OnlyBucs

I was surprised to see this exchange in Jason Mackey's Pirates chat this week in the PG.

Q: Does Ben Cherington get promoted to "President of Baseball Ops" soon? If so who inside the org has the inside track to replace him as GM?

Jason Mackey: It's an interesting question. It wouldn't shock me. I think it would have been easier had things gone really well, like over .500 well, but given how they've played over the last two months, yeah, I could still see it happening. I think that's why he came here. I would go with Kevan Graves or Steve Sanders. Both highly regarded assistants. I think highly of John Baker & Will Lawton, too. But I think Graves/Sanders provides a more logical succession plan.

So Mackey seems to believe Cherington took the job as a stepping stone to a higher position. And if that's true, it might explain why Cherington seems content to always be judged on how the development is going rather than trying to compete. It's easier to be judged a success when there's a modest goal of winning a few more games than the year before. He's already talking about just trying to show improvement in 2024. But if he ever gets to the point when it's time to compete, success vs failure is more clear cut. Maybe Cherington is just trying to do enough to ensure his rise thru the organization.

I can see this happening. BC would still have a guiding hand on all things baseball. I always felt both Littlefield and Huntington could have benefited greatly by having a baseball man above them. Having BC overseeing a young, very capable GM is like having two heads instead of one. That has to make the organization better.

What happens to Travis Williams who is more of a money guy with no baseball experience? Out the door I guess. Will BOB be willing to pay off Williams's contract and then pay even more for BC and whatever young guy BC picks?

Possum wrote: ↑Mon Oct 02, 2023 10:51 pm What happens to Travis Williams who is more of a money guy with no baseball experience? Out the door I guess. Will BOB be willing to pay off Williams's contract and then pay even more for BC and whatever young guy BC picks?

I don’t think Travis Williams has anything to do with Baseball Ops. He as you noted deals with more of the financial side of the Pirates. Ben Cherington could be promoted to VP of Baseball Ops., and then one of the men now under him would become GM. It seems many teams have gone this direction with their Baseball Operations side.