New GM Ben Cherington: Pirates open to trading any player

SAN DIEGO — It remains to be seen if Ben Cherington will make the first splash move of his nascent career as the Pittsburgh Pirates general manager during the winter meetings.

The four-day event started Monday at the Manchester Hyatt, and there wasn’t even a trace of a rumor involving the Pirates, let alone any real news. Names such as Gerrit Cole, Stephen Strasburg, Anthony Rendon, Mookie Betts and Francisco Lindor dominated the lobby chatter.

Even if Cherington, who was hired Nov. 18, is planning on doing something big from his suite overlooking gorgeous Coronado Bay — say, trade Starling Marte and/or Josh Bell? — he isn’t tipping his hand.

“A lot of teams have made calls about our players, and we’ve made a lot of calls, too,” Cherington said.

Cherington, though, did say the Pirates would be open to trading any player in the organization.

Cherington remains coy about his long-range plans. However, those from other teams that have had trade conversations with the Pirates are getting the impression the organization is going into at least some sort of rebuild.

That is certainly not totally surprising considering the Pirates finished last in the National League Central last season with a 69-93 record.

Cherington also is still trying to balance getting to know the players in his organization while determining which on other teams or free agents might be good fits for the Pirates roster.

“You can’t chase 100 rabbits all at once,” he said. “You can only try to catch as many as you can.”

The winter meetings don’t generate the type of buzz they once did. GMs rarely leave their suites, so there aren’t any more deals consummated at midnight at the hotel bar.

In fact, there is a school of thought among some baseball executives the meetings are obsolete. GMs can do the bulk of the work from just about anywhere thanks the modern-day magic of cellphones, the internet, text messages and email.

However, Cherington still believes there is value in the 30 major league teams getting together at the midpoint of the offseason.

“For baseball as an industry, 100 percent,” Cherington said. “We’re in December, all the other sports are going on, and this generates interest in our sport.

“For an organization, a baseball operations group, there’s way more positive than not because it’s an opportunity for everyone to connect during the offseason. You start to think about next season, start to strategize, so it’s a good thing.

“For myself, the challenge in this environment can be a little different than the other 361 days of the year. But we can deal with it for four days out of the year.”

Notes: Cherington said right fielder Gregory Polanco should be ready without restrictions for the start of spring training in February. Polanco was limited to 42 games last season while recovering from left-shoulder surgery performed in September 2018. … Assistant pitching coach Justin Meccage is one of the candidates to replace fired pitching coach Ray Searage along with an unspecified number of people from outside the organization. … The winter meetings are always a hotspot for job seekers to roam the lobby, and former Pirates pitcher Shane Youmans is among them. He appeared in 21 games, starting 11, during the 2006 and ’07 seasons.