It was another modest offseason for the Pirates, who are banking on their young arms to carry them into contention.
Major League Signings
- LHP Andrew Heaney: One year, $5.25MM
- DH/OF Andrew McCutchen: One year, $5MM
- OF Tommy Pham: One year, $4.025MM
- LHP Caleb Ferguson: One year, $3MM
- 2B/OF Adam Frazier: One year, $1.525MM
- LHP Tim Mayza: One year, $1.15MM
- RHP Elvis Alvarado: split deal, later lost to Athletics on waivers
2025 spending: $19.95MM
Total spending: $19.95MM
Option Decisions
- Club declined $15MM option on LHP Marco Gonzales
Trades and Claims
- Claimed IF Tristan Gray off waivers from Athletics (Gray was later outrighted, elected free agency and signed with the White Sox)
- Claimed 1B/OF Trey Cabbage from Astros (Cabbage was later released to sign with NPB's Yomiuri Giants)
- Acquired RHP Peter Strzelecki from Guardians for cash
- Acquired 1B/2B Spencer Horwitz from Guardians for RHP Luis Ortiz, LHP Josh Hartle, LHP Michael Kennedy
- Acquired IF Enmanuel Valdéz from Red Sox for RHP Joe Vogatsky
- Acquired RHP Brett de Geus from Blue Jays for cash (later lost de Geus to Marlins on waivers)
- Acquired RHP Chase Shugart from Red Sox for RHP Matt McShane
- Claimed RHP Justin Lawrence off waivers from the Rockies
Extensions
- None
Notable Minor League Signings
- Yohan Ramírez, Isaac Mattson, Tanner Rainey, Hunter Stratton, Carson Fulmer, Nick Solak, Darick Hall, Burch Smith, Bryce Johnson, DJ Stewart, Ryder Ryan, Ryan Borucki
Notable Losses
- Luis Ortiz, Yasmani Grandal, Aroldis Chapman, Jalen Beeks, Rowdy Tellez, Michael A. Taylor, Marco Gonzales, Billy McKinney, Jake Woodford, Justin Bruihl, Edward Olivares, Domingo Germán, Connor Joe (non-tendered), Bryan De La Cruz (non-tendered)
It's been a rough few decades for the Pirates. They didn't make the playoffs between 1993 and 2012. They then got three straight Wild Card berths, but advanced to the NLDS just once. They started a new playoff drought in 2016 that continues to this day.
There have been some signs of potential lately. In 2023, they were 20-9 at the end of April, but they went 8-18 in May and finished at 76-86. They hovered near contention last year, sitting at 48-48 at the All-Star break, but again finished at 76-86.
Despite those losing seasons, there are exciting elements on the roster. Their collection of rotation talent is one of the best in the league, fronted by Paul Skenes but also including Jared Jones, Mitch Keller, Braxton Ashcraft, Bubba Chandler, Mike Burrows and Thomas Harrington. They also have position players Bryan Reynolds, Ke'Bryan Hayes and Oneil Cruz in place for years to come.
Ideally, the club would have invested around this young core, but that didn't come to pass this winter. The offseason included one notable trade, which is essentially a risky bet on a late bloomer, and several modest free agent signings. They gave out seven one-year deals, none of them worth more than $5.25MM, spending less than $20MM in total. Some of those moves are fine in isolation but the total package is underwhelming.
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The Pirates are a laughingstock of an organization and Bob Nutting is an utter disgrace to MLB and the city of Pittsburgh.
Unfortunately MLB, for one, couldn’t care less.
They cared enough to give almost half revenue sharing. Extremely generous and necessary. Will need revenue sharing to increase or national tv. Good luck. Nothing else you can do about a guy who is completely clueless on how to build a baseball team or probably any other business. Lucky he inherited what he got because he isn’t too sharp. He should have fired all management. Is there a way to force him to? Also force he hires someone from MLB and not NHL NBA. We know he won’t pay for NFL at least.
