Ben Cherington somehow turned Ke'Bryan Hayes into baseball's hottest reliever

Ben Cherington and the Pittsburgh Pirates were able to put their much-maligned 2025 trade deadline performance behind them this year, completely overhauling their bullpen in an effort to make a hard push for postseason baseball down the stretch. They may not have done enough to bridge the gap to the Milwaukee Brewers or Chicago Cubs in the NL Central, but a Wild Card spot should be well within reach.

The highlight of the deadline this year was, of course, the blockbuster trade for Luke Weaver. Not only did the Bucs acquire a dominant reliever with tons of closing experience, but they did so at a shockingly affordable price, only having to send one prospect (Sammy Stafura) to the New York Mets to seal the deal.

Funnily enough, Stafura originally arrived in the organization as part of a 2025 deadline deal himself, though that one has aged far more gracefully than most -- alongside Taylor Rogers, the 21-year-old infielder was the return from the Cincinnati Reds in the Ke'Bryan Hayes trade.

Luke Weaver is now a Pirate because Ben Cherington had the foresight to trade Ke'Bryan Hayes

We shouldn't downplay the loss of Stafura, who just had an enormous July in High-A, posting a 1.305 OPS throughout the month. Between his 20 home runs and 20 steals in just 60 games this season, he could soon emerge as a legitimate top prospect for the Mets.

Still, the consensus around this trade is that it was a strong fleece job by Cherington and the front office. Weaver was arguably the most valuable reliever on the market, pitching to a 1.84 ERA over 44 innings with the Mets. He's also under contract through 2027, meaning he'll be a high-leverage option for Don Kelly through next season.

That Stafura was acquired in that Hayes trade is really just the icing on the cake. That deal was, for all intents and purposes, a pure salary dump at the time. The Pirates wanted to avoid paying out the final 4.5 years of the third baseman's $70 million extension. They didn't even give Taylor Rogers — the other player the Reds gave up — a chance to pitch with the organization.

Hayes, notably, has been even more of a disaster in Cincinnati than he was in Pittsburgh. Having been out for much of the season with a back injury, he's been relegated to part-time duty in 2026, hitting a calamitous .145/.202/.250 (19 wRC+). His defensive acumen has also waned, likely due to the injury, effectively depriving him of any value, hence the -0.9 fWAR on his ledger.

To effectively turn that player into the best available reliever at the trade deadline is an utter stroke of genius by Cherington. No matter what happens during Weaver's tenure, the general manager has already won the Hayes trade by a significant margin.

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