The Pirates’ ongoing rebuild showed some encouraging signs last year but it didn’t prompt the front office to go out and win the offseason. They made some modest additions as their focus remains clearly on the future, but did sign another core member of their club to a sizable extension.
Major League Signings
- LHP Aroldis Chapman: One year, $10.5MM
- LHP Martín Pérez: One year, $8MM
- DH/OF Andrew McCutchen: One year, $5MM
- OF Michael A. Taylor: One year, $4MM
- 1B Rowdy Tellez: One year, $3.2MM
- C Yasmani Grandal: One year, $2.5MM
- LHP Josh Fleming: One year, split deal ($850K salary in majors)
- C Ali Sánchez: One year major league deal (can be controlled for five further seasons if still on roster)
2024 spending: $33.2MM (not including Fleming or Sanchez)
Total spending: $33.2MM (not including Fleming or Sanchez)
Option Decisions
- Team declined $3.25MM option on LHP Jarlín García
Trades and Claims
- Traded RHP Cody Bolton to Mariners for cash
- Claimed RHP Roddery Muñoz from Nationals (later traded to Marlins for cash)
- Acquired LHP Marco Gonzales and cash from Braves in exchange for PTBNL or cash
- Acquired OF Billy McKinney from Yankees for international bonus pool space
- Acquired OF Edward Olivares from Royals for IF Deivis Nadal
- Claimed OF Canaan Smith-Njigba from Mariners (after having previously lost him to Mariners on waivers)
Notable Minor League Signings
- Gilberto Celestino, Ben Heller, Ryder Ryan, Jake Lamb, Michael Plassmeyer, Sergio Alcántara, Wily Peralta, Brent Honeywell Jr., Connor Sadzeck, Chase Anderson, Eric Lauer, Domingo Germán
Extensions
- RHP Mitch Keller: Four years, $71.5575MM in new money
Notable Losses
- Vince Velasquez, García, Chase De Jong, Duane Underwood Jr. Osvaldo Bido (non-tendered), Tucupita Marcano, Alfonso Rivas, Bolton, Vinny Capra, Yerry De Los Santos, Miguel Andújar, Ángel Perdomo, Thomas Hatch (released to sign in NPB), Andre Jackson (released to sign in NPB), Max Kranick
2023 was the fifth straight losing season for the Bucs, but they at least showed some hints that maybe the rebuild was nearing its end. They started out hot and were leading the division for a time, holding that spot until the middle of June. They eventually faded and finished the year at 76-86, not too shabby, especially considering they were without shortstop Oneil Cruz for the vast majority of the season.
Some fans may have hoped for that semi-surge to be followed by an aggressive winter, but it ended up being fairly modest, at least in terms of additions. Starting pitching was a clear priority coming into the offseason after the Pittsburgh rotation posted a collective earned run average of 4.88 in 2023. That need only grew when Johan Oviedo required Tommy John surgery in November, putting him out of action for the entire 2024 season.
The Bucs seemed to cast a fairly wide net in their pursuits of starting pitching, though they were mostly connected to guys who could be had fairly cheaply. Jack Flaherty was a target and he could have perhaps been signed for a modest one-year “prove it” deal, but he eventually got it from the Tigers instead. Yariel Rodríguez and Shota Imanaga had plenty of interest but were somewhat unproven. The Bucs seemed to sniff around, but Rodríguez got a five-year, $32MM deal from the Jays, with a modest $6.4MM average annual value. There were rumors Imanaga could get $100MM, but his market softened and the Bucs got involved, though he ended up settling for four years and $53MM from the Cubs. They were also interested in the controllable pitchers of the Marlins, particularly Edward Cabrera, but nothing got done there either. Those talks carried into spring training, but Cabrera is now dealing with a shoulder issue. Whether that impacted talks isn’t known, but it’s certainly plausible.
In the end, the Pirates added a couple of veterans at a modest cost. Martín Pérez was signed to a one-year, $8MM deal,while Marco Gonzales was acquired via trade. Gonzales is making a salary of $12MM this year but will only be paid $3MM by the Pirates, through convoluted means that are explained by here by Ethan Hullihen of Bucs On Deck.
