Ben Cherington went on record. Buyer. The Pirates are buyers at the August 3 deadline.
The national media’s response? A collective shrug and a “we’ll believe it when we see it.” Noah Hiles at the Post-Gazette argued they don’t even “deserve” to be buyers. MLB Network’s coverage defaults to the Pittsburgh poverty narrative like it’s still 2013, like Nutting just shipped McCutchen out the door.
The reflexive cynicism is lazy. It ignores 18 months of actual organizational work.
"I was told they are planning to buy."@jonmorosi shares the latest regarding the Pirates' plans for the Trade Deadline. pic.twitter.com/eSmrKhXaqe
— MLB Network (@MLBNetwork) July 3, 2026
Jon Morosi — not a Pittsburgh homer, not a wishful fan — reported it directly: they are planning to buy, and bullpen is the focus. A reported organizational directive, not a rumor.
The Pirates are 46-45. Three to four games out of the NL Wild Card. That’s a real race, not a fever dream.
And the offense got here with Brandon Lowe and Ryan O’Hearn combining for 60-plus RBI before the All-Star break. The last Pittsburgh duo to do that? Barry Bonds and Bobby Bonilla in 1990. You can dismiss the 2026 Pirates all you want. You cannot dismiss that comp.
Paul Skenes isn’t going anywhere. He’s the anchor, the untouchable, the guy you build the deadline around — not the guy you trade at it. The rotation depth behind him gives Cherington the luxury of spending on the bullpen without mortgaging the future.
The bullpen targets make sense. Pete Fairbanks from Miami. Anthony Bender, also out of Miami. Antonio Senzatela, who moved to the bullpen in 2026 and has been dominant, sitting at a 2.11 ERA in 20 relief appearances out of Colorado.
These aren’t splash names that make SportsCenter. They’re the right names. Guys who fix the specific problem without gutting the farm.
The Konnor Griffin injury hurt. Nobody’s pretending otherwise. But Cherington’s deadline posture didn’t change. That’s the detail that’s getting buried under the Nutting jokes.
The national take on Pittsburgh will always default to “wait and see” until proven wrong in the most obvious way possible. That’s the playbook. Been baked in for a decade.
The problem is it’s not 2016 anymore. The Pirates are sitting right on the wild card edge in late July. They have their best pitching prospect in franchise history locked in for the next decade. And a GM who just publicly committed to adding pieces.
Laugh at the buyer talk if you want. August 4th is going to be awkward for some people.
