{"id":105392,"date":"2025-08-01T00:41:35","date_gmt":"2025-08-01T04:41:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/?p=105392"},"modified":"2025-08-01T00:41:51","modified_gmt":"2025-08-01T04:41:51","slug":"grading-pirates-2025-trade-deadline","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2025\/08\/01\/grading-pirates-2025-trade-deadline\/","title":{"rendered":"Grading the Pirates’ Trade Deadline (or: What Was That?)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ben Cherington just completed his sixth trade deadline as general manager of the Pittsburgh Pirates with another flurry of moves. In July, he completed six trades, giving up six players to five different teams, receiving 10 in return. We\u2019ll give each trade a letter grade before grading Cherington\u2019s performance overall. For fun, we\u2019ll also report who \u201cwon\u201d each trade using the value system per Baseball Trade Values<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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Jul 13, 2025; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Pittsburgh Pirates starting pitcher Mitch Keller (23) delivers a pitch against the Minnesota Twins during the second inning at Target Field. Mandatory Credit: Nick Wosika-Imagn Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Grading the Pirates and Ben Cherington at the Trade Deadline<\/h2>\n

Last Sunday, during a gathering with the local media, Cherington said of the trade deadline, \u201cI don\u2019t think we can be risk-averse. I don\u2019t think that\u2019s going to work in Pittsburgh. [If] we want to win, we\u2019re going to have to assume risk. . . We need to score more runs to win more games. That\u2019s clear, and that\u2019s a goal going into 2026.\u201d Thus, we\u2019ll evaluate Cherington under this criterion: Did he do enough to improve the Pirates\u2019 ability to score runs in 2026?<\/p>\n

First, let\u2019s look at what Cherington didn\u2019t do. He didn\u2019t trade pitcher Mitch Keller<\/a>, a controllable starter in high demand<\/a>. Surprisingly, he didn\u2019t trade three players under expiring contracts: pitcher Andrew Heaney<\/a>, infielder Isiah Kiner-Falefa<\/a>, and outfielder Tommy Pham<\/a>. Lastly, he didn\u2019t acquire potentially difference-making prospects like Spencer Jones<\/a> or Owen Caissie<\/a>. So, let\u2019s look at what he did.<\/p>\n

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If Ben Cherington knew he was going to get fired and was trying to make the Pirates pay for it by making horrible moves on purpose at this trade deadline, this is about what it would look like.<\/p>\n

\u2014 Alan Saunders (@ASaunders_PGH) July 31, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n