The MLB Draft was winding down, the Home Run Derby hadn’t started and trade-deadline talk already was heating up, Pittsburgh Pirates general manager Ben Cherington said on his weekly radio show.

Cherington said the calls started Monday night and expects them to continue until baseball’s trade deadline July 31.

“Every team is focused on, ‘How do we improve our situations?” Cherington said Sunday afternoon on team flagship 93.7 FM. “Obviously, we’re in a situation that we don’t want to be in. We need to find ways over the next several days into July 31 to put ourselves in a better situation going forward to increase the chances of the Pirates being a winning team in 2026 and beyond. That’s our only focus.”

The Pirates already made one trade Wednesday by sending second baseman/outfielder Adam Frazier to the Kansas City Royals for utility infielder Cam Devanney, who had 18 home runs and 55 RBIs in 69 games at Triple-A Omaha.

Cherington called the 28-year-old Devanney “a little bit of a late bloomer,” noting that his offensive performance has been “increasingly strong” — with 37 homers since his promotion to Triple-A in 2024.

“The ability to play shortstop is what, in our minds, separated him,” Cherington said.

Cherington said there is “uncertainty” at shortstop, given that Isiah Kiner-Falefa is in the second year of a two-year contract and is expected to be traded by the deadline.

The Pirates have a number of players on one-year contracts, including left-handed starter Andrew Heaney, lefty reliever Caleb Ferguson, left fielder Tommy Pham and designated hitter Andrew McCutchen.

What Cherington told them upon signing free-agent deals is he wanted to be in a position where they would be Pirates for the entire season and he didn’t have to make trades. But he acknowledged that it’s inferred that if the season does not go the way they want — “which it hasn’t, to this point” — a trade-deadline deal is a possibility.

Cherington said he expects to get phone calls on those players “and others” — right-handed starter Mitch Keller, outfielder Bryan Reynolds, third baseman Ke’Bryan Hayes and righty relievers David Bednar and Dennis Santana have been rumored trade targets — as the deadline approaches. Cherington said he hasn’t received any trade requests, let alone demands, from players this season.

“We signed them with the absolute No. 1 goal and priority to win as Pirates,” Cherington said. “I feel fully confident that they come into spring training with that mindset, we go into the season with that mindset and they’re professionals, they’re smart guys. You get to July, and you’re not blind to the circumstances. They know these things can happen. Every one of those players we mentioned has been traded before, so it’s not the first time.”

Copyright ©2025— Trib Total Media, LLC (TribLIVE.com)