Those two could perhaps add some veteran stability to a fairly young and inexperienced rotation, but neither is coming off an especially strong season. Pérez had a 4.98 ERA as a starter for the Rangers and got bumped to the bullpen late in the year. Gonzales required surgery for a nerve issue in his forearm after 10 starts with a 5.22 ERA.
The Pirates seemed set at catcher coming into the winter, as prospects Endy Rodríguez and Henry Davis both cracked the major leagues last year. But similar to the Oviedo situation, it was reported in December that Rodríguez would need UCL surgery and miss the entire 2024 season.
Less than two weeks before that news came out, the club had signed Ali Sánchez to a major league deal, perhaps indicating they already suspected the Rodríguez news was coming. Regardless, they had interest in Gary Sánchez as well but eventually added Yasmani Grandal on a modest deal to bolster the depth with Rodríguez out.
Davis didn’t catch much last year, only spending two innings behind the plate as Rodríguez handled the bulk of the work. Davis spent far more time in right field, as it seemed the organization had a bit more faith in the defensive abilities of Rodríguez. But the injury has forced Davis to don the tools of ignorance again this year. He has seemed to handle himself well in spring, both behind the dish and standing beside it, having hit .306/.381/.694. If he succeeds back there all year, the club may have a decision to make once Rodríguez is healthy, though many clubs split time between two different catchers these days.
First base was also a target, as Carlos Santana had most of the playing time there last year, but he was traded to the Brewers at the deadline. The club had some reported interest in bringing Santana back and was also connected to Josh Naylor of the Guardians, but they nabbed Rowdy Tellez to be their primary first baseman. He’s coming off a down year but hit 35 homers in 2022, so he’s a fine bounceback pickup at $3.2MM.
They also brought back franchise icon Andrew McCutchen for $5MM to serve as a designated hitter and veteran leader. He’s been quite open about his desire to continue playing in Pittsburgh for the rest of his career so it wasn’t a surprise to see the two sides link up an another one-year pact. The next home run he hits will be the 300th of his career, so Bucs fans will have a fun milestone chase early in the season.
Elsewhere, the Pittsburgh bolstered its bullpen with a surprising $10.5MM splash on Aroldis Chapman, which actually counts as their largest free agent deal of the winter. He should be able to lengthen the bullpen after a return to form in 2023. The Pirates will surely be happy if Chapman ends up part of a push for contention late in the year, but if that doesn’t happen, they could hope to follow the path of Kansas City. The Royals signed Chapman last year and flipped him to the Rangers at the deadline, netting Cole Ragans in return. He’s earning nearly three times as much in 2024 as he did in 2023, so he won’t be quite the bargain for trade partners this time around, but high-end relief pitching is always in demand regardless.
As the slow offseason left various players looking for jobs well into February and even into March, the Pirates were able to take advantage by signing Michael A. Taylor for a modest $4MM sum. He was reportedly looking to match Kevin Kiermaier and Harrison Bader, who each got $10.5MM, but he was one of many players who got boxed out by the drying up of spending in recent months.
The Bucs should be the beneficiary of Taylor’s poor fortune, as he’ll give them an elite defensive center fielder who will strike out a bunch but also likely pop a few home runs. By having former center fielders Bryan Reynolds and Jack Suwinski in the corners, they could have strong defense in all three spots with regularity.
The most significant deal of the winter was for a player already on the roster, as the Pirates signed Mitch Keller to a five-year extension worth $77MM. He already had agreed to a $5.4425MM salary for 2024, which was maintained as part of the extension, so it added four years and $71.5575MM in new money. Keller was slated for free agency after 2025, so it extended the club’s window of control by three years.
That has been the M.O. for the Bucs in recent years. As shown on MLBTR’s Contract Tracker, the largest deals given out by the club since Ben Cherington took over as general manager in November of 2019 have all been extensions. Bryan Reynolds got a two-year, $13.5MM deal to avoid arbitration before eventually signing his seven-year, $100MM deal. Ke’Bryan Hayes got $70MM over eight years and now Keller is signed long-term as well. Meanwhile, they haven’t signed any free agent to a multi-year deal, with Chapman’s $10.5MM being the largest deal given on a one-year pact.
