Pirates News: Guardians executive comes to Pittsburgh, top prospect earns recognition

While general manager Ben Cherington's job (unfortunately) appears to be safe, the Pittsburgh Pirates have made a change to their front office staff.

As first reported Tuesday by Pittsburgh sports writer John Dreker, the Pirates have hired Kevin Tenenbaum as their new vice president of research and development. Tenenbaum replaces Sean Ahmed in his position with the Pirates, where he will oversee the club’s analytics team.

Tenenbaum held the same position for the Cleveland Guardians this year and spent a total of seven seasons in Cleveland's research department after a four-year stint with the Baltimore Orioles. During Tenenbaum's tenure in Cleveland, the Guardians made the playoffs five times, most recently falling to the New York Yankees in the American League Championship Series.

That's all well and good, but this hire is like putting a bandaid over a gunshot wound. The Pirates haven't made the playoffs since 2015, which also happened to be the last time they finished a season above .500. The organizational ineptitude starts at the top, and no amount of Moneyball-ing can save this club from its apathetic ownership and incompetent front office.

Pirates prospect Termarr Johnson named to Team USA Premier12 Tournament roster

USA Baseball announced Monday that Pirates infield prospect Termarr Johnson has been named to Team USA's roster for the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) Premier12 Tournament, an international tournament featuring the world's 12 top-ranked teams that will be played in Jappan, Mexico and Taiwan from Nov. 9-24.

Johnson, the No. 75 prospect in baseball according to MLB Pipeline, is the No. 3 prospect in the Pirates' system. He had a disappointing first half of the season in 2024 before picking up momentum and earning a promotion from High-A Greensboro to Double-A Altoona. In 14 games for Altoona, Johnson slashed .229/.316/.396 with seven walks and two stolen bases to finish the season.

The 20-year-old former first-round pick has also impressed at the plate so far in the Arizona Fall League, ranking among the top 20 players with a 1.062 OPS. Five of Johnson's nine hits for the Scottsdale Scorpions this fall have been for extra bases, and he has a 5:9 strikeout-to-walk ratio.

More Pirates content from Rum Bunter