December 16th: The Bucs have officially announced the Soto signing.
December 9th: Another reliever has come off the board. The Pirates are reportedly in agreement with left-hander Gregory Soto on a one-year, $7.75MM contract. Soto is represented by ISE Baseball. Pittsburgh had an opening on the 40-man roster and will not need to make a corresponding move.
Soto made 70 appearances between the Orioles and Mets last season. A solid first half in Baltimore led to a swap with New York around the trade deadline. Soto began his Mets tenure with nine straight scoreless outings, but stumbled down the stretch. The veteran lefty posted a 7.94 ERA in September as New York fell short of a playoff spot.
Pittsburgh will be Soto’s fifth team in the past five seasons. He debuted for Detroit in 2019 and soon became a crucial part of the team’s late-inning mix. Soto emerged as the Tigers closer by 2021, finishing with 18 saves and an All-Star nod. He racked up 30 saves the following season, earning a return trip to the Midsummer Classic. Detroit shipped him to Philadelphia following the 2022 campaign for a package headlined by Matt Vierling. After a season and a half with a mid-4.00s ERA, Soto was dealt to Baltimore at the 2024 trade deadline.
The Pirates’ bullpen ranked 18th in SIERA and 22nd in xFIP last season. The unit lost longtime closer David Bednar and top lefty Caleb Ferguson at the trade deadline. Dennis Santana performed well in multiple stints as the closer and will likely retain the role in 2026. Pittsburgh has minimal proven options behind him, particularly from the left side. Evan Sisk was the only southpaw penciled into the bullpen prior to the Soto addition.
Soto struggled mightily with free passes while in Detroit, posting a walk rate above 12% in all four seasons with the team. He’s cleaned up those control issues in recent years and recorded a career-low 8.6% walk rate last season. Soto’s upper-90s sinker has typically led to healthy ground ball rates, though he finished with a league-average GB% this past season. The sinker velocity has ticked down in each of the past three years. Opponents hit .314 against Soto’s sinker last season. Most of the damage came during his time with the Mets, and a hefty .392 BABIP is likely to blame. Soto’s slider still got whiffs at an excellent rate, so he can still be effective if the sinker bounces back.
MLBTR had predicted Soto to receive a two-year, $16MM contract. He settles for one year just shy of the $8MM average annual value. The Pirates reportedly had roughly $40MM in payroll space this winter. This won’t impact their pursuit of free agent hitters after their unsuccessful pursuit of Kyle Schwarber.
ESPN’s Jorge Castillo first reported the signing.
They spent
Raise the jolly roger!
Must’ve realized relying on Sisk is a risk!!
Pirates outbid for Schwarber but sign Soto.
did you even bother to read the article their top 100 commentator? You’re such a joke
There goes the Mets Díaz replacement.
Schwarber pivot.
Not even close
Card… my man follow the humor
There’s the Pirates 1-year deal we expect
F that dude. Screwed Seattle.
Just tell Donnie to only bring him in to start an inning. If you want inherited runners to score, he’s your man.
🤣
A+
They need a lefty. Not just a fair price but good price. Owns lefty’s. For the old timers his era is fake and should be lower.
Damn. Thanks for the info update there, junior. I can’t believe MLB assigned this guy a fake ERA. Someone needs to do something about this. Also, please get off my lawn.
Yeah, but this isn’t the spending they should be undertaking, is it, unless their plan is to win 1-0 games all year. Once again as in past off seasons, you have to wonder about Pirates priorities. You’d think they’d be proceeding for bats like their collective hair is on fire. But yeah, someone will say yet again that you can’t have enough pitching. Given this path, it’ll come in handy when they’re 20 games back in late May
They could’ve offered this deal a while ago, and it came to a conclusion tonight. Doesn’t mean that it’s the only offer they have given out or focusing on arms first.
Position players are more likely to be more selective of where they go than bullpen guys.
Yeah Jim, you’re likely right. I hope so, at least. But given their history,, sheesh
They needed a lefty reliever. If they sign Alonso and trade for Lowe they still need a lefty reliever. All this is. Doesn’t stop them from doing anything. They still have 25m to spend. A loaded farm system to trade from. If they sign Alonso big if but then they would have 40 45 million to spend. And if they trade Keller it becomes 60m.
Nutting extended Polanco Tabata Marte Cutch Harrison Cervelli Rivero. Signed Nova Martin Kang AJ Liriano. If he absolutely has to should spend $ he has. If he doesn’t now I will destroy him every pirates article. But until then he has given no reason to doubt him. Sure he might have been able to spend more but if he does what he can obviously do that will be enough.
You realize you say the same thing every year and now are relating what amounts to ancient history to support your argument.
They were in this position last off season
They added Pham and Frazier
They were in this position two years ago
And added two soft throwing left handers
Unless I’m wrong, all of these moves got A+ ratings from you and much the same rhetoric
Look, I hope you’re right and only Schwarber has signed while no significant trades have been made.
Ok. Got it.
But going back to the Huntington era to offer hope is like asking me to hold my breath and click my heels together three times
But again, hope you’re right
There was no one to sign those years. Oh wait fans said they should sign Santander Conforto Hoskins lol. Good thing Nutting Cherington at least no more than fans!
This year there are players to sign.
Pretzel logic again. No one to sign. No one to trade for. Just count profits. C’mon Dream, you can’t be this much of a company man.
I ask Pirates fans to give me names every year. They either don’t. Give names of awful players. Or give unrealistic names. Go back and look. I didn’t have any names that would have made a difference because there wasn’t any. This year I have names that are difference makers. They might not be obtainable. Will let you know in March. They made a strong effort at Schwarber. Not going to criticize them for not giving him 175 million because that wouldn’t be a smart move. 6 160 was what I suggested and it wouldn’t get it done.
They give you the names of players that are within the Pirates budget.
Did you honestly think that Nutting was stupid enough to spend that much on one player when he needs multiple hitters to add to become a winning team that can actually compete for the playoffs?
Why, Dream? Why play your games?
We all know that they’ve needed bats for years
We all know they have depth in pitching.