In a sense, that shows that the club has stayed the course. They have been building for the future for a long time, and their priorities are shown in that disparity of investment. Cherington said in December that he anticipated a payroll increase relative to last year, which has technically come to fruition. RosterResource lists this year’s payroll at $85MM. That’s 29th in the league, ahead of only the Athletics, but Cot’s Baseball Contracts had the Bucs at just $73MM last year.
The focus is still on the future, and the fortunes of the club will be largely be written by those already in the system. The club has shown their faith in Reynolds, Hayes and Keller as they continue to monitor Cruz, Davis, Rodríguez and Suwinski. Unproven players like Jared Triolo, Paul Skenes, Quinn Priester, Bubba Chandler, Jared Jones, Termarr Johnson and others could factor into the mix this year or in the near future. Skenes, last year’s No. 1 overall draft pick, seems likely to join Keller, Perez and Gonzales in the rotation as soon as this summer.
The Pirates are still arguably the weakest team in the National League Central. Both the Projected Standings at FanGraphs and the PECOTA Standings at Baseball Prospectus have them finishing in the basement. But the division is fairly wide open and doesn’t have a clear favorite, which means there’s a path for the Pirates if things break right, either this year or down the line.
The club will likely have a different offseason someday, when they truly feel contention is at hand. But for now, it’s been another winter of modest investment in the present and a heavy focus on the future.
The off-season certainly wasn’t bad, but it just felt like a bunch of half measures. Extending Keller, acquiring Olivares and Gonzales for next to nothing were good moves. I have faith that Tellez will do good this year, but with how long Brandon Belt has lingered on the market, I think they were a little too eager to fix the position and jumped the gun. Same thing with Martin Perez when Michael Lorenzen signed a similar deal.
Overall, I gave the Pirates’ offseason a C. Not a bad offseason, just not a great one either.
I think the Martin Perez sign was the best move they made all offseason, where Marco Gonzales may be the worst. I’m not sure how much of his contract is being paid by the Pirates, but I think Marco should be the first cut whenever Lauer or Skenes are ready to come up. I don’t think he’s any better than Rich Hill.
I think Gonzales will be fine. He’s had a rough Spring Training, but I’ve seen more than enough players have a bad preseason before going on to have a good regular season to be skeptical of all ST stats. But from 2018 through 2022, there were only seven starters with 130+ starts and an ERA under 4.00. Marco was one of them. He’s exactly what this rotation needs right now; a durable SP who can give them league average results.
On the contrary, his outing yesterday only punctuated what many of us have been saying. Look, it’s a very winnable division this year and you’d think the Pirates want to come out of the gate strong as they wait for their starters to arrive en masse later this summer
But they have done real holes here
Keller, Perez? Ok
If they are going with Ortiz, I think he has potential and Priester is still a box of chocolates. You never know what you’ll get
But ronn is right. Gonzalez is a BP pitcher
I just don’t think the Gonzales we’ve seen in ST is the same pitcher we’ll see in the regular season. You’re talking about someone who was one of the more durable pitchers with slightly above league average numbers for five seasons from 2018 through 2022. I remember people said the same thing about Jose Quintana a few years ago, and Edinson Volquez years before that. Too many times I’ve seen a player struggle in ST just to have a solid regular season, and Gonzalez has consistently been a solid SP in the past.
Good points and I hope you’re right. I do wish Searage was still around. He was somewhat of “the veteran whisperer” and connected with those kinds of pitchers
Gonzales looks bad! How long do go with him? Hurt last year!
Perez was a steal at 8m. Gonzales was a free lottery ticket. Pirates are paying 3m or so I believe. If healthy he is a absolute bargain. If not it’s only 3m. He looks fine to me. He’s been working on some things, coming off injury. Come regular season he will hopefully have everything figured out and have the benefit of PNC park. Looking like Rich Hill is a good thing. Hill cost 8 million and contending teams wanted to take in his entire salary and give good prospects for him. As good as Hill will be tremendous value.
apparently committing over a 100 mil didn’t impress the writer of the article lol
Impressed the heck out of me thou ! When have the Bucs ever done that before ?? For that I give em an A for effort (or affort)
Bucs need to be more aggressive in the trade market. They have a deep farm
They committed more last year. I give the offseason a C, but I’m optimistic about the state of the team.
