The Pittsburgh Pirates 2024 season comes down to one name, Paul Skenes, the rookie pitcher who came on to the MLB scene with a bang! Going 11-3 with an ERA of 1.96 and 170 strikeouts, Skenes also earned an All-Star appearance to boot!
Despite that the Pirates ended up in last place of the National League Central division with a 76-86 record and going 5-5 to close out the season. GM Ben Cherington spoke to the press and stated that even though the Pirates have an ace in Skenes, building around him to make a run next season isn’t as simple as it seems.
Cherington acknowledged that there is some uncertainty regarding the Pirates’ spending in free agency. Cherington also stated he believes that developing talent from within the organization will be more crucial for future success than bringing in players through free agency.
Ben Cherington on Pirates spending future
“I don’t know what the payroll is going to be next year,” Cherington said to the media, “It has increased each year that I’ve been here. I expect that will be the case next year. I also know that it’s just not what’s going to drive winning here the most.
“That’s mostly because just simply of the structure of the game in a place like Pittsburgh to win. There are other places, there’s no place exactly like Pittsburgh, but there are other places that are similar and you look at how those teams win and (that’s) how we’re gonna win here.”
“(Next season) is going to be through all those other things we were talking about… It’s going to be because we are better at getting our players better. It’s going to be because we draft better…because we get more out of international. It’s going to be because I do a better job finding value in trades and adding wins to the team that way.”
The Pirates are expected to offload a number of players next season to try and build a winning franchise behind a 22-year-old ace that has major potential for many great seasons.