STEELERS / GETTY

L-R: T.J. Watt, Mario Lemieux, Ben Cherington

Well, they're the Pirates. That's why.

If only every question about Pittsburgh's woebegone baseball club could be answered so casually, so off-the-cuff, we'd probably be out of business. So, if only to help ensure that won't be the case, this week's Insider will be led by a whole bunch of stuff on the subject of the day -- what's wrong with these people? -- in random, bulleted bits:

• Why's Ben Cherington still here?

Bob Nutting elected not to fire the GM when he fired the manager, Derek Shelton, and that's because he felt that'd disturb any momentum that might build up over the span of the summer. And that means top to bottom throughout the organization.

I don't agree with the approach, as one might've gathered from my column out of Seattle this past weekend, but that's the actual explanation. That's real. It's not the upcoming draft. It's not the trade deadline. Love it or hate it, that's it.

• No, really, how's he still employed?

See above.

• Doesn't he owe Cherington a bunch of money?

Doesn't matter. Cherington might as well be conducting a nightly bonfire of Nutting's money out on General Robinson Street, the way he's burned through draft, international and free-agency dollars, with nothing but Major League Baseball's worst offense to show for it. Firing Cherington will begin improving Nutting's cash flow the moment it occurs.

• Why doesn't Travis Williams fire him?

He could. Technically. Although their ranks appear the same within the hierarchy, Williams happens to be one step up. But there's no chance a move of this scope, here or anywhere with any team in any sport, would come without the consent of ownership. So it's Nutting's call. And, in turn, it's entirely on Nutting that Cherington's still here ... doing nothing to help the offense and, ostensibly, doing further damage.

• He'll get fired, though, right?

Put it this way: I've got a better chance of being the GM by year's end than he does. And if you think he's bad at what he does, wait till you see the hellscape I'd create.

• What if he trades Mitch Keller?

This, of course, is where it starts getting really stupid. Because the only reason to trade Keller would be to add hitting. And Cherington wouldn't recognize hitting if all three of Mike Trout, Aaron Judge and Cal Raleigh walked up to him to shake his hand. In unison. Wearing nameplates.

So what's needed here is for Nutting to prevent him from making any meaningful trades and ... I don't know, just mind the store until his desk's cleaned out come October.

• Why not just find someone new?

A new GM would come from the outside. A new GM also would want, almost certainly, to operate with free rein. Meaning they'd take one look at this offense, one look at this system, one look at the Latin American pool ... and they'd want to rocket everyone responsible for all of it into orbit.

Nutting's got no interest in a rebuild. Not this time. Not for any candidate, no matter their qualifications. His view is that Paul Skenes is here now, and the time to win is now. (I know, I know. Payroll could go up, too. I'm not taking sides here. These are explanations, not justifications.)

Within that, the thinking goes, a search for a replacement will take time, care and a legit mutual understanding that whoever gets this job won't get to blow it up.

• Why are we still talking about this?

As the late, great Brian Wilson once sang, God only knows.

• What about smaller trades?

As in, could someone like Andrew Heaney, Bailey Falter or Isiah Kiner-Falefa be dealt?

Oh, sure. But these wouldn't be, obviously, anywhere near the level of trading, Keller, Bryan Reynolds, David Bednar or even Ke'Bryan Hayes. Not that anyone's untouchable beyond Skenes -- they aren't -- but it'd be treated with a ton more skepticism from the top.

• What do those on the field think?

As I wrote from Seattle, they want wholesale change.

• OK, so if Cherington's in trouble, why doesn't he lift even a pinky finger to upgrade the current offense? How does that make sense?

It's who he is. No one on the inside can make sense of it, either. He just functions, day in and day out, an abject lack of urgency.

Case in point: Team wins six in a row, everyone's spirits are raised ... he doesn't do a thing for an offense, internally or externally, he had to know was nowhere near that good ... and he stays in Pittsburgh to work on the draft while the team embarks on a cross-continent trip. Because it's pivotal that he works on finding prospects that he'll never have a chance to see anywhere near Pittsburgh.

It's all insane.

• Why isn't all of this Nutting's fault?

It is. He made the wrong hire, and now he's not correcting that. Entirely his fault. Never mistake my criticism of the GM as absolving ownership. He blew this. And the waiting on fixing it's only that much worse.

• Is Don Kelly sticking?

He is. He's the manager. He'll be the manager under the next GM.

• Shouldn't a GM get to pick?

Eh. That's overblown. Look, there are only 30 of these jobs in our solar system, and only a couple of them open up each year. Those pursuing the top of their craft can't be picky. And they know this, by the way. Every situation's different.

• Why doesn't Nutting just sell?

