Ben

Cherington

“We’ve talked about just about every starting pitcher on the market,” Cherington told reporters. “We’ve been pretty inclusive and exhaustive about it.” Whether or not they’ll actually be willing to spend — or convince any of the top pitching options to come to Pittsburgh — is another story. At least it sounds like they’re trying though.

Gelles started her career with an internship with the Pirates organization and then moved to the research and development team with the Orioles and then to the top of the Astros analytics department. According to Sarris, many executives credit her with helping the Astros utilize proprietary research to optimize player development. Executives claim she has “an amazing ability to oversee dozens of projects and not ever give the appearance that her attention is divided. She cares a lot about the well-being of her people.” She’ll now get the chance to showcase that one step away from a top job in the front office.

Baker, who played seven seasons in the majors as a catcher, has spent the last five seasons in the Cubs’ baseball operations department. He served as the team’s applied mental skills coach this past season. Baker is highly-regarded and will essentially take the place of Larry Broadway, who was moved out of his role as farm director following the 2020 season.