Payroll last year was around $80 million dollars if that
They exceeded the 100 million dollars mark 2 previous seasons
Pirates spent more $ numerous time. 3 years around 100 million. 3 or more around 80m. Nutting would have spent 100m this year if need be. He has always spent what is needed. You can’t spend 100m when other teams are just letting you take players at massive discounts. I know fans hate Nutting but he gave you a winner last decade and is going to give you a winner again this decade. Let Nutting make more $. If it makes you feel better if the Pirates had one of the 20 stupid owners and gms in MLB they would have a 150 million dollar payroll right now. Reynolds Hayes Keller were extended for very team friendly contracts. Other teams paid 10 12 15 maybe even 20 25 million for lesser pitchers than Perez. Same with Gonzales and more so German. Pirates got half a dozen guys in minor league deals who should have got major league deals. It’s impossible to spend more $ unless you just want to waste it with so many awful ran teams in mlb.
No offense but making the playoffs a few times in succession and not advancing shouldn’t be considered Nutting giving us a winner.
When/if Nutting brings a world championship to Pittsburgh, he’ll be a winner
Otherwise I agree with everything else you said about how he has managed to sign players to team friendly contracts. Being a small market team he can’t afford to spend obnoxious amounts of money on one player.
Playoffs are random. Most years those teams would have won division. 1 wild card game or 5 game series anyone could win. Should have been more than 3 years but Huntington failed at player development.
Solid 78 win team
I disagree, and believe that they will be better than what is being predicted
Granted it’s spring training pitching, several players are showing more power than usual.
Henry Davis isn’t the flop behind the plate that baseball experts said he’d be, Suwinski has improved while hitting the ball in both directions effectively, Hayes has also shown his power potential and of course there’s Cruz, who seemingly swings one handed yet still crushes the ball 400+ feet with his massive homers
Starting pitchers and the bullpen will significantly improve and whoever is kept as the utility player, he will contribute more than in years past
Yeah, I’ll reluctantly agree here
Heartened by seeing Cruz and Davis hitting this spring. Adding these two with Hayes and Reynolds is a plus and you’re right, Suwinski looks better
Taylor makes their outfield better
I’m just not sold on their starting pitching. Granted, it’s not as important as it was 20 years ago and that’s a plus. Shelton proved you can have relievers starting games now and succeed, but a lot of patchwork until the cavalry comes over the hill later this summer
Let’s not forget Cutch, his swing seems to be back and his injury healed
Not to mention his leadership ability in the clubhouse. Young players went to him last year for advice, he will provide it again this year too
I think that they will have a winning season unless we see injury issues. The pitching will improve over the year. We will see Jones and Skenes sooner than later and the team should be stronger as the year moves along.
Austin Hedges caught most of the games…..
When a list of “Best MLB Ballparks” is published the Pirates are always at the top. They have very good real attendance. The announced attendance matches what the eye can see.
The Pirates make money. Bob Nutting makes a lot of money.
F
Eff for the Pirates. Eff Bob Nutting.
Anyone saying F is just trolling or doesn’t actually watch baseball. Or you’re one of those people who let their hate for Bob Nutting blind them to everything else. Not every move is bad because you hate the owner.
The announced attendance is tickets sold for the game not the actual number of people in the stadium
Stick to being a hater, facts aren’t your thing
Reading comprehension is not your thing or anyone who agreed with you.
That’s exactly my point. The Pirates bring in real revenue from attendance because the people are actually there.
actually only 30% of team revenue comes from ticket sales
Merchandise sales and TV packages make up the majority of revenues
It pays to use your google search to find facts instead of being insulting
Terrible. A few overrated prospects. Few position players, etc. 73 wins
So they’re gonna be worse than last year with a better roster this year? Makes total sense.
Okay offseason, more action and probably prove to be better than the average off season even when the team was winning. Ben hit the spots of primary concern. I think there should’ve been more proven players but nothing stood out as obviously horrible.. other than maybe Granda depending on your point of view..
I’m not sure on the Chapman signing. I wouldn’t call it a splash and I’m not thrilled with it. Certainly unexpected
Showing signs of a change of plan for the pirates. encouraging and with Bob around he will make sure the team doesn’t take much in the way of financial loss that could effect the franchise like it was before the Nuttings took a more active role in the financial side.
