PITTSBURGH _ Pirates general manager Ben Cherington said one of the reasons his current job intrigued him was that he enjoys a challenge. He said he believes in the organization and believes the Pirates can again become a playoff team.
I sure hope Cherington is honest when he says that he enjoys a challenge because he has a major one on his hands. And I'm not sure this is what he had in mind when he agreed to take the job.
It is difficult for the Pirates to win and compete in an ordinary year because of baseball's economics. Pittsburgh is a small market, the Pirates have limited resources relative to the larger markets and thus can't get into bidding wars for high-priced talent and it is difficult for them to retain their own players.
This isn't a new problem; it has been the Pirates' problem for many years. And given the gap between the revenues of the large-market teams and the small-market teams continues to grow, this issue is going to get worse. This isn't going to change, and Cherington understood this when he took the job.
But nobody could have seen all of the additional challenges that have been thrown at Cherington. The COVID-19 pandemic has presented challenges for everyone, and it has also made it extremely difficult for Cherington to start his plan to build the Pirates.
COVID protocols wiped out a bulk of the season. It wiped out the minor league seasons. It has left teams with the understanding that there isn't likely to be fans at baseball games this fall (thought Cherington is holding out hope that can be reversed).
"We hope so," Cherington said. "We also know that we will absolutely put health and safety first, follow guidance from health experts, follow guidance from local and state government and the league. Right now there will not be fans in the ballpark. We're a baseball team, so of course at some point we hope that changes. But we will focus on all those other things first."
A season without fans will be devastating to the Pirates' finances and will ultimately have a trickle-down effect on Cherington's ability to do his job. Less revenues means less money for the budget, and that means less money for Cherington to spend on payroll. That is not a good development for a team that is already traditionally cash strapped and struggling to field high, or even medium, payroll teams.
That is the least of his worries, though, as presumably revenues will rebound and the Pirates will return to their normal budget. Cherington knew what he was getting into in that department, so he will be able to execute his plans for player acquisition eventually.
The fact that there are no minor leagues is a tough blow for a new general manager who wants to add prospects and get reps for young players. There is a taxi squad working out in Altoona, so some of the best young players in the organization are at least working out. But that isn't the same as the game experience that comes with playing in the minors, and it is tougher to showcase players they might want to trade.
And then Chris Archer went down and Keone Kela is out for a mysterious reason. Archer was supposed to be a big part of the rotation and the hope was he would have a good first half of the season and become a hot commodity at the trade deadline. Now the Pirates will likely lose him for nothing in return.
Who knows what Kela is going to become? He is supposed to be the team's closer and, like Archer, a trade piece. If Cherington isn't able to turn Kela and Archer into prospects, it is a blow to the plan to replenish the farm system.
The draft was also not so friendly to the new general manager. It was shrunk to only five rounds, so there is a limited number of incoming rookie players. I suppose that blow is softened a little bit because with no minor leagues there isn't really anywhere to put most of them to develop, anyway.
Cherington has had a remarkably positive and upbeat demeanor through all of this. That's probably the best news of all because he is going to have to maintain an optimistic point of view. It is hard to imagine any general manager having a rougher start to their tenure, and it stinks that it's all through no fault of his own.
He said he loves challenges, but from the outside looking in, the job of rebuilding the Pirates under these conditions is far greater than anyone could have imagined.
