PITTSBURGH – When the Pittsburgh Pirates acquired Ron Marinaccio from the San Diego Padres a week ago, the move was described in the usual front-office language: bullpen depth, postseason push, reinforcing the roster. What it actually announced, louder than any press release, was that the Pirates are no longer watching the August 3 deadline from the outside.
They are buyers. That distinction matters more in Pittsburgh than almost anywhere else in the National League right now.
The Pirates sit at 55 wins and 54 losses, two games behind the final wild card position with four days left before Monday’s 6 p.m. ET deadline closes the market. A rival executive, speaking with reporters covering the deadline, described Pittsburgh’s approach as “aggressive.” GM Ben Cherington confirmed this week that the organization has “necessary resources” to act and that its posture toward the remaining market is open-minded. Those two words, together, mean Pittsburgh intends to spend them.
What will not be spent: Oneil Cruz. Paul Skenes. Cherington confirmed both are off the table entirely. The Pirates have spent years accumulating the talent that justifies a postseason run, and Cherington drew the line clearly. What he is shopping with is prospect capital and payroll flexibility, the tools of a team that built carefully and now intends to act carefully, rather than a team mortgaging the next three years.
The problem Marinaccio was only partially designed to solve is the bullpen. Pittsburgh’s rotation has been led this season by Skenes, the kind of pitcher who shows up every decade or so, technically complete at an age when most are still learning the league. The late innings have been the open question, and it is that question that has prevented a team with legitimate starting pitching from converting quality starts into wins at the rate the rotation deserves.
Brandon Lowe, described inside the organization as possibly the best trade acquisition of Cherington’s tenure, offers one model for how this works. The Pirates identified a player whose value had compressed, moved on him when the market allowed it, and the return exceeded the cost. Whether the bullpen additions between now and Monday can replicate that math is what the next 96 hours will determine.
The Cubs entered this week as buyers too, pursuing Tarik Skubal from the Detroit Tigers before Monday closes the market. If Chicago lands the two-time Cy Young winner, the NL Central race shifts in ways that tighten Pittsburgh’s position. The Cubs and Pirates are competing for the same postseason air. What one team does forces the other to respond.
The Padres remain a potential trade partner beyond Marinaccio. San Diego entered the week in a complicated position, too hot on a recent winning streak to function purely as a seller but holding bullpen depth that contenders have spent weeks calling about. Pittsburgh is among the clubs with interest in San Diego relief options beyond Mason Miller. The star closer is not moving. What might move is the depth behind him, and the Pirates have been in those conversations, Bleacher Report reported.
What is not yet known is which specific deal, if any, is close. The front office confirmed its posture, its resources, and its floor of players who will not be touched. It has not confirmed a trade. There is a meaningful distance between declaring yourself a buyer and completing a transaction, and the Pirates have four days to close that gap.
Pittsburgh wrapped a series against Arizona that carried immediate wild card implications and opens a four-game set against Cincinnati on Thursday with Monday’s deadline hovering over the roster. The Phillies, where Bryce Harper publicly called for deadline reinforcements this week as Blue Jays trade talks advanced, are competing for wild card positioning in the same conversation. Every contender is moving at the same time, and the window in which Pittsburgh can act is narrowing by the day.
Skenes has been the reason September has looked possible from the moment this season began. The franchise was assembled around what he could become, and what he has become has exceeded the most optimistic versions of that planning. What Cherington built around him has been good enough to get the Pirates to 55-54. Whether it is good enough to carry them through Monday, and beyond Monday into October, depends on what happens between now and 6 p.m. on August 3.
A rival executive called the plans aggressive. Cherington called them open-minded. In Pittsburgh right now, both words are carrying the same weight.
