Weekly Report: BC, Donnie Back For '26 & Staff Changes, Bucco Belly Rubs, Skippers That Are Gonzo, Ex-Buc FAs

Into the great unknown of the off season…

Pirates Stuff:

• Not 24 hours after ending their season, the Pirates announced they had signed Don Kelly to return as manager. Of course, that implied that Ben Cherington was coming back, too. He’s been rebuilding since 2020, with a record of 365-505. 
• The following day, Kelly began to put together his own staff when the Pirates didn’t renew the contracts of pitching coach Oscar Marin (a surprise, considering how well the pitching did, but there were unverified reports that the Pirates pitchers felt underserved and wanted an upgrade) and third base coach Mike Rabelo while ass’t pitching coach Brent Strom retired after a year on the job. He was 76, but apparently gave the team a heads up that he was leaving in mid-August, so the pitching seemed to have had some issues under the hood. The media sense is that hitting coach Matt Hague is safe, so go figure.

Oscar Marin an unexpected cut – photo Pirates

• Baseball Digest/Inside Edge selected Paul Skenes as its 2025 Pitcher of the Year after he posted a 10-10/1.97/216 K line. Paul is the first Pirate to be named MLB – POTY by the publication in the award’s 32-year history.
• If you think steady, ho-hum losing is a good way to lose the clubhouse, Noah Hiles of the Post Gazette writes that the Pirates players agree with you. Noah, btw, is leaving the Bucco beat and in a full circle move, Jason Mackey is back. 
• MLB Pipeline Pirates pups in its updated Top #100 Prospects are: 1. SS/OF Konnor Griffin, 14. RHP Bubba Chandler, 27. RHP Seth Hernandez, 77. LHP Hunter Barco and 81. OF/1B Edward Florentino.
• Pirates prospect Termarr Johnson and Xzavion Curry, a pitcher with a couple of MLB stops now in the Rockies org, both graduated from Benjamin Hayes HS (GA). Together with the Players Alliance, a group of ex-players looking to upgrade youth baseball resources, they donated a truckload of ball gear to their alma mater.  

MLB Stuff:

• The Wild Card round – LA swept Cincy to meet Philly in the NLDS. The other three match-ups went to a do-or-die third game. The other NL series was won by the Cubs, who knocked out the Padres in a match that Jamison Taillon started. They tackle division mates Milwaukee. In the AL, the Tigers tamed the Guardians and moved on to face the Mariners while the Yankees shut down the Red Sox to set up a series with the Blue Jays.
• Division Series: The NLDS has Milwaukee up a game on the Cubs and the Dodgers are ahead of Philly, 1-0, with Game #2 on Monday 10/6. In the ALDS, Toronto has a two-games-to-none edge on the Yankees while Detroit and Seatlle are knotted at a game each,
• Managers fired – Brian Snitker (Atlanta – moving to front office), Ron Washington (Angels), Bob Melvin (Giants), Rocco Baldelli (Twins) and Bruce Bochy (Rangers).
• Managers hired: The Rangers brought in Skip Schumaker, formerly of the Marlins, to replace Bochy.
• C Jason Delay (Braves), OF Connor Joe (Reds) and RHP Bryse Wilson (White Sox) were among the early wave of guys to declare for free agency.