We all know they have abundant cash that they won’t spend.
That’s the bottom line here.
So you want them to sign a bad player. A player worse than Santana Tellez Pham just so they can spend $?
Me I am glad they didn’t sign Santander and lost a draft pick. Now they have draft pick and the $ to get someone more likely to be a good player. Can get 2 of them.
I seen the realistic names Hoskins Profar Conforto Kepler. All those names realistically stunk. Waste of $. Some would been on books for years. Some 1 year deals.
Nutting would have spent $ but wouldn’t have seen an attendance TV increase. Wouldn’t have seen playoff $. Wouldn’t have seen a winning record. Would have been same or even worse. How likely would he be to spend $ this year? And if he signed Santander he couldn’t period. Get Soto and hope for a Santander bounce back. You want to trade for Santander now? Or sign Polanco Suarez JTR trade for Kwan Lowe? Obviously not all of them but pick 2.
There’s Pirates fans and fans of complaining about the Pirates. You are complaining they didn’t spend $ on awful contracts. So you can figure out what category I label you as.
I think a fan would say I wished they spent $ but I am glad they know more about baseball than me and didn’t. Now they have a chance to sign someone good. Maybe the won’t. Maybe the price is too high. Maybe they are smarter than you again and smarter than me because I think they should be in on Alonso Polanco JTR Lowe at the very least. Kwan if available worth a shot as well as Suarez but I like the others better.
I want them to spend $ to get better. Not spend $ to be the same or worse.
You apparently never took a logic course in college and perhaps watched too many episodes of Boston Legal. Your characterization of me as a fan and summation of “what I want” is so ridiculously false that even a child would laugh at your assessment. I mean, are you serious? This is what it has come to for you? Replies that take another individual’s thoughts and morph them into something else just to demonstrate your own “superiority” in self indulgence? Your commentary here borders somewhere between juvenile and asinine. I can’t quite determine which it is.
Every off season, you have this odd defense of the Pirates moves and then when June rolls around, jump on the bandwagon of dissent. How convenient.
I’ve made clear “ what I want” repeatedly. And I’m not simply some “complaining fan” who should be happy that Pirates brass knows more than I do.
From here on, I’ll regard your scribbling, replete with punctuation and other writing errors, in about the same level I do as Bright Eyes or Richard.
That was a pathetic reply, even by your standards
AI- I think that you have to be realistic in your expectations.You are spending someone’s money who at best is a tightwad. Nutting will spend to make a good team better but has not had that opportunity for ten years.
Hoskins would be fine as a bounce back candidate as the RH DH,much better than Cutch would be.Just because it is not your idea does not make it a bad one.
He would be much better than your idea Randal Grichuk.
Alonso would never want to play in the worst ML stadium for RH hitters.Cherington knows that and would not waste time courting him.
The time to worry about future draft picks was over last year and hopefully Cherington realizes that as this is his last rodeo as a GM.Otherwise he is pretty stupid.
Everybody in baseball knows that Realmuto will go back to the Phillies just like Schwarber.Middleton will use the last of his crazy money for him.
Nutting may not be as bad at PR as you suggest.He and Cherington knew that they would not get Schwarber but several posters bit on that one.
I know that we are old fuddy duddies but common sense is not always so common amongst the youngsters.
AI-I said when I first started here in the summer of 2016 that Nutting is a businessman first and foremost.
You have influenced me for the better in realizing that he would not spend money just to gild the lily.
I always thought that a team should win as many games as possible,and not do what the 76’ers admitted that they were doing for years and tank the entire year.That may very well work in basketball,but not baseball.
But you do have a good point about the importance of the amateur draft position.If the Pirates were even one higher draft position for each of the last three years would they have received what Cherington does best and that is drafting the best player available? Skenes and the two others have significant talent.
That has very well been the best three year drafting ever for the Pirates.
And I also have come to realize that the negative attitude of many Pirate fan posters regarding Cherington and Nutting and the Pirates is actually justified because of the long time that they have been at best mediocre.We both know that the development system has to be excellent for the small market teams to compete.You cannot expect humans not to be human.
As usual,the middle road is probably the best road to take on this subject.
I understand the thinking that it’s way too early to load the tar and feathers. And I don’t remember ever thinking that this franchise was going to compete with the big boys for top players.
Personally, I’d be happy with a .500 team that hustles and is fundamentally sound. I don’t believe any fan can ask for more
Like any fan, I’m hopeful that the pledge to spend and purported offer to Schwarber are good signs. But forgive me if I doubt it.
History tells me otherwise. And really, I see these comments about spending as a way to not only placate fans but also, their generational talented pitcher who undoubtedly would like to be a part of a winning team, either here or elsewhere
I don’t begrudge any fan from being positive about the off season, front office or season ahead. And as a cynic, I hope I am wrong.
But I doubt it
Playing mind games via missives that one is a super-genius in terms of knowing the inner workings of baseball front offices while those who dissent are simply know-nothing complainers just gets tiresome
Think I’ll just sit back and watch how these next couple months progress. Maybe I’ll be pleasantly surprised
Denny Crane.
Hoskins was a awful contract for Milwaukee. Pirates fans wanted him bad. Now he would be cheaper.
Exactly my point. Dang right I wanted Grichuk and other 1 year 5 million less guys because the names to spend $ on were awful.
I don’t think I seen a single person think the Pirates were getting Schwarber. Didn’t see a single person complaining they didn’t beat the Philly offer or depressed about not getting him.
Free agents are like a fantasy wish list. Most fans expect the Pirates to do what they have been doing and sign 1 year deals.
You think Alonso cares more about a favorable hr park than $? He got his $ in Baltimore and the Mets gm who is probably brighter than Cherington only was willing to go to 3 years. No one thought Alonso was coming here. But the pirates have to keep options open in case market isn’t there for a player. Eventually hopefully one won’t be.
