Winter meetings could kick-start offseason plans for new Pirates management

Ben Cherington drew an interesting football analogy to his new job in baseball earlier this week.

The Pittsburgh Pirates’ general manager said when he was hired Nov. 18, he felt like a quarterback backed up on his 1-yard line. Nearly three weeks later, Cherington feels like he at least has advanced the ball to the 10.

Cherington will get a chance to keep moving the chains, so to speak, during Major League Baseball’s annual Winter Meetings. The four-day event begins Monday in San Diego.

Cherington now has an assistant general manager (Steve Sanders) and manager (Derek Shelton) in place.

Another assistant GM, Kevan Graves, is remaining in the organization as are scouting director Joe DeliCarri and minor league director Larry Broadway.

The Pirates hired Mt. Lebanon and Point Park alum Don Kelly as their bench coach Saturday while retaining hitting coach Rick Eckstein, third base coach Joey Cora and assistant pitching Justin Meccage. There still are vacancies on the staff, including pitching coach.

“It’s something we’re working on, and we have a good start,” Shelton said Wednesday during his introductory news conference. “Ben has a pretty big Rolodex, and I have a pretty big Rolodex, and our baseball ops department did a good job of making a list of potential candidates. I feel very good about our chances of putting together a strong staff.”

Cherington already has made a few tweaks to the roster, most notably allowing catcher Elias Diaz to become a free agent after not tendering him a contract.

Just don’t expect Cherington to make a lot of headlines in San Diego.

While no one on the roster of last season’s last-place team in the NL Central is untouchable, Cherington plans to be deliberate in restructuring the roster. He is not revealing whether he is ready to rebuild or retool.

If the Pirates make any splash move at the meeting, it almost certainly will be trading Starling Marte. Cherington would be selling high on the center fielder, who is coming off a season in which he had career highs with 23 home runs and 82 RBIs while batting .295/.342/.503 and stealing 25 bases in 132 games.

Any team dealing for Marte would have contractual control of him for two seasons. The 31-year-old is set to make $11.5 million in 2020, and there is a $12.5-million club option in his contract for 2021 with a $1-million buyout.

There also should be a robust market for Marte as many teams could use a center fielder, including the Arizona Diamondbacks, Atlanta Braves, Chicago Cubs, Chicago White Sox, Philadelphia Phillies, San Diego Padres and Texas Rangers.

The New York Mets reportedly had interest in Marte but that might have cooled Thursday when they traded with the Houston Astros for outfielder Jake Marisnick.

Also working in the Pirates’ favor is Brett Gardner is the only center fielder of note on the free-agent market.

Jacob Stallings is the only catcher on the 40-man roster, so the Pirates need help behind the plate.

Cherington was Toronto’s vice president of baseball operations the past three seasons and could look to the Blue Jays for a catcher. They are said to be willing to deal either Danny Jansen or Reese McGuire, who was a first-round pick of the Pirates in the 2013 amateur draft.

Jansen hit 13 home runs in 107 games as a rookie this year but batted just .207/.279/.360. McGuire, also a rookie, hit .299/.346/.526 with five homers in 30 games.

Both are 24 and Jansen would be not be eligible for salary arbitration until after the 2021 season. McGuire would not become eligible until 2022.

The Pirates also have interest in Kevan Smith, who became a free agent Monday when he was not tendered by the Los Angeles Angles. The former Pitt and Seneca Valley standout has played in 213 major league games over the past four seasons, hitting .272/.318/.381 with 12 homers.

The Pirates also could be active in the Rule 5 Draft as they have the seventh pick. Though Rule 5 picks must stay on the major league roster all season or be offered back to their original team, it might easier to keep an experienced player next season when the roster limit expands by one to 26.

An interesting name is Andy Ibanez, a 26-year-old infielder who hit .300/.375/.497 with 20 home runs in 121 games for the Rangers’ Triple-A Nashville farm club last season.

Ibanez could compete with Colin Moran for the third-base job while top prospect Ke’Bryan Hayes gains more experience at Triple-A Indianapolis. Ibanez can play both middle infield positions.