The Pittsburgh Pirates spent last winter setting a very specific bar, and they did not leave much room for interpretation.
“The goal is to make the playoffs in 2026. Period. Full stop."
That was president Travis Williams after the club went 71-91 in 2025, and he doubled down on it at PiratesFest. He made it clear the target was not just a prettier record or a team that looked better on the margins. It was the postseason, and he told fans to hold the organization to that standard.
Now, with the season entering its final stretch, the talk around the front office sounds a lot different.
ESPN’s Buster Olney reported that it “would be a surprise” if the Pirates made a change at general manager, citing the team’s improvement, its time spent around the edges of the National League Wild Card race and the young core that will be back in 2027.
That logic is hard to square with the standard the Pirates themselves laid out.
Pittsburgh is 76-77 and 7.5 games out of a Wild Card spot, which leaves the club all but out of the postseason picture. Yes, the Pirates are better than the 91-loss team Ben Cherington put together a year ago.
Yes, there have been signs of life. Konnor Griffin has looked like a franchise cornerstone, and the offense has taken a meaningful step forward.
At different points in the summer, the Pirates were close enough to the Wild Card race that the standings actually mattered.
But being near the race is not the same thing as making it.
That’s the tension here. Williams rejected the idea that the Pirates could sell progress as the payoff.
He said the objective was the playoffs, not a gradual climb toward them. So if proximity to October is now enough to keep the status quo in place, the standard has shifted.
This is Cherington’s seventh season in charge of baseball operations, and at some point a rebuild has to turn into results. The Pirates did not tell their fans before this season that hanging around the race would count as success.
They did not frame the year as a chance to flirt with .500 or make September mildly interesting. They said playoffs.
Period. Full stop.
There is, of course, a case for continuity. The Pirates can point to Griffin, Paul Skenes and other young players and argue that changing leadership now could shake up a roster that finally looks closer to competing. That was part of the thinking when Williams kept Cherington after 2025, saying a GM change could set the organization back.
But eventually, there has to be a consequence when the club misses its own benchmark.
Otherwise, what does accountability actually mean?
If 91 losses was worth another year because the Pirates were supposedly close, and missing the playoffs this season is worth another year because they were closer, then the real standard was never the postseason. It was simply enough improvement to keep everything intact.
And after seven years of Ben Cherington, Pirates fans have every reason to be tired of hearing that “almost there” still counts.
In Other News...
Pirates Just Took Away Nuttings Easiest Offseason Excuse
The Pirates have spent much of this season with a familiar-looking offseason script in hand: a competitive record, some real production from key pieces like Oneil Cruz and Nick Gonzales, and enough roster gaps to argue that a stronger winter would be the answer. At 75-75 with 12 games left, they are still hanging around the .500 mark, but they are also well behind the final NL Wild Card spot, which keeps the conversation pointed toward what comes next if this year closes short of October.
If Pittsburgh lands somewhere around 85 wins and still misses the postseason, the usual excuse about needing a cleaner, healthier run will be harder to lean on. The bullpen and starting rotation remain obvious areas to address, and the offseason would have a clear mandate to add through free agency and trades while also trying to re-sign Brandon Lowe. In that sense, the final stretch could end up mattering less for the standings than for what it removes from the front office's argument book. [Read more 🡒]
Pirates Just Got A Measuring Stick Against The NL Central Standard
Beating the Brewers has become more than a good night for the Pirates this season. Pittsburghs 7-4 win not only sealed the season series, it gave the club a rare marker against the team that set the pace in the NL Central, one that had been out of reach since 2018. For a Pirates group still trying to measure where it stands, finishing 7-6 against Milwaukee offered a cleaner snapshot than most standings can provide.
Don Kelly and several players framed it as evidence that Pittsburgh can compete with the divisions standard-bearer, even if the bigger picture is still a work in progress. The Brewers consistency is what made the matchup matter, and the Pirates ability to hang with them across the season gives the front office and clubhouse something real to point to. It also leaves an obvious next question hanging over the final stretch of development: how often can this team turn those kind of comparisons into something more lasting? [Read more 🡒]
Pirates Make Desperate Lineup Bet To Avoid Brewers Sweep
The Pirates are trying something different in Sundays series finale at PNC Park, reshuffling their lineup in hopes of finding a better answer for Brewers left-hander Kyle Harrison. Harrison has given Pittsburgh problems in earlier matchups this season, and the club responded by keeping left-handed hitter Oneil Cruz and switch-hitter Bryan Reynolds in the mix while also moving Nick Gonzales into the designated hitter spot.
It is the kind of lineup bet teams make when a series is slipping away and the opposing starter already has the upper hand. Pittsburgh has leaned on platoon thinking and a few personnel tweaks to give itself a better look against Harrison, with the goal of avoiding a sweep and getting something going before the day is over. [Read more 🡒]