Despite 'very frustrating year,' Pirates confirm that GM Ben Cherington will return in 2026

Despite the Pittsburgh Pirates enduring a 91-loss season that team president Travis Williams termed a “very frustrating year … both on and off the field,” there will be no major changes in their front office.

Not only did the Pirates extend the contract of manager Don Kelly on Monday, but general manager Ben Cherington also said he received assurances he will return for a seventh season.

Williams confirmed the Pirates want Cherington to return.

“I think given where this team is at this point in time, the strengths that we have in terms of our pitching staff, the young core of position players that we have and what we have in our farm system coming up, we felt at the end of the day that making any changes as a general manager would set us back,” Williams said. “It’s not what our fans expect. That’s not what we expect. We’re looking in 2026 to make the playoffs. Period. Full stop. We did not want to veer from that. We’re pushing it all in to make sure we’re able to make the playoffs in 2026.”

The Pirates on Sunday completed their seventh consecutive losing season, including their sixth straight with Cherington in charge of baseball operations. They had baseball’s worst record (19-41) in the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, followed by back-to-back 100-loss seasons in 2021-22 and successive 76-win seasons in 2023-24.

“First of all, we’ve got to deliver better to our fans,” Cherington told reporters after a news conference at PNC Park. “That’s very clear. It’s in my mind all the time. I want to do that. Totally hear the frustration. Bottom line, we’ve just got to deliver. That’s our expectation to do that.

“I don’t believe that continuity in certain positions reflects a lack of change. Our jobs are to change all the time. Our jobs are to find an opportunity tomorrow to change, if we need to, to get better. Change is constant. It’s happening throughout baseball operations, throughout our clubhouse, all the time.”

Williams refused to discuss whether the Pirates would raise their major-league payroll after an Opening Day payroll of $84.6 million ranked 26th in MLB, yet stressed that they can be a contender next season.

“We have sufficient resources to go out and build a team that can make the playoffs in 2026,” Williams said. “It’s not a resource issue. We just have to go out and execute.”

That puts the onus on Cherington to improve the major league roster, and he called conversations with chairman Bob Nutting “every combination of challenging, productive, difficult at times” but left each one with clarity on the vision and the need to execute it.

Cherington wouldn’t divulge the details of their strategy but warned the Pirates have to be ready to be “aggressive in acquisition” this offseason, particularly when targeting trade candidates.

“In our situation we’ve got to be willing to assume the risks of trades because free agency is not an open ocean for us,” Cherington said. “We’ve got to be prepared to chase down every single thing that we think has a chance to help this team win more games in ’26, execute on the ones we can get to and just be dogged about it all offseason.”

Williams said he takes ownership of the off-field issues that plagued the Pirates, from the Bucco Bricks fiasco to the negative publicity generated by replacing a logo honoring Roberto Clemente with a Surfside ad to a game day staffer whipping a fan with his belt.

Williams said his intent — and the challenge for Cherington — is for the Pirates to “win more baseball games so we’re playing the last week fighting for October and not trying to kick somebody out.”

“Listen, I came here to win,” said Williams, a former chief operating officer for the Penguins. “I came here six years ago to win. I came from an organization that won. I know what it takes. We haven’t done it yet. At the same time, I’m not thinking about whether I’m on the clock or not. I’m here every day showing up, making sure we do everything we can to win. Ben is doing the same. Everybody else in this organization is doing the same.”