Draft pick position hasn’t effected the Pirates yet in the first round at least. This could be the first year we will see. 3 vs 5 is a big difference. In 2023 there was 5 elite players of course all were a drop off after Skenes. But there usually isn’t 5. Could be 3 or 2 or 1. You can hope they mess it up and someone falls to you. Not much you can do about it. Twins traded 7 relievers and Pirates finished strong.
I posted this down below but since I actually did a lil work on this one I want to make sure you see it. Give me your names.
Here’s a list of the multi year free agents realistically available to the pirates what ones did you want them to sign?
Jeimer Candelario 3 45m
Lourdes Gurriel Jr. 3 42m
Jung Hoo Lee 6 113m
Jorge Soler 3 42m
Mitch Garver 2 24m
Rhys Hoskins 2 34m
Hunter Renfroe 2 13m
IKF 2 15m
You pick one that made them 500 or better in 2024? It’s not too late. What one do yoi want to trade Bubba or Keller for to have in 2025?
I think we know for sure that 1 of them wasn’t the missing piece.
Here’s a list of the multi year free agents realistically available to the pirates what ones did you want them to sign?
Jeimer Candelario 3 45m
Lourdes Gurriel Jr. 3 42m
Jung Hoo Lee 6 113m
Jorge Soler 3 42m
Mitch Garver 2 24m
Rhys Hoskins 2 34m
Hunter Renfroe 2 13m
IKF 2 15m
You pick one that made them 500 or better in 2024? It’s not too late. What one do yoi want to trade Bubba or Keller for to have in 2025?
I think we know for sure that 1 of them wasn’t the missing piece.
I think Polanco is by far the best free agent option for Pirates in years and years. But lots of ?s. Those list were scary. Suarez hit a lot of hrs last year but the next 3 years? The strike outs? Defense? See how it plays out but I am freaking thrilled Cherington has never given out a multi year contract. You have to take a swing sometime I guess and 2025 I the best pirates foundation and free agent class by far. I won’t mind if he goes the trade route and doesn’t do the multi year contracts. Those 2024 2025 free agents give me nightmares. Your dang 100 percent right I would took Grichuk over them.
Anthony Santander 5 92m
Christian Walker 3 60m
Jurickson Profar 3 42m
Tyler O’Neill 3 49m
Joc Pederson 2 37m
Kyle Higashioka 2 13m
Ha-Seong Kim 2 29m
Travis d’Arnaud 2 12m
What 2 made Pirates winners in 2025? Who are we trading SH Ashcraft for to have in 2026?
Nutting needs to spend $!!!! Cherington needs to add bats!!!!! Last multi year free agent was a decade ago!!!! 39m biggest free agent signing in history!!!!!!
Again why I say every year to fans give me a name. Why I said the pirates couldn’t shouldn’t wouldn’t sign any multi year free agents. You’re wrong dream. There was players to sign Nutting was just to cheap stashing away all his $!!!!! Made fun of me for my Grichuk Tauchman Hays wish list. Well there’s the list. Who we trading Bubba to get!!!!!
Hoskins was way over paid by the Brewers and it surprised me very much that such a well run organization would do that.
He is a butcher at first base.
He would come cheap now though and provide power as a RH DH.
I wouldn’t pay him much more than $5M and hope that he has a bounce back year.
Basically the same reason that I mentioned Castellanos.
And Grichuk was pretty bad last year.I liked him too but he would not have wanted to play here unless they guaranteed him a full time starting position.
Suarez is inconsistent.Polanco is more so but they need an outfielder and a DH.He may also want more than 2-3 years.
Grichuk had a 734 ops with Arizona. Stunk with KC but that happens with trades sometimes. Like for example someone could be fairly decent with Miami but if traded to Pittsburgh could be completely useless.
You won’t hear me wanting Grichuk this year though. He was risky last year and now another year later.
But you do need depth and pinch hitters. So a Pham Tauchman or someone for under 5m you might have to take a look at unfortunately. Although I think every penny needs to go into starting players.
@washed
I feel the same, I get it your not always gonna have a 83+ win team every year, but least put out the effort to win and build a winner. If you wanna play the “tank” card ok but don’t expect to me to watch a bad team if your not even gonna try.
the thinking may be that they do have great SP, and with a good pen, can win a lot of 3-2 games. SKenes, Keller and Chandler could be the best top 3 in baseball, Ashcroft and Burrows have upside. if those 2 do not pan out- Barco and Harrington are nearing mlb ready (i also do not hate Dotel, Chen, Solometo, chang).
Santana, Mattson and Soto is not a bad 7-8-9 for games you have a lead in…. the issue is scoring the 3 runs they would need to sweek out those wins.
They seem like they are building like Seattle did with pitching first- they just do not have even half the hitting of Sea (Jrod is lightyears better than Oneil)
@brodie-bruce, exactly. I don’t expect anything more out of a small market team. Especially one with an owner like this. Just show me heart and hustle and that you hate losing. Show me a fundamentally sound team. .500 will be fine
@James123, if this were 20 years ago or more I’d agree. Truthfully, if this were a short playoff series, I’d agree. On one hand, starting pitchers oft went 7+ innings back in the day. On the other, good starting pitching can set the tone in a short elimination series. But the problems are, one, starters generally go 5-6 innings which means the middle relievers better be solid. And two, we are talking 162 games. No series is elimination oriented. Different strategies. Different approaches.
As is, they again will have us wondering where the runs will come from. Bullpens will falter. Good 5 inning starts will be wasted
They are very attached to their antiquated 19th century metrics around here.
Great. Makes me look like a genius. Keep using era. A few people like to hear what I think so I let them know if era is fake. I like fake because it gets a reaction from some people. Era pretty useless though. Even if it was useful it’s irrelevant. I don’t care what his era was before. 1 year contract I only care what it should be in 2026.
Not sure that metrics were even used during Cap Anson’s career.
When current metrics are used exclusively to predict current and future performance the users of such are sometimes wrong.
They are not the be all end all.Those in baseball can tell the best players and worst players without using metrics to predict future performance.
AI-Old timers are smart enough to know that era for relievers is of dubious relevance.
Young timers are dumb enough to think that era is of dubious relevance for starters.
