Ben Cherington must deliver after latest 'confident' Pirates roster statement

With less than a month to go until spring training, the Pittsburgh Pirates' roster hardly looks like a finished product.

Several of the Pirates' most glaring issues entering the offseason – bullpen depth and the hole in right field chief among them – remain unaddressed months later. The club's only moves of note to date this offseason have involved overpaying in a trade for first baseman Spencer Horwitz, while signing lefty reliever (and possible fifth starter?) Caleb Ferguson and designated hitter Andrew McCutchen to one-year deals in free agency. If the Pirates hope to be competitive and maybe even snap their decade-long playoff drought in 2025, those types of moves aren't going to cut it.

Fans made their frustrations known with the Pirates' offseason strategy (or lack thereof) over the weekend during a Q&A sessions with members of the club's front office at PiratesFest. When asked whether he was done making additions to the roster, general manager Ben Cherington said (via Noah Hiles of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette), "I'm confident the roster will be improved between now and Opening Day."

Ben Cherington must deliver after latest 'confident' Pirates roster statement

So, serious question: do we think Cherington realizes that he's the one responsible for improving the roster? Or that he's running out of time to do it?

If the Pirates aren't committed to Ferguson being a reliever (and honestly, even if they are), they still have some work to do to improve a bullpen that had one of the highest ERAs in the league last season. They also desperately need a corner outfielder, and the options on the free agent market are dwindling. Pittsburgh has reportedly expressed interest in outfielders Randal Grichuk and Alex Verdugo, but there's no reason to believe that a signing is imminent.

Grichuk is coming off a solid 2024 season with the Arizona Diamondbacks, batting .291/.348/.528 with 12 home runs and 46 RBI. Verdugo, meanwhile, struggled in the second half of the season with the New York Yankees and set career-lows with a .233/.291/.356 slash line, 13 home runs and 61 RBI. At this point, neither would be considered a "big swing" in the grand scheme of free agency, but either would be considered an upgrade over either of the unproven, part-time outfielders the Pirates currently have on their roster.

If and when the Pirates finally start to show a sense of urgency in improving their roster this offseason, it will be too little too late. But if Cherington is "confident" about the team's Opening Day roster, it had better look different then than it does now.

More Pirates content from Rum Bunter