Pirates’ Cherington Quieting Critics With Trades and Transactions

All signs point to a very merry 2026 season for the Pittsburgh Pirates.

For all impatient critics of Ben Cherington, now heading into his seventh year as Pittsburgh’s general manager, they must be applauding recent player personnel moves he’s directly responsible for.

On December 19, the Pirates were part of a three-team deal. Pittsburgh shipped starting pitcher Mike Burrows to the Houston Astros. The Tampa Bay Rays acquired two prospects from Houston - Jacob Melton and Anderson Brito. Going from the Rays to the Pirates is outfielder Jake Mangum, pitcher Mason Montgomery, and second baseman Brandon Lowe.

The Pirates have much to cheer about this trade.

Anyone who followed the Rays this past season knows what energy Mangum brings to the lineup. In his rookie season, Mangum slapped 120 hits in 118 games. His 27 stolen bases and .296 average at the plate scream upgrade from the offensive production by some Pittsburgh outfielders in 2025.

Lowe, a two-time American League All-Star second baseman for the Rays during his eight seasons in Tampa Bay, has all the promise of being a huge difference-maker in Pirates’ manager Don Kelly’s lineup. Slugging 31 home runs in 2025 is just the power surge that was desperately missing from last season’s Pirates’ squad.

Mason Montgomery’s 63 strikeouts in 57 games, all in relief, gives new Pittsburgh pitching coach Bill Murphy a sense of excitement for the coming season. Surely, the elevated ERA of 5.67 accumulated in 46 innings of work will be addressed, beginning when pitchers and catchers report for spring training in February.

Mangum and the Pirates’ top prospect, Konnor Griffin, both attended Jackson Prep in Flowood, Mississippi.

In a Zoom interview with the media this past Friday, Cherington explained that, before the transactions were completed, all teams involved had been in contact for some time.

“We (Pirates) have been pursuing bats,” Cherington said. “Brandon Lowe was a target we identified at the end of the season. He was one of many possibilities that interested us.”

Cherington believes, ultimately the players moved in the three-team trade makes all teams involved better. What sold the Pirates on Lowe’s availability is his left-hand bat. Going into camp at Pirate City, Cherington envisions Lowe getting the bulk of his work at second base. It’s his power in the batter’s box that made Lowe such an attractive target.

OneilCruz’s 20 home runs led the Pirates, and the 117 round-trippers hit in 2025 as a team is the lowest of all 30 clubs.

While Pittsburgh is keeping its options open for another established bat, Mangum may be the biggest surprise in the lineup, come Opening Day, March 26, at the New York Mets. In his rookie season of 2025, Mangum popped 18 doubles and drove in 40 runs.

“Mangum strengthens our (outfield) group,” explains Cherington.

Adding Mangum to an already crowded outfield, including Jhostynxon Garcia, obtained in a five-player trade earlier this month between the Pirates and Boston Red Sox, has all the makings of a very competitive Grapefruit League campaign.

Although saying that he doesn’t know what the Pirates’ Opening Day lineup will be at this time, Cherington is confident that Rawlings Gold Glove Award winner Jared Triolo and Nick Gonzales will both be playing for “our team”.

Lowe, 31, is in the final year of his contract. His consistency at the plate is the profile Cherington has been seeking.

Just knowing the Pirates this off-season is keeping busy, looking to add strength to their roster, and doing all they could not finish at the bottom of the National League Central, again, must have Pittsburgh baseball fans pumped. For Cherington, the glass is half full, while in past years, the fan base may have perceived management as a glass-half-empty kind of club.