You’re the only one Mendoza who doesn’t use it for relievers. Go look at reliever signings. Pirates fans see me talk about it all the time so some of them have caught on maybe.
You are absolutely correct in your assessment and in that respect I salute you.
I actually believe that even the advanced metrics should be expanded especially in regard to reliever statistics to show how they perform say 80% of the time.Inherited runners scoring is a under rated stat in my opinion.In this respect perhaps reliever stats are clearly more complicated than those of starting pitchers in order to predict future performance.
I listened to some podcast about Soto and read the comments and every one of them people were complaining about his era.
Santana had a bad era but had a great slider. Pirates drastically increased his slider usage. I believe they will do same with Soto. Last year lefty hit .192 with .549 ops against him. That’s what he’s here for.
AI GM: Huh? What does that even mean?
He’ll be saying he’s been over and over this since the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor. It’s ok. He’s rolling
7.75m less to spend fixing the lineup. Soto is probably worth this in a vacuum, but id be spending every penny available on hitters, and taking alot of low cost dart throws trying to shore up the pen
Maybe they will make a trade for a hitter or two. Always a big name left on the market the big money teams didn’t have a spot for. Plenty of offseason left.
If you think they’re gonna convince a quality hitter to willingly sign a contract, you might need to get your head examined.
At least they’d know they will have a good chance to make the playoffs. After they’re traded at the deadline
A quality hitter could be easily convinced by their offering the most dollars
Sure if literally anybody besides Bobert Nutting owned the team.
If they cant get a quality hitter by spending money, either on FA or buying player through trade, they arent winning anyway.
Jarred Kelenic’s Beer Can: Says the guy with the name of a non-quality hitter in his handle. 🤣
I’m totally up for an Andrew Heaney/Martin Perez reunion.
It’s a lot easier to pull value out of nowhere off the scrap heap with a reliever than it is with a bat. For a team with so little money to spend overall, this is a bit of a head scratcher considering their needs.
Problem is, they have a ton of money to spend. But that’s not within the mission statement here. The goal is to feed off of mlb’s revenue streams while spending as little as possible.
Actual baseball is an afterthought to this owner
I feel really bad for Pirate fans. It’s unacceptable that the team has Paul Skenes and they’re spending so little money. I really hope for their sake that Nutting actually follows through with spending some money this year.
I remember when interbrew owned the Jays in the early 2000s (they never wanted the team; it just happened to be part of the package when they bought Labatts). They were bottom 10 in payroll multiple years despite being in one of the biggest markets (they were even below the Montreal Expos in payroll one year). The first year that Rogers owned the team they were 25th in payroll. Things got so bad. At one point there was even talk of of Toronto being contracted. Fortunately, Rogers came around the idea of spending money eventually.
Those lean years were no fun at all though, so I understand what Pirates fans are going through. It takes so much of the fun out of it when you go into an off-season knowing that your team has absolutely no shot at signing any of the top free agents.
Pirates are World Series bound……
Never mind, Dodgers are World Series bound after another deferred contract.
But heck, Pirates finally spent that money BC talked of. Now we can renew our season tickets again!
Pirates are World Series bound…if they buy their own tickets and plane fare!
Whiskey bent and World Series bound
It’s ok. The report came today that Skenes has volunteered to talk with free agents to get some bats here. I feel better now. The young guy will probably do more in a couple weeks than what Cherington has done here in six years.
It’s amazing. All im looking forward to now is Nutting’s annual “Losing is not acceptable” speech from Bradenton
Only money will bring the bats there.
Hank see these players for the greedy mercenaries they are. Sure they will take less $ to play where they want to live or a team they like to be on. Less. Not significantly less. Unfortunately for Pittsburgh the only player who would do that for them is Cutch. If the $ is the same they will join a team that can make playoffs every year not a Bob Nutting Pittsburgh payroll.
Boo
Since this is a “Small” contract in terms of dollars and years.
Could it be called a
Minne – Soto ??
Honestly, not that great of a pitcher. A career 100 era+. Don’t hate the sighing, but definitely not a huge needle mover. At least the Pirates are making some moves.
Last year era+ 91, and slowly declining. He’s adequate. Relievers are in great demand. He signed quickly – meaning contenders seeking relievers weren’t terribly interested. We can draw our own conclusions.
You need the guy to back up Dennis Santana. You don’t have the best options, but hey, a signing is a signing.
Or you could utilize young flamethrowers out of the bullpen as so many teams do.
Solid pickup.
That ballpark looks so beautiful. I need to visit it.
It’s beautiful, but says a lot the team seems to usually lead with the beautiful ballpark over product on field. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
PNC will thrill you, as will the pierogi races and hot dog launches. Make sure you come on Take Your Dog to the Ballpark Day.
Sorry. That’s all I’ve got
Thanks.
you forgot fireworks night
@Halos
Pittsburgh is a great city, but there’s no energy in PNC Park. Even on Skenes starts theres only about 9k in attendance (actual fans in ballpark) if its a weekday. A complete waste of time. And the Bucs had a great run at home after Kelly took over.
Pierogi yum. Underrated city and great park. Went there for the ASG back in the day. Good times esp summer
The pirates made a good move?!?
I’ve liked every move and offer made so far. Great start to the off-season.
I thought they should spread money out rather than going for Schwarber only. Players like Ryan O’Hearn, and Mike Yastrzemski or Adolis Garcia seem like decent fits.
So you want another 70 wins maybe get to 500 eh? That’s Washed vision too.
I want 90 wins. Go get Alonso and Polanco Lowe JTR Suarez or 2 of them and no Alonso.
You’re funny.
Ah, the sarcasm is dripping again.
As is right now, they’re a 70-72 win team
And I’ll ask you what I’ve asked the past 3 off seasons: where are the runs gonna come from with these types of “A+” signings?
AI- Those in the know know that Realmuto is going back to the Phillies just like they knew that Schwarber would.