The Pirates have never had a better excuse to spend money than right now while they have Skenes.
He will be gone soon, along with any hope of a contender.
No $ to spend. Now can’t or won’t I have no idea. My guess it’s both. He could take less profit but still wouldn’t make a difference.
Wouldn’t matter anyways with this management staff. They would sign the hurt guy or guy who is ready to rapidly decline.
Why do you always defend Nutting by claiming there’s no money to spend?
There’s money, he’s just too cheap to spend enough to put a competitive team on the field
He said “can’t or won’t.” Either way the money is limited. Unfortunately it’s not defense, it’s fact.
How do you know there’s money to spend?
where’s the evidence that money is limited?
“no $ to spend “
Picking and choosing what Dream said?
The evidence is in the payroll. The cheap-ass owner is only willing to spend so much. To me, “No $ to spend” means he’s done spending.
I mean…there were 2 sentences.
TheMan 3
2 hours ago
where’s the evidence that money is limited?
=======================
They are #25 in revenue. That’s your evidence. They are #27 in spending. IMHO, that’s evidence that they are being cheap.
But clearly the revenue is limited.
I don’t defend him. I simply took 30 seconds to look up what similar size markets are spending. Even though they have either parking revenue, playoff revenue, more attendance revenue they are all around 100 million. Maybe they are poor. Maybe they are pocketing hundreds of millions. Doesn’t matter. They aren’t spending drastically more than Nutting even though they have more going for them.
Unwilling to spend doesn’t mean Nutting doesn’t have money to spend
the article only says that they are 28th in payroll.
Payroll isn’t revenue but you can provide a link to support your claims
Money is limited, compared to other teams that is
even if the do get a profit, they still are in one of the smaller markets with near bottom of the list franchise value.
They could likely afford to break even or even a moderate loss if the team looks like it could have a real chance to take it past the wild card but as it stands they need to much to even consider a deep playoff run.
They haven’t had a real shot since NH blew it apart with a series of moves that ended in disaster.
If he is unwilling to spend then there is no money.
there’s an article in today’s Post Gazette by Joe Starkey.
According to Forbes, the Bucs were the third most profitable franchise in 2023.
The President of Baseball Operations said that it’s not true and in fact they have been losing money in recent seasons.
Joe Starkey makes the point that if they are losing money why hasn’t Nutting tried calling sell the franchise considering it’s valued at more than $1 billion dollars
Both are wrong. Common sense. How’s a team with bottom ten prices, attendance, and tv market 3rd most in profit? A large corporation would have hired Williams to be their CEO if he was capable of that. NY LA etc would be very upset. Instead they kept agreeing to give Nutting even more of their $.
Why would you have a business that loses $. Why wouldn’t you prove you are losing $. Instead of being hated Nutting would be loved as the savior of mlb baseball in Pittsburgh.
You have bad journalism and a bad owner.
Since when is $100M not much money?
Dismal off season that showed no desire to put a competitive team on the field.
Dismal is being too kind. More like typical and pathetic
There’s always someone here who will claim that they could have a payroll of $100 million and every season the Bucs are near the bottom in payroll within the entire league
Pittsburgh is now, and always has been, a bad market for baseball..
Even when the team has been one of the best in baseball, it’s attendance has been dismal. They have a low payroll because they have low revenue.
The team made an excellent move this offseason by trading starting pitcher Luis Ortiz and two minor leaguers for first-baseman Spencer Horwitz, who had a .790 OPS last year – better than Pete Alonso. They filled a position of need by trading from a position of strength.
If they can get league average offense from third-base and left-field, they will be a much improved team this year.
Right now, they look an 83 -win team. Not good enough . . . yet. But a big step forward for a team that has been rebuilding in a Bad Market for Baseball..
Okay, Dick.
Your response to the well articulated post above is childish, unecessary, and shows your low character.
