Ben Cherington opened the door to October but now Pirates must walk through it

Ben Cherington buying at the trade deadline was the right move for the Pittsburgh Pirates, regardless of whether the season ultimately ends with a playoff berth.

The Pirates are back at .500 and just 3.5 games out of a National League Wild Card spot. That hardly guarantees anything, especially in a crowded race featuring eight teams that acted as buyers before the deadline. But Pittsburgh had done enough over the first four months of the season to earn reinforcements, and Cherington finally treated the standings with the urgency they demanded.

Not every team ahead of the Pirates made a transformative push. The Arizona Diamondbacks, one of the clubs Pittsburgh is trying to catch in the standings, made only one addition by acquiring Lars Nootbaar, who currently owns a below-average .687 OPS. Other contenders improved around the margins rather than dramatically separating themselves from the pack. The Miami Marlins, currently ahead of Pittsburgh in the standings, were sellers.

The Pirates, meanwhile, addressed the most obvious weakness on their roster. Their bullpen had repeatedly turned winnable games into crushing losses, wasting strong starts and placing even more pressure on an offense that has rarely operated at full strength. Cherington responded by adding Camilo Doval, Kirby Yates, Lake Bachar and Luke Weaver, giving manager Don Kelly several experienced options to deploy late in games.

Weaver can handle the ninth inning. Doval has the power arsenal to pitch in high-leverage spots. Yates provides another veteran capable of recording important outs, while Bachar improves the depth that had been severely tested for much of the season.

None of this means the Pirates suddenly have a flawless roster. The offense still needs to become more consistent. Injured players like Oneil Cruz and Konnor Griffin must return and contribute. The revamped bullpen must actually perform better than the group it replaced. But the path to October is real enough that standing still at the deadline would have been indefensible.

Ben Cherington fixed the Pirates bullpen, and now the rest of the roster must deliver

The Pirates have already endured too many seasons in which the front office preached patience while meaningful opportunities passed by. They simply couldn't ask the players and fans to believe this season mattered, then refuse to invest when the team entered August within striking distance of a playoff spot.

Cherington didn't mortgage the organization’s future. He strengthened the roster without surrendering the Pirates’ elite prospects, giving the team a chance to compete now while preserving the core of its long-term plan.

Whether the moves prove to be enough will be decided over the next two months. Making them, however, was unquestionably the correct decision.

The Pirates finally acted like a team that believes October is possible. Now they have to prove it on the field.

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