Most likely going back. But you can bid up Philly make them pay. You gotta try. I don’t want Pittsburgh beating Philly for Schwarber. But good for them and Baltimore to make them pay 5 150 for a 33 year old dh. Do same with JTR find out how bad they want him. He won’t fill pnc like Schwarber though so don’t get too crazy. But Alonso you get crazy. Mets only 3 year deal is beatable. Go 5 or 6.
I’m crazy but I want to take another look at Davis Endy. And get Bart Flores bat in lineup. So JTR wouldn’t be at the top of my list actually would be bottom of my list dead last. Would definitely keep Philly honest though bidding him up a bit. I would bet strongly him staying in Philly.
But the Pirates would have to be careful in wanting what they wish for as they might get it.
I agree with you on the catchers except I think that Endy needs a year in AAA to prove that he can again hit again and to see whether he is really injury prone which is a very bad thing for a catcher.
It will be interesting to see if Flores can hit ML pitching.
They can bring back gritty fan favorite Adam Frazier while they’re at it.
Gregory Soto cost $8 million? That sucks if we got 30m to spend
Almost $8 million for a mid reliever. Kind of crazy to see the Pirates throwing around that kind of cash.
Like what almost happened to Chapman
In his pirates press conference cherington is going to act like he is a blockbuster perennial all star addition
Atleast they’re spending!
Give me a break, this is baseball malpractice, how are some of you ok with this?
It’s the same $10mm spent on Chapman for the same expected role (70 innings, late from the left side) at a savings of $2.25mm. I’ll see your baseball malpractice and raise you a histrionics.
I’ll see your histrionics and raise you administrative incompetence. Do I really need to provide a laundry list, given this team’s yearly “dealings”. (Yeah. This posting was made with humor in mind. What else is there?)
@MisterMcCutchen: Comparing Soto with Aroldis Chapman is pretty crazy work.
I didn’t see Chapman with the Bucs as the Chapman of old, he was playing to get paid and traded and fill a role. And I’m not comparing the players, just the term, the role, and the money.
Mr. McC – youre kidding right? Chapman was a finishing piece on a playoff team.
Your premier signing on a terrible team is a setup man….the Sox pay Duran the same salary. But, its not my team, if you like it thats great, no shade here
Chapman is no longer a finishing piece. And Soto closed games once upon a time too. More similar than not. Chapman closed more games with PIT because he had to after Bednar had whatever case of the whatever’s pull him out of the role.
Overpay, underpay, fair pay, this was a need for a team incapable of scoring frequently so the bullpen has to clamp it down. PIT even at their worst has had stout bullpens (because, you know, cheap to build).
Gregory Soto has never been confused with Aroldis Chapman. And that signing was rightly criticized because the many offensive holes were left unfilled and Chapman was always meant for a deadline trade to bring back prospects.
Which slugger was coming aboard for 1 yr @ $10mm?
It’s the going rate for a reliever of his ability.
Above average relievers are making twice that. Great relievers are making at least 20M per. This is just how much MLB pitching costs now.
I’d love to see them grab Alonso or Bregman. Pirates fans deserve some good fortune
I agree. This FO is an embarrassment. They somehow get a 6th year. Smh
They all should’ve been fired and Nutting removed. Should be forced to sell.
People are sick of it.
They won’t fire Cherington until after Nutting forces him to trade Skenes.
I know everyone likes to be cynical but the fact that the Pirates made a 4 year 30 mil a year offer is huge
except that the Pirates didn’t put it out there
Ken Rosenthal did
After being fed the “information” by someone connected to the Pirates. I guess I’m cynical, if cynical means not trusting dishonest people. When someone connected to Schwarber confirms the offer, I’ll believe it was made, not
just floated for PR.
We’re gonna have to try alot harder if we’re gonna lure top 100 players away from pennant contenders
What pr? Did even 1 person run out to buy season tickets because they made Schwarber a offer? No. Unless the pirates actually sign someone fans will believe they are nothing but talk as they should.
Not bad buckos
Not a closer, but a solid lefty in the pen.
This site predicted 2years/16 million, so a market rate.
Bucs have made a couple of good moves.
Need still more.
BC found his checkbook. Hope his pen has enough ink left for the position players.
Soto will be making what Hayes was going to make. Big deal. Wake me when they actually spend.
Soto comes in late game, all the lefties are taken out of the lineup
Not a bad signing, especially being 1 year. I’m a bit concerned that his sinker has lost velo three straight years and was hit hard in 2025. Hope he can regain some form and they can flip him at the deadline.
The new pitching coach might be able to see what others can’t, and resolve the sinker woes.
He’s getting just about what he’s worth.
No secret: the Angels need arms. Starters, bullpen, anything that throws strikes and doesn’t implode by June. With the Rule 5 Draft tomorrow, don’t be shocked if Perry dips into the bargain bin and comes back with a couple of arms throw it hoping it stick.
But let’s not kid ourselves this team also needs a productive outfielder. We’ve been “linked” to every free agent with a glove but let’s be real: what free agent wants tosign in Anaheim right l see we need to make a trade or a miracle? The market knows what Arte’s selling, and it ain’t winning culture yet
And with the Tyler Skaggs trial still casting a shadow and a potential financial storm brewing it’s hard to believe this front office is ready to spend or pivot with urgency.
Hope I’m wrong. But until then, I’ll be watching Rule 5 like it’s the Winter Meetings. Because for the Angels, it just might be.
Building a strong bullpen is an affordable short contract way to support your young pitching staff. Not blowing leads makes everyone feel better about the gig. The Pirates should keep shopping in this bin. They need other things too, but bang for their Bucs, bullpen is the way to go.
Plus, they can always trade them at deadline.
Yeah, wonderful but let me ask you as I ask everyone else: where are the runs gonna come from? This team is the worst hitting in MLB
Jack is back! Cruz missle! Brey blast! Davis finally figures it out. Yorke shows why Cherington is a genius for trading a starting pitcher away. Triolo August September was legit this time! Pham gets his contacts figured out in spring training this year. Cutch turns back the clock!