What was attendance like when they consistently put quality teams on the field, something they haven’t done in over two decades? Fans show up in places like Pittsburgh for their teams, when their teams do something to show up for them. It is not a bad market for baseball at all. It’s a bad market for a cheap owner.
Attendance in 90s even 70s was weak. Their best years were this century. If they knew baseball would become this popular they would have built a bigger stadium.
In 2015, when the Pirates reached the post-season for the third straight year and won the second most games in major league baseball, they were ninth of fifteen in attendance in the National League.
In the early 1990s, they won their division three years in a row and were unable to sell out National League Championship Series games..
Throughout the 1970s. the Pirates were perennial World Series contenders and their attendance was dismal.
Pittsburgh is now, and always has been, a bad market for baseball.
Disagree. If you build it they will come.
Pittsburgh is a baseball town. 2.3m shown up in wild card years. Only thing keeping it from 3m was bad weather and stadium size. And that’s after 20 years of losing. If you had the stadium size, weather, and a steady good product it would be for it’s population and incredible sports town.
In 1979, the last time the Pirates won the WS, they ranked 10th in he league of 12 NL teams.
During their 1970s Pittsburgh Lumber Company dynasty, they averaged 8th in the NL in attendance.
The Pirates are the only MLB team that has NEVER drawn 2.5 million fans.
Not for Clemente. Not for Bonds. Not for Cutch. Not for Skenes.
During the great teams of the early 70’s when Clemente was there, annual attendence was in the top 10 of all MLB teams.
The Pirates and the Reds even out drew the Yankees and the Phillies some years.
They won the WS in 1971 and 1979. I believe that they were 5th and 10th out of 12 in attendance.
I think y’all need to separate being good fans with being a good BB city. Pittsburgh’s population is only ~ 300,000.
None of these cities are ever going to draw huge crowds.
Many of you need a basic demographics class. One of the smallest population cities isn’t supposed to be near the top in attendance. Being middle of the pack any years is impressive. They actually been 1st 2nd 3rd some years if you go far enough back. Pittsburgh is a great baseball town. Why they still have a team.
83 wins seems like a long shot.
IMO: Bull pen and team health will be the make or break on getting .500.
their offensive upgrades were marginal. Spencer probably better over all than Rowdy and probably around average offensively which is a small upgrade over Joe. Pham in the OF.. well.. you could probably throw a uniform on Teke and have an offensive upgrade over 2024 lol
They spent $19.5 million on players who won’t move the needle when Anthony Santander could have been had for less.
I know Cutch got a chunk of that and I know what he means to the team and the fans. But those warm feelings of nostalgia won’t hold up against another 75 win season. The fact is when you figure in the deferrals in Santander’s contract, there still would have been enough money for Cutch. You just wouldn’t have the immortal Adam Frazier.
To me, the Pirates’ offseason was the most egregious failure in MLB. They have been lying to their fans. They have no intention of shifting in to competitive mode. Ever. Their beautiful stadium should sit COVID style empty all season.
Have to have Cutch. I would much rather have Cutch than Santander. They needed bullpen arms. They needed Heaney. Might not move the needle but it protects young arms and gets them extra year of team control. And their depth isn’t that good.
Look what Cleveland Milwaukee etc spent on payroll. Maybe Nutting is cheap. Maybe he is truly poor. Doesn’t matter because other teams with superior attendance and playoff revenue aren’t spending much more. A team with under 2m attendance and hasn’t been in playoffs in a decade. Hasn’t won division in 3 decades. Hasn’t won a playoff series in 4 decades. Doesn’t own parking around stadium. They don’t have the payroll. Obviously they could pocket no or less $ but why own a business that doesn’t make $. No plans to sell team.
Payroll next year will be the same as it is now with only free agent signing being Cutch at 5m. And that’s with them trading non tendering Bednar Santana so they don’t have to pay arb3.
Unless NY LA wants to hand them more of their $ even defer $ is a issue.
And are they not even going to try to extend Skenes or Jones or anyone?