The only way Chapman makes sense is a hold and flip, or allowing them to flip Bednar or both. Certainly seems extravagant to pay $10.5M for a setup man either way. Even as a trade piece, as the article points out, Chapman is much less appealing to contending GMs at that price.
That’s not the only way it makes sense. The NLC is weak and the Pirates could easily contend, having Chapman in the pen could help them take the division. Also, they’re not trading Bednar, people need to stop saying it.
yeah IMO more likely Bednar extends on a team friendly contract at this point.
I like Bednar but he has had some disturbing injuries the last couple years. I didn’t understand the Chapman signing either but at present, I’m glad he’s here
Keller wasn’t exactly the second coming of Cy Young either last year, he endured a few horrible outings and while he was the best pitcher they had, he needs to improve if they want to be competitive
I remember his pitch count approaching 100 by the fifth inning on several occasions
Yeah, it’d be nice to see a season in which the Pirates are not sellers at the deadline, but not convinced they’re there yet. That’s the fun of talking about this in March!.
except that last year, they didn’t use Bednar in save situations more than 2 consecutive games
With Chapman they have a pitcher who can fill in for a save when Bednar isn’t available
Chapman will be a godsend if Bednar gets hurt.
Very much a C.
C but cincy seemingly losing Marte/McLain if their staff doesn’t stay healthy wide open division Cruz gotta stay healthy and do what he’s done this spring for this team to Raise It in the central Go Bucs!
I gave them a B. Good moves that if they work out would likely have them in contention for the Division title. Extended Keller on a nice pact. They actually spent some money. The Pirates spent.
I, like many Pirates fans, was hoping for BC to sign a FA or two to multi-year deals. Especially for the rotation. Instead they went the business as usual route with strictly bounce back guys.
With that being said, I’m cautiously optimistic the offense, defense, and bullpen will be good enough to compete in what appears to be a down NL Central year. Just gotta hope the rotation finds a way to be good enough.
Multiple years yuck. Most those are going to be negative value contracts. And don’t forget anyone you seen signed would have cost Pittsburgh more. Not a premier free agent destination. 1 year deals are the best deals. Usually a highly motivated player who is severely undervalued. Little to no risk high reward.
The most important thing was for to provide some long term stability to the rotation. They did that with the Keller extension. Hopefully next year they aren’t in a position to have to add so many to the roster and they can focus on quality instead of quantity. Failing to move one of their middle infielders for a starter or outfielder was a failure IMO
What starter or outfielder was traded for a middle infielder of the Pirates quality? Who they miss out on?
Not so much they missed out on, but the fact they failed to move one of them to get better at another position hurt them. Been nice to get an unknown type “ Nolan Jones” would have been awesome
They need Triolo Peguero. Gonzales Bae have little value. You would have to be able to improve them. I wouldn’t give up anything but other flawed soon p be dfa players for them.
With that said I really think they will surprise folks this year if their rotation can over achieve
Like the Madness song ‘Waiting For The Train That Never Comes’. Godawful ownership in a poor division and a genuine chance to win but not even trying. I feel for Pirates supporters.
Pirates are going to be one of the best teams in baseball the rest of this decade. They have a top 10 owner and gm. No need to feel sorry for their supporters.
Considering neither Contrares or Falter have been tearing up the pitcher’s mound and both are out of options it will be interesting to see which makes the opening roster
Falter gives up too many homers and Contrares has problems finding the plate at times so it’s probably a toss up
@deadmanonleave It’s black and white, don’t try to hide it!
Or is that black and gold? Love the Nutty Boys ref, but I think the Bucs will surprise this season as they’ve done before (2013-15).
I gave it a solid B, based on the fact that the moves made should result in a better team in a weaker division than last year AND how it sets them up moving forward.
Perez and Gonzales were both solid fill-ins to hold space for when the young guys start graduating en masse, while also allowing them to pivot to having good trade chips if things go wrong. Lauer and German are good insurance policies and depth – with the added bonus of another year of arb control with Lauer. If either are respectable, the rotation will be set up quite well for next season.
The difference in depth this year vs. last is pretty stark, pretty much every position has a bona fide or serviceable MLB player waiting in the wings – we won’t be seeing Osvaldo Bido-type callups unless the injury bug bites really hard.
The operations budget is based off the Pirates’ market potential, the idea that a wealthy owner means anything to the team’s payroll is as foolish as it is false – and the team did a very good job of stretching the available money to fill gaps and improve.
