One of the most common grievances about the Pirates' previous general manager, Neal Huntington, and his staff was a lack of transparency and honesty. That there would be mixed messages between what he was saying and the moves he and the Pirates were making.
During his radio show on 93.7 The Fan Sunday, Ben Cherington spoke about the importance of being honest, especially internally, and what his intentions with the Pirates are.
"I think we want to be really honest and clear, and this is really, truly, how we feel. That we came here to win, period," Cherington said. "That is why we're here, in Pittsburgh. We expect to do that. We have to hold ourselves to that standard. Part of holding ourselves to that standard is being honest about where we are, what we need to do to get better, and getting feedback from the games is part of being honest. If we're getting beat in a certain area, let's not pretend that we're getting beat in a certain area. Let's do what we need to do to improve that area so we can get to winning."
Cherington spoke about the importance of "winning pitches" from both sides, hitters and pitchers. His mindset is the team who does that the most is usually the one who wins.
"We want to get it down to that level of detail," Cherington said. "Let's really be focused pitch to pitch. Let's teach ourselves to win every pitch, and while we're doing that, if we lose pitches... then let's be open and honest about why that is so we can find the ways to get better and move forward."
And with the playoffs expanded to 16 teams, if they do that for even half of their games, a postseason trip becomes a real possibility.
"I think if we're playing meaningful baseball games, that's good for our players. That's really good for the Pirates long-term," Cherington said.
It's going to be a rebuilding process, so that doesn't mean the Pirates are going to immediately compete for the division. Cherington and Derek Shelton have said this is an important year to evaluate the players they have.
And how are those evaluations going thus far?
“I am really encouraged and excited about how much energy’s going into getting better," Cherington said. "Finding every way to get better, whether that’s how we share information and how we’re coaching, feedback we’re getting from players, how we’re thinking about preparation. Everything that goes into getting better at the major-league level, I’m confident there’s a ton of energy being spent into that among players, among staff, together, etc.. I’m really excited about that. We just need to do that, period.”