Maybe all these small markets are greedy and just pocketing all this $. Looking at Braves records though it doesn’t seem to be the case.
Profar looked like a fair price to me.
It’s more bad management than $. Grichuk looked good to me. Heck Canha did and signed for minor league deal. Obviously $ is the key but they passed on cheap guys who seemed to be able to help.
what good is another year of team control when they refuse to add good offensive players?
They could have signed Santander to play RF for a year then transition to DH when Cutch retires. Fairly affordable 30+ homer bat. If they needed to save money, could try to dump Hayes in a trade for a team with nothing at third base. Also would be unpopular and not ideal, but could also have traded Keller to a team like Baltimore or Cleveland for a young lineup piece or two. I don’t expect a 150m payroll but they should up it a bit with the Skenes hype and realize this is their best window within this year and the next two before Reynolds regresses, Cruz gets expensive/leaves, before starters get hurt.
Had to get long winded but did you read my entire post. Even without signing Santander they may have to trade Keller and Reynolds before their contracts are up.
Hayes makes 7m. That isn’t moving the needle. Does anyone want a player with no jelly? Sounds like Hayes is toast.
Yes, I agree that neither will stay here throughout their whole contract. Ideally, the team will play much better and will comfortably increase the payroll to 100M like they did in their playoff season. Like you said, even for better teams like the Guardians and Brewers, the window is short and they still have to “reboot” so to speak.
Trading Keller would hurt now because while not an ace, he’s extremely durable and will give you around 180 quality innings. Lesser guys were paid as much if not more than him.
I’d rather try and win by extending who we have, but if that’s not possible they’d have to get creative. Before all the injuries, the Yanks were begging teams to take Stroman. Hayes/Bednar and a prospect would get that done and allow them to move Keller for someone like Kjerstad who’s perma-blocked in Baltimore, but that ship has sailed.
Only hope now is hoping Suwinski/Davis/Hayes learn how to swing the bat again. Crazier things have happened. Davis should not be struggling this bad.
actually
Davis is having a nice spring
It would cost $25m to get Santander to come to Pittsburgh. Not worth it.
Pirates off season in two words…on brand
*Not a compliment.
Offensive Improvement:
The Pirates have made some additions, but the overall impact on offensive production remains to be seen. The addition of Spencer Horwitz is a positive move. However, more offensive production is needed.
Grade: C
Pitching Staff Development:
The Pirates have a focus on developing their pitching staff, with promising young arms. The presence of Paul Skenes is a huge positive. The bullpen still has areas of concern.
Grade: B
Defensive Consistency:
The Pirates are working to improve their defensive play. This area is showing signs of improvement.
Grade: C+
Prospect Integration:
The Pirates’ success hinges on the development and integration of their prospects. This is an ongoing process.
Grade: B-
Overall Evaluation:
The Pirates’ offseason reflects a continued focus on building through their farm system. Overall, they would likely receive a grade in the C+ range.
A realistic win projection for the Pirates would be in the 70-77 win range.
I agree with your win projection, but I feel like a C+ is giving them too much credit.
Exactly: their win projection ceiling matches last season’s record. Not a good sign.
The Central is there for the taking and they have an arsenal of controllable starting pitchers that most of the league would kill to have, yet they barely even tried to improve
F
Should have fired manager gm and the hockey guy. Another year wasted of Skenes and company. Another year of weak player development.
Off season was a D until they f’d up the medicals of Horowitz just got another random injury to same trashed wrist. They need reliable 1b. Should have replaced him. Should have added another.
Should have is the team’s annual mantra
If Nutting EVER intended to win, this would have been the winter he tried.
Instead, they didn’t even pretend to try.
Didn’t even pretend to pretend to try.
Just emptied the garbage can onto the table and said to their fans “bon appetite”.
Totally agree
At least last year they spent some money and brought in a bona fide reliever who recorded 14 saves and 22 holds.
This year they gave out smaller contracts to players that will help them even less . Why??
That says volumes about their commitment.