I’d be curious to understand the “D” and “F” grades given by some. Did you want them to spend $30+ million AAV on a pitcher who won the Cy Young with a BB/9 that was higher than Roansy Contreras? A big trade for one of the Marlins’ (now-injured) pitchers? If they’d worked out extensions for Cruz, Bednar or Skenes during the offseason, I’d have given them an A+.
Player has to want a reasonable extension. Pirates would love to give them one.
The Bucs are almost certainly better than the 2023 team.
– Cruz for a whole season vs 37 AAAA guys at short
– Chapman gives them a solid option at closer on days Bednar is not available and eliminates the need to force Bednar to get multi-inning saves
– Taylor improves the OF defense
– Davis gives Pirates a Catcher who can actually help the offense
– SP can only get better as the Pirates were forced to finish 2023 with 2 starters and Perez and Jones, not to mention Skenes later, are obvious upgrades
– Hayes looks like he’s really improving his hitting, as does Suwinski
And as others have pointed out, the rest of the division seems to be taking a step back, with the possible exception of the Cubs, in part due to mounting injuries.
Having Cruz at shortstop regularly and not starting Alika Williams like they did for mots of August and September last year is an automatic 3 win improvement, at the very least.
I like to think it would be more than 3 wins with Cruz in the lineup everyday rather than Williams
The latter couldn’t hit the ball off of a T let alone out of the infield last year
C but easily could have been a B or A if they signed a top pitcher. Hopefully they will put Jones in the rotation and not try to save money by sending him back to minors.
It’s about saving an entire year. Having him make opening day roster would be a mistake.
Only if you have no desire to win this division.
If you had other starters that were impressive I would agree with you.
Someone needs to keep us in the hunt until others are available mid season especially our number 1 pick.
If keeping Jones off the opening day roster for 2 or 3 starts so you can gain an entire year of team control cost you the division then you weren’t winning the division with that awful depth.
I hope they let Jones pitch in MLB early season while he’s healthy and in good form.
Is there somehwere a full list of all clubs reviewed can be found?
I voted A since there was no option for A+. Perez absolute bargain for 8m. Braves just gave them Gonzales for free. German completely free. Other teams spent 10 12 15 20 million for same or lesser pitchers. 2 depth outfielders for free. A true cf for 4 million. Got Tellez to shed some weight and for a skinny 3.2m Chapman at 10.5 even looks good compared to what some relievers have gotten. Got a lot of talent on minor league deals. Pirates went bargain shopping and hit. It’s a good thing they didn’t overpay like most other teams. They filled their needs and will be able to be active in free agency next year or better yet extend more of their own.
Pirates have done their rebuild as I advised. Ran their off season just as I recommend. I look forward to seeing many 80 90 win seasons. 100 wouldn’t surprise me with their pitching depth in minors.
I’d agree with C. Seems to me the off season wasn’t as bad as some believe. 1 year deals may not be ideal, but they may be all the free agents will accept, without costing too much money. Starting pitching is probably similar to last season. 2 players from opening day roster last year, that are still on the team, will likely start in the minors, Bae and CSN. That means the team improved overall, if they’re not even going to be bench options.
I gave it a B because I’m an overthinker. It should be an A, but I don’t consider Taylor, Lauer, or German offseason moves since they happened in Spring Training lol.
I think Cherington did a nice job making sure they have depth, but also aren’t blocking prospects that are part of the future. I love that they decided to let the young guys play at second base and Davis catch. Those are both A+ moves without signing anyone.
I think Taylor was an excellent addition to stabilize the outfield, which should be one of the best defensive outfields in baseball now. Pirates can afford to have a glove first CF because they have a SS and C that both should hit the crap out of the ball. I also love Perez and Gonzales at PNC Park. I don’t think either will be great, but both will be solid and won’t block prospects when they’re ready.
I think the Pirates will have the second best lineup, the best defense, and the best bullpen in the NL Central. The rotation is the wild card because it’s so heavily dependent on young, albeit extremely talented, pitchers. Great offseason and I’m excited for the season to start.
Totally agree with this. BC paid good money to raise the floor for 2024 by maybe five games without capping the potential ceiling for 2025 and beyond.