You’re not suggesting they were completely fine having Sisk as the only lefty reliever are you? Or they should just grab someone off waiver wire and waste another year of Skenes? Are you a pirates fan or a fan of complaining? A pirates fan would be like we really needed a lefty in the pen and got a good one cheap. Now let’s go get the polar bear!!!!!!!!
I was hoping that they would get the two lefty free agents that they had last year.
Run it back again in 2026 with Kelly instead of Shelton! Those 2 were fine. A lot to like in Soto. Maybe new coach wanted him. Seen something. Pirates already know about the slider increase. If new coach can improve something else he will be a real get.
This is a decent signing. How many times did we see the BP implode for Skenes last year. PNC Park will help against righties and he’s dominant against lefties. It’s only mid-Dec. plenty of time to make other moves for bats.
Sign and dump for prospects at the deadline
First GM at the bottom of the dumpster get the coveted GM of the year award. Totally incompetent GM. Hitting needed.
Typical Cherington signing for 1 year. Hasn’t had a good year since 2021. He loves to sign guys who are on the way down. Watched him when he pitched for the Phils, he was awful. Not happy that he is back in PA.
Hope I’m wrong but everyone who likes this signing will be disappointed.
He seems to be flipped every July so I imagine he’s used to it.
the Os were happy to deal him at the deadline last year. he can be a monster or be rocked…. this is almost no middle ground between striking out the side and giving up 5 runs and getting no one out.
I was not sad to see him go. Neither were Phillies’ fans the year prior.
Good signing. Bull pen lefties are very valuable.
Well the Pirates signed SOMEONE I see, just not the guy I predicted–Finnegan, who would have been better since they needed a closer type–oh well. Soto is fine, still don’t get how he got on the Top 50 instead of say Kenley Jansen.
5/17 on the contest with this and Finnegan, ack.
That’s alot of green for a mediocre lefty who may give 50-60 innings of mediocre pitching….
But the team NEEDS hitting!!!
Pirates GM is incompetent
Soto sucks
Way overpaid
I can’t believe anyone in their right mind would think this loser is worth 8 million a year
I starting to wonder what deal with the devil Cherington made so Boston won the World Series in 2013
I didn’t get the signing of Chapman for $10M when they already had Bednar. I mean, this was a .500 team and the luxury of having two big time closers defied logic (My friend Mendoza Line will take issue with this again). Simply put, they needed hitters then too, and loaded the roster with guys from the bargain basement
And here we are again.
This team wasn’t even .500 and was anemic at the plate, at best.
Here’s a list of the multi year free agents realistically available to the pirates what ones did you want them to sign?
Jeimer Candelario 3 45m
Lourdes Gurriel Jr. 3 42m
Jung Hoo Lee 6 113m
Jorge Soler 3 42m
Mitch Garver 2 24m
Rhys Hoskins 2 34m
Hunter Renfroe 2 13m
IKF 2 15m
You pick one that made them 500 or better in 2024? It’s not too late. What one do yoi want to trade Bubba or Keller for to have in 2025?
I think we know for sure that 1 of them wasn’t the missing piece.
Anthony Santander 5 92m
Christian Walker 3 60m
Jurickson Profar 3 42m
Tyler O’Neill 3 49m
Joc Pederson 2 37m
Kyle Higashioka 2 13m
Ha-Seong Kim 2 29m
Travis d’Arnaud 2 12m
What 2 made Pirates winners in 2025? Who are we trading SH Ashcraft for to have in 2026?
Nutting needs to spend $!!!! Cherington needs to add bats!!!!! Last multi year free agent was a decade ago!!!! 39m biggest free agent signing in history!!!!!!
Again why I say every year to fans give me a name. Why I said the pirates couldn’t shouldn’t wouldn’t sign any multi year free agents. You’re wrong dream. There was players to sign Nutting was just to cheap stashing away all his $!!!!! Made fun of me for my Grichuk Tauchman Hays wish list. Well there’s the list. Who we trading Bubba to get!!!!!
You’re playing games again
Yes, Nutting needs to spend money, especially when he doesn’t have any ready-made kids on the farm who are ready to step in. Griffin is labeled as can’t miss? Anyone else? That’s rhetorical, of course. The Pirates have trumpeted countless position players on the farm during Cherington’s time. None have panned out. Zero
So if they don’t spend, your belief is just a little serendipity will lead them to the promised land. Or better yet, some more bargain basement guys like VanMeter. Or Pham. Maybe Connor Joe is available.
Giving me a checklist of guys is nonsense and self serving. There are only so many teams and most if not all have needs. Meanwhile, the Pirates aren’t completely devoid of talent, especially where pitching is concerned.
They’ve been linked to a number of free agents. They’ll likely get none
What they’ve gotten so far is likely what we can expect. That’s not whining but rather, using recent history as a guide.
Can’t spend. Don’t have much help in the minors. Don’t want to trade from depth.
That’s a great blueprint you have there, Dream
You wanted Nutting to spend. I simply gave you the free agent options and you refuse to spend his $. Who did you want that you are so upset they didn’t spend $ on? It’s like I said. You are a fan of complaining. Refuse to admit you were wrong. Me being right and others being wrong is a typical outcome. Nothing to e ashamed of. Happens all the time. Just say you got me. Those free agents stunk and the pirates were better off not signing them and being stuck with them. It’s ok to be wrong. Even I can’t get every single thing 100 percent right. Come on say it with me those free agents freaking stunk and I’m glad the Pirates didn’t waste $ on them. It will feel good.
I’d gladly take Joe Pham over any of those free agents Nutting refused to sign.
Mendoza? Paul? What one of those wonderful free agents you wished Nutting bought?
Anyone else is welcome to join in.
Wrong about what?
You must be the only person here who thinks they can stand pat and again bring in guys who are either near retirement or contemplating playing in Asia
Wrong?
You’re applauding them signing a reliever who hasn’t been good in years
Again, it’s a good thing you didn’t choose a career as a lawyer. Your assumptions, generalizations and conclusions come from outer space
And it’s ok. By June, you’ll again be jumping on our bandwagon and bemoaning another lost season.
