PITTSBURGH _ Ben Cherington insisted he's not obsessing over semantics.
Or trying to insult anyone's intelligence.
But when the Pirates general manager looks at his roster, as well as what he and others must do to make the club competitive again, Cherington does not consider it a rebuild, even if many who follow the Pirates think that's the route they should go.
Cherington understands why people keep asking him about a rebuild. He also respectfully disagrees with calling this that.
"We're not tearing something down to start over," Cherington told the Post-Gazette on Wednesday. "We are simply taking a team that wasn't good enough or wasn't as good as we wanted to be last year, but has a group of players with a chance to be much better, and we're trying to build on that."
To make his point, Cherington brought up the Starling Marte trade, pointing out that it's the only one he's made to this point involving a major league player. He's not wrong.
"If we had made four or five other trades involving more established major league players who were on last year's team, then maybe I'd think about it differently," Cherington said.
Cherington also came across as relatable and sympathetic whenever discussing how his aversion using the term "rebuilding" probably doesn't sit well with fans.
"This is one where I can understand how honest, reasonable people might see it differently," Cherington said. "But this is honestly how I see it. This is honestly how I feel. So it's honestly how I've tried to answer the question.
"If I think about the word rebuild, what comes to my mind is a team that has been doing well that you are taking apart to then rebuild it, and you're in the process of doing that. It feels more like where the Blue Jays were after 2016. We knew we were going to have to rebuild that roster. That's what happened over the last couple years, and hopefully now they're getting closer to being more competitive."
There's some truth to that, as the Blue Jays did reach the ALCS in back-to-back seasons (2015-16) before having to endure a gradual fire sale. Toronto built from the ground up, stockpiled young talent and now appears on the cusp of competing again, even in the difficult AL East.
In Cherington's mind, the parallel to draw there involves the Pirates' three consecutive trips to the postseason from 2013-15. The players from those teams, aside from Gregory Polanco, are gone.
"I see a team that certainly had a good stretch from 2013-15, with largely a different cast of players at that point," Cherington said. "If we look at 2019-20 and beyond, we're not rebuilding something that was in place in 2019. We are just trying to keep building.
"A good chunk of players who were on the team last year will be on the team this year, and they really do have a chance to be part of that next winning team. We're just trying to build toward that."
The root of the issue here is frustration. Call it a rebuild, retooling, reshaping or rearrangement, it doesn't matter. Pirates fans simply want to see winning baseball again, and they deserve as much. They also deserve to have a payroll higher than $48.3 million, which is the current projection according to Spotrac.com.
Cherington feels the same way. He, too, tries to think like a fan, even if his words aren't always the ones they would choose to use.
The GM also seemed to indicate that owner Bob Nutting has promised to increase payroll, provided Cherington is able to keep the rebuild _ er, build _ going and actually achieve some level of improvement in 2020.
"I'm a fan, too. I was a fan before I ever did this," Cherington said. "I understand what it feels like to be mad, to be frustrated, to want to see something different, to want to see performance. We want to be aware of that, certainly.
"We also have to try and be disciplined, to look at the things we need to do every day to get better to get to that winning team. There's not a shortcut to that anywhere in baseball. While I believe our payroll will increase over time, we're not going to be able to buy all of those wins in free agency. We've got to create a lot of those wins internally, either through player improvement or with good acquisitions _ good trades, good development, good drafts, etc."
The one thing it won't involve, at least not in this specific case, is a rebuild.
"I understand how reasonable people might use a different word," Cherington said. "That's fine. It's just not the word I've used."
