner Bob Nutting has done his share of firing since the end of a season in which the Pirates had a 69-93 record and finished last in the...

SAN DIEGO — Don Kelly won’t be the prototypical bench coach for the Pittsburgh Pirates. The former Mt. Lebanon and Point Park standout, who was hired last Saturday, has only one year of coaching experience at any level of baseball. He was the Houston Astros first-base coach last season. However,...

SAN DIEGO — Derek Shelton knew who he wanted to go to for advice. Soon after Shelton was hired as the Pittsburgh Pirates’ manager two weeks ago, he got in touch with Jim Leyland. Though Shelton only knew Leyland in passing, he thought the former Pirates manager was the perfect...

SAN DIEGO — It doesn’t take a deep dive into the Pittsburgh Pirates roster to determine the area that lacks depth. Jacob Stallings is the only catcher on the 40-man. Stallings, who turns 30 later this month, has played just 95 games and accumulated 282 plate appearances in four major...

SAN DIEGO — It remains to be seen if Ben Cherington will make the first splash move of his nascent career as the Pittsburgh Pirates general manager during the winter meetings. The four-day event started Monday at the Manchester Hyatt, and there wasn’t even a trace of a rumor involving...

SAN DIEGO — Ted Simmons is now a Hall of Famer, being elected by the Hall’s Modern-Day Era Committee on Sunday night for his stellar career as a switch-hitting catcher. In the years after amassing 2,472 hits and making eight All-Star Games during his 21-year career, Simmons had a 1½-year...

Ben Cherington drew an interesting football analogy to his new job in baseball earlier this week. The Pittsburgh Pirates’ general manager said when he was hired Nov. 18, he felt like a quarterback backed up on his 1-yard line. Nearly three weeks later, Cherington feels like he at least has...

The Pittsburgh Pirates stayed in town for their bench coach. Don Kelly was hired to be new manager Derek Shelton’s right-hand man Saturday. Kelly starred at Mt. Lebanon and Point Park and lives in Mars with his wife Carrie — sister of former Pirates second baseman Neil Walker — and...

Dave Parker will find out Sunday if his latest bid to be inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame is successful. If it were up to Parker, he already would have a spot in Cooperstown, N.Y. Somehow, that is not a surprising thought coming from one of the most...

Elias Diaz once was considered the Pittsburgh Pirates’ catcher of the future. Now, he is in their past. The Pirates decided not to offer Diaz a contract Monday night rather than go to a potential arbitration hearing with him. The 29-year-old hit .241/.296/.307 with two home runs in 101 games...

New Pittsburgh Pirates general manager Ben Cherington has found his right-hand man. The Pirates announced Tuesday morning they hired Toronto Blue Jays amateur scouting director Steve Sanders as assistant GM. “Steve has significant experience in amateur and international scouting from his time with the Red Sox and Blue Jays,” Cherington...

Starling Marte does not necessarily want out of Pittsburgh, but he made it clear this past week being traded from the Pirates wouldn’t be a bad thing. “If it was for me, I will leave for a team that is ready to compete right now on a World Series, and...

Derek Shelton does not have much of a track record when it comes to managing. The Pittsburgh Pirates, however, might be on to something if their new manager can replicate his success in the minor leagues Shelton’s managerial experience consists of three seasons in the low minors when he was...

Derek Shelton was considered the favorite to land the Pittsburgh Pirates manager’s job when the search for Clint Hurdle’s successor began under former general manager Neal Huntington. Even though Huntington was fired Oct. 28 and replaced by Ben Cherington on Nov. 18, Shelton still emerged as the Pirates’ man and...

While it wasn’t a blockbuster, Ben Cherington made his first trade Monday as the Pittsburgh Pirates’ general manager. The Pirates dealt right-hander Dario Agrazal to the Detroit Tigers for cash considerations. Agrazal was designated for assignment last Wednesday. The trade came a week after Cherington was hired to succeed Neal...

Little news has come from the Pittsburgh Pirates’ restarted managerial search. However, ESPN reported Saturday a pair of bench coaches, the Tampa Bay Rays’ Matt Quartaro and Minnesota Twins’ Derek Shelton, have emerged as the favorites. A source confirmed to the Tribune-Review that Quartaro and Shelton are in the running...

Top prospect Ke’Bryan Hayes was one of five players added to the 40-man roster Wednesday by the Pittsburgh Pirates. The 22-year-old third baseman was joined by right-handers Blake Cederlind and Cody Ponce, first baseman Will Craig and shortstop ONeil Cruz. That prevents them from being selected in the Rule 5...

Actions rather than words eventually will tell whether the Pittsburgh Pirates rebuild, retool or re-something else under Ben Cherington. It would seem, at least on the surface, the Pirates are headed for a shakeup of some sort after a season in which they had a 69-93 record and finished last...

Perhaps the new Pittsburgh Pirates general manager can be referred to as Professor Ben Cherington. After all, he is just a little over three years removed from being an adjunct professor at an Ivy League school. Cherington took time off from baseball after a four-year stint as the Boston Red...

The Pittsburgh Pirates have found their next head of baseball operations, and it is Ben Cherington, a source confirmed to the Tribune-Review on Friday. Cherington replaces Neal Huntington, who was fired Oct. 28 after 12 years on the job. The new GM will be introduced at a news conference at...