I have said they need hitting. You’ve provided me names. Your logic is like me saying that my neighbor is going to need a car, then you providing a list and asking which one I want them to buy. This is how you believe you are “winning?” Seriously?
The point is, they need a car. It’s evident to everyone except the guy down the street who believes they should just keep the old rust bucket that leaks oil. The guy who laughs and says that those who think they need a new car are just “complainers”
Stick to your day job, Dream.
Your honor. Permission to treat the witness as hostile.
“Simply put, they needed hitters then too, and loaded the roster with guys from the bargain basement”
Did you not type that washed?
I simply provided the list of hitters. Simply wanted to know which one you think they should have signed?
I want the truth!
You can’t handle the truth!
Washed refuses to play in any of my reindeer games!
Ok you didn’t get the signing of chapman. Well take that 10m and what hitter you want?
I’m thrilled they gave that $ to chapman instead of a hitter.
I knew you wouldn’t touch the analogy. It was the slam dunk. Like Frank Galvin finding Katlin Costello and having her testify in The Verdict.
You can be like Judge Hoyle and Corcoran and ignore it, but it painted your questioning and statements as non sequitir. And the jury agreed
The point is, and remains, they need hitters. It doesn’t matter who I’d choose, just as it wouldn’t matter which car I thought my neighbor should buy. Neither could stand pat
“We’ve disposed of the gallows, but there’s still that banana peel somewhere.”
You finally got it!
“The point is, and remains, they need hitters. It doesn’t matter”
Exactly! They all stunk. Doesn’t matter! Sign one or sign chapman didn’t matter. Not for 2024 2025 but for 2026 it does as they have that $ that instead of being wasted on a garbage hitter is free to be wasted on a garbage hitter this year!!!!!!
Your analogy like the 2024 2025 free agent class stunk. Who cares what about your neighbors car/team. Your car is Pirates with the base model Nutting edition.
Those free agent hitters stunk and the Pirates are better off today because they didn’t spend any money on those hitters.
Fans just say things like the Pirates need to sign good players. Nutting needs to spend. They need to sign a catch Davis stinks. There are no catchers. They all stink but 1 who is average and is staying with Philly. There’s 1 2b Polanco. 1 3b Suarez. At least there are a name at least. Previous years there where none. Well some fans did give me names. Conforto Hoskins Santander.
Supply and Demand. The fans demanded the Pirates get hitters but there was no supply.
Problem with your logic is that you have relegated your thinking to a short list of free agents. Full stop. End of your story
But it’s a big league. Many players. Only place to go when your hitting is this bad is up
They are not better for doing nothing. They just ran in place and lost $10m in the process
Again, to use the car analogy, it’s like giving me a list of ten used cars the neighbor could have purchased and in hindsight, you know each has had their problems so the neighbor is better off
You provided a small sample size as validation.
Maybe that would fly at the bowling alley, but not here
They needed hitters then. They need them now. If they do nothing they again will be a 70-72 win team. And I’ll wonder whether you’ll say they are better off for having done nothing then next September
I just used mlbtr top 50 and honorable mentions. Listed every hitter who signed multiple year deal that wasn’t going to former team or boras client or getting hundreds of millions. Feel free to give me some non list names. I welcome it. Before you do I agree the other Soto Juan would help and Bellinger etc. I don’t believe they are realistic options but sure they would have helped.
I wanted Soto so he could RF in Pittsburgh like Clemente.
You should know my thoughts on high priced mediocre free agents by now.
And I have expressed names of those who I think would help this year.
I never said Hoskins before this year.
You are making things up.
You are making things up because I never said you said
Last sentence of the next to last paragraph of the next to last post.
I think that the Pirates should be interested in Bellinger,Bader,Ohearn,Polanco,and Finnegan along with the other players that I previously mentioned.Our (not you) Andujar is a possibility.He should never have been let go.
I think that Cruz is a real liability in the field and now is only good as the LH DH.
I would trade him in an instant if they could get someone good for him.
“Well some fans did give me names. Conforto Hoskins Santander.”
This one? If you want to include yourself in the “some fans” group that’s on you. That was 2 years ago so my memory isn’t that good to remember who liked him. Might go check though now.
I dunno. We might have a couple endorsements here. What say you?
“The trouble with Hoskins is that he is a designated hitter period.
He is a terrible first baseman.
Steady good hitter otherwise though.I saw him hit a ball into the left field stands his second or third year that was the hardest ball that I ever saw hit.
Would be a good addition as he could be as good of a DH as Martinez has been,”
You didn’t want him at 1b but as dh as good as Martinez has been. (Just coming off almost 900 ops season 3 straight all stars)
“Mac- They need another good starter also.
They need someone to hound them on fundamentals.
They need to have some luck and BC to work his magic on fill in free agents.
Hoskins as the DH would be great.
If Skenes can come up in late May and do well and take Falter’s place as the fifth starter you may be onto something.”
“Hoskins as the DH would be great.”
“Hoskins as the DH would be great.”
What say you Judge Washed?
“Hoskins as the DH would be great.”
“Would be a good addition as he could be as good of a DH as Martinez has been,”
I do amuse myself
I did not say that Hoskins would be great at $20 M per year for two years though did I?
He was out with a serious injury for all of 2023 and the Phillies put Harper at first base and that is a big reason why he was not signed.Hoskins has never been close to that hitter since.
Schwarber is the only DH worth that kind of money.
I think that you can get Hoskins for a reasonable rate and like Castellanos may very well have a bounce back year in search of a new contract.
You tend to misinterpret or embellish or dismiss what other people say on here.Some come back on you for it.
I did not say that Hoskins would be great at $20 M per year for two years though did I?
I never said that either
Old Timer-I won’t take issue because that is a correct statement.They had the money from getting a free starter in Gonzalez.
They were hurt the year before by not having a second closer as Bednar could only close two games in a row.
They wanted to improve on their better record in 2023 after being awful for three years.
I also thought correctly that Chapman was still a very fine pitcher who could be the full time closer if Bednar got hurt.
I value closers much more than many posters on here.
In my opinion the very good ones are not common.