He believes -- and I mean it's a bona fide belief -- that he's the right steward for the Pirates at this time in their history leading into Major League Baseball's next collective bargaining agreement. Because he feels he's amassed the knowledge, the contacts and momentum to help effect real change to an economic system that, no matter what anyone thinks of the Pirates' spending, is more grossly imbalanced than ever.

Anyone's free to doubt that all they wish. I've no counter until I start seeing stuff.

But I'll say this: A couple years ago, I was the only one anywhere writing or talking about a salary cap, and hey, look at the New York Times sports section yesterday, and there was a full article about how Rob Manfred intends to push for a cap. As I'd been reporting all this time.

Anyone with any experience in sports labor disputes knows one thing above all: The commissioner answers to the owners. And they can't say or even think something like that without having real unification forming among those owners.

Let's just say I haven't exactly been misled on this subject all this time.

MORE PIRATES

• I'm not wild about the solution for the Bucco Bricks -- they're nowhere near as visible or as fun -- but I'll at least respect that there was a very real process aimed at correcting this mind-blowing blunder. I can attest that there were trembling hands over at 115 Federal back when it became a big deal.

• The patience with Joey Bart both behind and at the plate ... it's wearing thin. Not that Henry Davis is blossoming into Johnny Bench, but he's a 1:1 and, before long, it'll be recognized that he's got to get an extended chance.

• Just when it looked like Reynolds was back, finishing June with a 15-for-35 flourish, he's off to a 2-for-30 July. And that's the separator between this slow start and others he's had in his career. The surges never really take on traction. We had a good talk the other day in Seattle, and the positive -- from my perspective, anyway, since I've always had a huge respect for him -- is that he doesn't seem to be beating himself up the way he had previously. He'll be fine. Dude can hit.

• There's some sweet symmetry to this, but I've seen precious few young athletes who'll outwork Skenes. So much Sidney Crosby to him. Just needs to win.

STEELERS

• No one will be seeking a replacement for Acrisure Stadium, where the team's lease expires in 2030. And no, there'll never be a dome or some sliding roof or anything like that.

The plan, I'm told, will be to work with the various public agencies toward elements that preserve and enhance the structure, in addition to some of the surrounding area on the North Shore. And a lot of that's already underway.

• Jonnu Smith's not taking Pat Freiermuth's TE1 spot on the depth chart, but it's not for any intangible reason. Rather, it's because Arthur Smith's always found creative ways to utilize Jonnu and all of his tight ends and, in fact, he did some of that here in 2024, as well. So Jonnu's taking the spot of Donald Parham and, to an extent, Connor Heyward. Because Jonnu can do all that H-back stuff, too, while also being an elite receiving threat.

• Externally, the player feeling the most pressure probably would be Broderick Jones. And not without cause. But internally, where the players really feel this sort of thing, I'll bet it's on Keeanu Benton. If he doesn't "make plays," as he'd prioritize for me at minicamp, he'll get bumped off the field for Derrick Harmon when there are two down linemen. Tends to be a slippery slope from there. But, and I feel this is important to add, that's got to work both ways. If it's all about getting to the backfield now, he's got to be free to do so. Shed and go.

• I still hear about chasing down a WR2, but nothing about an FS1. A little surprising. Big shoes.

• T.J. Watt's not going anywhere. Stop that at once. Seriously.

PENGUINS

• I hate to keep going back and forth on this, but that's been the nature of the information itself: Yes, Mario Lemieux would welcome a realistic opportunity to buy back the Penguins. And yes, there was at least one such conversation with the Fenway Sports Group. But no such opportunity has emerged yet. And let's bear in mind here, we're literally talking into the range of a billion-dollar price tag.

• Feels ridiculous to even have to write this, but ... there's no tank afoot. No team with Sid on the roster engages in anything that cynical. And if that team ever tried, Sid would be up and gone in a split-second.

Taking this further, since so many seem to have cast this out of their memory banks already, this group went 10-5-2 in this past season's final 17 games. Including wins over the Stars, Golden Knights, Blues, Wild, Senators -- all playoff teams -- and they lost to the eventual Stanley Cup champion Panthers in a shootout. What's more, a careful examination of that roster and the one in place now shows an improvement at the NHL level. It's slight, but it's an improvement.

That ain't much of a tank.

• Staying on this, sure, that'd change if either of Bryan Rust or Rickard Rakell's traded. Can't just watch 30-plus goals walk out the door. But I'll continue to reiterate that there's only one veteran Kyle Dubas continues to actively shop, and that's Erik Karlsson. Dubas very much means it when he's telling everyone he'd need to be whisked away to part with one of the other two. In particular Rust.

• Got a nice note from Alex Nedeljković after he was traded to the Sharks, in part expressing his appreciation to Pittsburgh fans for supporting him. Man, anyone who doesn't like Ned ... that's no friend of mine. He'll be missed.

• Thanks for reading our franchise feature!

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