BRADENTON, Fla. — The only transaction Ben Cherington has executed since Major League Baseball’s lockout ended was a waiver claim of pitcher Aaron Fletcher from the Seattle Mariners on Sunday.
It’s doubtful the Pirates general manager will be courting any of the big fish left on the market; however, Cherington insisted Monday he’s confident he’ll add to his young team at some point during spring training.
“We’ve been engaged, both with free agency and trade,” Cherington said. “We’re confident we’ll be able to add to this team, both through free agency and trade throughout spring training, over the course of these next two or three weeks.”
The most glaring need, Cherington said, involves pitching, probably both with the starting rotation and in the bullpen. Although the Pirates will stage a competition for the five or six rotation spots throughout spring training, their pitchers also had the third-highest ERA in baseball last spring.
In the bullpen, David Bednar, Chris Stratton and Sam Howard are fairly firm in their roles. Possibly Anthony Banda and Duane Underwood Jr., too. But the same as ever, you can never have enough pitching, especially coming off a 101-loss season.
Another area where Cherington said he’ll consider adding is in the outfield, where Anthony Alford, Greg Allen and Cole Tucker could compete for time alongside Bryan Reynolds and Ben Gamel. Travis Swaggerty, Canaan Smith-Njigba and Jack Suwinski are younger options on the 40-man roster, though they’ll likely start the season in Class AAA.
“If we can find a way to add some offense, that would help,” Cherington said. “Outfield is an area that, as everyone knows, there’s going to be competition in camp. If we can add to that competition in a way that makes sense, that would be of interest. Pitching, generally. It could be major league deals. It could be minor league deals. It could be a trade at some point. It could be any of those avenues.”
One wrinkle for this upcoming season will be the use of the designated hitter in the National League. While Cherington maintained that he expects Yoshi Tsutsugo to get the bulk of the reps at first base, it’s also possible, with the right offensive addition, the DH spot could become part of a rotation that funnels players from first to the outfield and also affords some time off.
“Having the DH, as we’re trying to bring on young players and help young players develop even in the major leagues, it is another opportunity for at-bats,” Cherington said. “It’s on the books, so we’re going to learn to work with it here and make it part of the team we’re building.”
While Monday’s workout was attended by pretty much every member of the 40-man roster, the Pirates do have two notable exceptions from camp.
Yoshi Tsutsugo, traveling from Japan, won’t arrive until later in the week, Cherington said. And Hoy Park tested positive for COVID-19 in South Korea, so he needs to produce a series of negative tests before he can leave the country.
“I don’t expect it to be too long,” Cherington said.
Thanks to the MLB lockout and the quick turnaround of everyone getting to camp, Monday had a first-day-of-school vibe to it. For Anthony Alford, however, it was more like a parents’ night out.
Alford joked that he was home with his kids — nearly 2 years and 4 months in age — and, well, sleep and quiet seemed to be in short supply.
“It was a blessing to have a little extra time with the family, but I was definitely ready to get back to baseball and get out of the house,” he joked.
Alford teased that his kids seemed to conspire against him whenever he tried to take a nap or do anything that remotely resembled relaxing.
“One will be napping, and the other will be active,” Alford said. “It’s like they’re saying in baby talk, ‘We’re about to mess daddy’s day up!’ “
The lighter spirits were evident throughout the workout, from Tucker and Michael Chavis fielding grounders with acrobatic flips to Gamel — the long, red hair gone — joking with Tucker and Bryan Reynolds during batting practice.
More formal and serious workouts await Tuesday.
“Just ecstatic to be back in some warm weather,” David Bednar said. “Finally getting to throw off of a dirt mound and play catch outside is just awesome. More so just to be around the coaching staff and guys and everyone like that. Good to be back.”
