Don Kelly's first full season as manager of the Pirates resulted in the team's first above .500 finish since 2018. For his efforts, Kelly received a ringing endorsement from general manager Ben Cherington on Saturday in Detroit.
"He's clearly the right person to manage this team," Cherington said of Kelly. "He's someone I love coming to work with every day. Our goals are the same. Do the work necessary to play games in October."
As expected, the Pirates will not be making a change at manager. As for the rest of Kelly's coaching staff, Cherington doesn't anticipate any major turnover.
"I do believe that we're gonna be working with a lot of the same group next year, because we really believe in the talent of the group and the character of the major league staff," said Cherington.
But now that the season is over, the Pirates will still do an evaluation of the coaching staff to see if any tweaks will be made in the coming days.
"We have to assess," said Cherington. "We have to do that every year. So, as the season ends, we can take a deep breath. We'll look at that. If there's things we need to change that we think gives us a chance to win more games, then we have to be willing to do that."
It is possible that the Pirates could eventually be looking for a new bench coach. The Mariners dismissed manager Dan Wilson at the end of the regular season and will begin to search for a replacement. Kristopher Negrón, who was on Seattle's staff from 2022-25 before joining the Pirates this year, is a speculatory candidate who could get an interview. If he's not Seattle's choice, he's expected back next season.
Pitching coach Bill Murphy received some criticism at times this year with the regression of the pitching staff. But Cherington applauded Murphy's efforts this season and says they will look to enhance what he does moving forward.
"I'm excited that this offseason is an opportunity to keep building the pitching group around him. We've already gotten into that conversation with him," said Cherington. "This is a guy that wakes up wanting to be great, wanting the pitchers to be great. He's incredibly competent, so love working with him. Believe in what we're going to accomplish together."
While there will almost certainly be some tweaks, as there are any year, Pittsburgh's coaching staff should largely look the same in 2027.
While the coaching staff is expected to look the same in 2027, there will be at least one notable change to the front office. The Pirates are looking for a new amateur scouting director. Assistant general manager Kevan Graves, who oversaw the 2026 draft, is leading that process.
"Fully anticipate we'll have a director in place before too long here," said Cherington.
Former amateur scouting director Justin Horowitz left for an assistant general manager job with the Nationals last October. The Pirates left the position open this year.
Related Headlines
