Astros just sent message to Pirates about Ben Cherington with aggressive front office decision

The Houston Astros just demonstrated what organizational accountability looks like, and the Pittsburgh Pirates should be paying attention.

Houston announced Monday that it had parted ways with general manager Dana Brown, ending his tenure less than four years after he took over baseball operations in January 2023. The timing is remarkable considering where the Astros currently stand. Houston entered Monday 65-66 — but tied with the Texas Rangers atop the American League West.

Apparently, merely having a chance wasn't enough for Houston. That should make for an uncomfortable comparison in Pittsburgh, where Ben Cherington is nearing the end of his seventh season running the Pirates without producing a single winning record.

The Astros didn't wait until they were mathematically eliminated or point to the standings and argue that everything was fine because October remained possible. They decided their performance wasn't meeting the organization's standard and made a change anyway.

The Pirates, meanwhile, have spent seven years moving the goalposts in the opposite direction. This season was supposed to be different, and team president Travis Williams explicitly established making the playoffs as the expectation for 2026. Pittsburgh finally entered a season with something resembling urgency after years of rebuilding, accumulating young talent and preaching patience.

For a while, there was reason to believe the Pirates might deliver. They were 50-47 at the All-Star break and only two games out of a National League Wild Card spot. Even in late July, they remained firmly in the race, prompting Cherington to take an aggressive approach at the trade deadline and add multiple veterans to the bullpen.

Then the season started slipping away. Pittsburgh lost 17 of its first 25 games coming out of the All-Star break and endured a stretch of seven consecutive series losses. A team that had finally climbed above .500 and positioned itself for meaningful late-summer baseball quickly gave back nearly all of its progress.

Dana Brown is out as Astros GM, and Pirates' Ben Cherington should be next

The Pirates have shown some signs of life recently, including series victories over the Boston Red Sox and Detroit Tigers. But they stumbled through the first three games of their current road trip with a sweep by the Los Angeles Dodgers that left them five games below .500 and 8.5 games out of a Wild Card spot.

Cherington himself continued expressing belief after the deadline that this roster could make an October push. If it doesn't, what exactly is left to evaluate?

Seven years is an enormous sample for a baseball executive. Cherington has been given time to tear down the roster, rebuild the farm system, graduate prospects, reshape the coaching infrastructure and eventually supplement that young core. The result, barring a dramatic September turnaround, could be seven consecutive seasons without a winning record.

Houston's decision regarding Brown makes Pittsburgh's patience look even more extreme. The Astros are changing leadership while tied for first place because their organizational standard apparently demands more.

The Pirates explicitly said their standard this year was the postseason. If they miss it, they need to act like they meant it.

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