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MLB free agency officially opens at 5 p.m. ET Monday, but Pittsburgh Pirates fans should temper any expectations they may have about their team making any big splashes on the market.
No, seriously. This isn't just the result of lingering fan pessimism after yet another disappointing season. The man in charge himself explicitly told us not to get our hopes up. In his end-of-season press conference, Pirates general manager Ben Cherington acknowledged the need for the club to get better, faster. While free agency would theoretically be the best way to do just that, it's highly unlikely that the Pirates will be able to outbid other teams for any of the top available free agents on the market.
“We’ve got to add wins to the major-league team, however we do that within the means we have and an eye on getting better faster,” Cherington said. “We want to get to winning, and we want to stay there as long as we can, too. So need to keep that in mind ... We can use free agency as a tool, and we will. It’ll be a component, but it’s just not going to be how we drive winning here.”
Don't forget Ben Cherington already killed Pirates' free agency vibes after 2024
Pittsburgh's 2024 free agent class included pitchers Aroldis Chapman ($10.5 million) and Martin Pérez ($8 million), designated hitter Andrew McCutchen ($5 million), first baseman Rowdy Tellez ($3.2 million), catcher Yasmani Grandal ($2.5 million) and center fielder Michael A. Taylor ($4 million). Of these six, McCutchen is the only one who has a strong chance of returning in 2025.
“If you look up the total, add up the total of these are all the free agents we signed, this is exactly what the total contribution we got was, it’s been fine,” Cherington said. “But fine’s not going to be good enough.”
He's not wrong. But the way to get better than "fine" is to spend more on quality players. And Cherington has effectively told us that that's not going to happen anytime soon. Buckle up for another season of mediocrity, Pittsburgh.
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