What bat you regret the Pirates not signing Mendoza? That’s the ? I want answered. I think you are a reasonable person and agree with me that they all stunk.
I’m trying to spend Nuttings $ this year. There are actually a few interesting names available. Like some trades even more.
I actually agree with you about relievers. But where the Pirates were concerned, he was a luxury a .500 team neither needed or could afford
I get called a apologist. Defending the pirates. I’m not defending them not spending $. I’m saying the free agents stunk and I don’t want them wasting $ on bad contracts.
The problem is that there are not a lot of mid level hitters available for reasonable prices.
Cherington hopes to have already gotten a good young one through trade.
I will have to check the top 50 list to see if any are applicable.
This is why it is imperative to groom your own.
By the way I think that Nutting does a good job in giving fair extension proposals to his existing good players.
They could afford Chapman because they got a free starter and wanted to spend the money because fans and the Players Union were complaining that he was not spending money.
In certain respects it was a luxury.
Remember that they wanted to improve and saw this as an improvement which it was.
AI is correct in listing the names of mediocre free agents who were clearly not worth the money.
I go through the lists when they come out every year and there are not many who are in the middle of the pack.Most of the guys are older and mediocre at best.The position has to be needed by the Pirates too.Generally I see a few relievers who I think can help.
It is easy to do and that is why he is asking the pointed question.
I think that AI wants the Pirates to clearly improve especially for the long time fans and Nutting seems to be considering to actually spend more money.It may be a ruse but it is up to Cherington to find likely free agents who can help.
Polanco seems like the best bet to me and Pirates are in talks with him. He had a high opinion of his worth but will have to get what is available to him. Pirates have $ someone will take it.
Spend to win. Don’t spend to just spend. I liked most the 1 year deals because they were 1 year deals. No one worthy of giving multiple years. This year there is.
Now we know why the pirates lost 91 games last year
Let’s get back to the line-up that the buccos need to improve. I want Ketel Marte from Arizona. I don’t believe the Pirates really wanted Shwarber because of the cost, so my proposal reflects that. You’d have to deal Keller to offset some of the $19M per year Marte gets, and I think Arozona would be happy with him.. Give them Termar Johnson back to fill the hole at 2nd base. Add either Jared Jones or Thomas Harrington as one of your higher-level pitching “prospects”, and then some other high-level, further away prsopect. Is that enough to get it done?
I think that the Pirates should give them three or four other good young starting pitchers in addition to those you have proposed since Marte is the equivalent of Shohei Ohtani and Paul Skenes put together.
Read Jason Mackey’s column in today’s PG and was surprised to read the Pirates are willing to listen on offers for Bubba and Jones. Jeez. Exact opposite direction from what one might think
Listening on Keller is a given as the Pirates would love to part with $17m a year. Burrows and Harrington? Sure. But those two?
I also loved the list of trade targets they’re inquiring about. All of those names represent an upgrade from where they are.
Hard no on Bubba.I do not think that even Cherington is stupid enough to trade him.
Jones is better as a reliever as his body will break down further with time starting.
I think that Keller is a reasonably good three on almost all teams.
They have to stop dealing starters though once he goes.
Ashcraft,Burrows,and Carmen as a long man equal two starters to me.
Bubba and Skenes are two.Barco or Jones is the fifth.They can trade Keller but they should not get too thin or they will have to bring back Osvaldo Bido.
Agree 100%.
Disagree on Jones but I can see your logic.
Before surgery he was learning that he can’t simply muscle the ball by everyone at this level.
To me, Keller being established makes him an attractive target to numerous teams. And dumping his salary is a hallmark of trade motivations for the Pirates
I’ll assume your comparison is for dramatic affect. I love Marte, but a career .280 hitter averaging 20 homers per season is all-star level, not a generational talent. I give Keller, Johnson, and any two other players not named skeenes, griffin, or chandler.
I like Marte, Kevin. Would really upgrade this lineup but they still would need another stick. I’m not sure what you’ve put forward would be enough for the Diamondbacks though
It was sarcasm.Marte is a fine player but you are offering way too much for him.
He is an infielder but I think that he can play in the outfield too which is what they need.Keller and Harrington plus a lower level decent player.
The Dbacks can probably get more but I think that you overvalue him and the Pirates need power hitters at different positions.
From what I read, the D’Backs overvalue him, too. Can’t blame them, of course.
The rest of the National League better watch out. There’s a new Pirate in town!
Pretty good signing, and he’s not breaking the bank. Pirates need some thump though.
Now even the Pirates are being more aggressive in FA than the White Sox. Getz, if you have any money, do something!
the pirates are and forever will be a small market team that needs to build from the farm, and then have a 3-4 year window when everyone is cost controlled.
Right now they have Oneill and Skenes- but the support cast is not quite there. They could go all in right now and hope that the young guys click, but we are likely a year early.
Personally- i think they should move on from the current core and build for 2028. . Then you are using Konnor Griffin and Florentino as your base.; their SP will just be hitting arb (Chandler, Ashcroft, Burrows- with Barco and Harrington also in the mix). And you would still have 2 year sof Skenes and Jones. Build around those guys in a few years and deal kellerand Cruz to line up with that timeline….
Oh, he’ll be perfect for them. Dude never allows runs when his team is getting blown out. He looks downright filthy. I bet his ERA is under 2 this year. Unfortunately, he will also blow every single Skenes’ hold and save opportunity he is given.
Ok….
How will he produce an OPS of .900 and OWAR of 6.9??
This guy is simply not a good pitcher
Only an incompetent GM would give him close to 8 million a year
It’s funny how people are ripping the Pirates for signing a guy at about the going rate to fill a huge position of need. It wasn’t like there were a ton of guys with similar profiles who were cheaper and the Pirates bypassed them to overspend. There weren’t lefty relievers being dangled all over the place for next to nothing in the trade market either.
This signing has little to no impact on what the Pirates need to do with their offense; they filled a hole now instead of waiting for retreads and waiver claims. He makes the team better in terms of depth, with almost no risk and at a fairly reasonable price.