The Pirates went into the winter with a lot of pitching and almost no hitting. They spent the offseason smoothing out that imbalance and the team looks better going into 2026. Is it enough to get them back to the playoffs for first time in over a decade?
Major League Signings
- 1B/OF Ryan O’Hearn: Two years, $29MM
- DH Marcell Ozuna: One year, $12MM (includes $1.5MM buyout on $16MM mutual option for 2027)
- LHP Gregory Soto: One year, $7.75MM
- RHP José Urquidy: One year, $1.5MM
2026 spending: $35.25MM
Total spending: $50.25MM
Trades and Claims
- Claimed RHP Dugan Darnell from Rockies (later lost to Tigers via waivers)
- Acquired OF Jhostynxon García and RHP Jesus Travieso from Red Sox for RHP Johan Oviedo, LHP Tyler Samaniego and C Adonys Guzman
- Claimed OF Marco Luciano from Giants (later lost to Orioles via waivers)
- Acquired RHP Jaiker Garcia from Rangers for Rule 5 pick Carter Baumler
- Acquired 2B Brandon Lowe, OF Jake Mangum and LHP Mason Montgomery from Rays in three-team trade, with RHP Mike Burrows going from Pirates to Astros
- Acquired IF Francisco Loreto from Phillies for RHP Chase Shugart
- Acquired IF/OF Tyler Callihan from Reds for RHP Kyle Nicolas
Option Decisions
- None
Notable Minor League Signings
- Joe La Sorsa, Noah Murdock, Beau Burrows, Ronny Simón, Davis Wendzel, Dominic Fletcher, Chris Devenski, Noah Davis, Mike Clevinger, Carson Fulmer
Extensions
- None
Notable Losses
- Andrew McCutchen, Tommy Pham, Jack Little (waivers), Ji Hwan Bae (waivers), José Castillo (waivers), Liover Peguero, Cam Devanney (released and signed in Japan), Colin Holderman (non-tendered), Dauri Moreta (non-tendered, still unsigned), Alexander Canario (non-tendered and signed in Japan), Johan Oviedo, Mike Burrows, Chase Shugart, Jack Suwinski (waivers), Kyle Nicolas
The Bucs have been stuck in a rebuilding pattern for a while. They haven’t made the playoffs since 2015 and haven’t topped 82 wins in any season since then. They flirted with contention in recent seasons, though in the era of the expanded playoffs, that just means they floated near .500 for parts of the summer.
They have graduated a lot of exciting pitching prospects to the majors in recent years but have struggled to hit. The 2025 team scored 583 runs, lowest in the majors. The team had a combined .231/.305/.350 batting line, which translated to an 82 wRC+, indicating the squad was collectively 18% worse than league average. The only guy on the team with a wRC+ greater than 101 was Spencer Horwitz, who started the season on the injured list due to wrist surgery and did most of his damage in the second half.
Despite the clear deficiencies on the roster, there was a case for making a strong push this offseason. Paul Skenes has just four years of club control remaining and may not spend all of that in Pittsburgh. His salary will increase via arbitration in 2027 and he may not sign an extension, so he could be traded before reaching free agency, currently slated for the 2029-30 offseason. Konnor Griffin became the top prospect in baseball in 2025 and put himself in position to make a major league debut in 2026. If you’re not going to invest around these stars, then when?
The club has not been active in free agency historically. They have never given a free agent $40MM in franchise history. Since Ben Cherington took over as general manager in 2019, he had never signed a free agent to a multi-year deal or signed a one-year deal worth as much as $11MM. But in the early offseason, Cherington suggested they could add $30-40MM to the payroll. That wouldn’t be too exciting for a lot of clubs but would be an increase for the Bucs. There was also the trade market, as they appeared to have enough starting pitching that flipping some for offense seemed possible.
Given the weakness of the lineup, the Bucs had the freedom to target almost any bat, regardless of position. Quickly, it became clear that Cherington’s words weren’t completely hollow, as he went after some of the top available guys. It was reported in mid-November that the club had made a strong offer to Josh Naylor before he had re-signed with the Mariners and they were also in the mix for Kyle Schwarber. Signing either would have required shattering their $39MM franchise record for a free agent deal. They were also connected to guys like Kazuma Okamoto and Jorge Polanco in the early offseason.
Their first notable move wasn’t for a surefire lineup boost, but it did feature the pitching-for-hitting framework that was expected. There were five players in the deal but the headline was that the Bucs sent righty Johan Oviedo to the Red Sox for outfield prospect Jhostynxon García. Oviedo had shown some promise in 2023 when he posted a 4.31 earned run average over 32 starts. He missed 2024 due to surgery, returned in 2025 and put up a 3.57 ERA with more strikeouts but also more walks.
Oviedo has two years of club control remaining and may have some upside but the Pirates had enough starting pitching talent to part ways with him. By doing so, they added an intriguing but unproven outfielder to their roster. García has been on some top 100 prospect lists but has just five big league games under his belt. He should have a chance to earn some playing time but his path would eventually be crowded by the rest of Pittsburgh’s offseason moves.
The Schwarber dream died on December 9th, when he returned to the Phils on a five-year, $150MM deal. The Bucs reportedly offered him a four-year deal in the $120MM range. That obviously wasn’t enough but it signaled that there was indeed some change in the pocket.
On the same date that the Schwarber news dropped, the Bucs did get a deal done, but with a reliever. They agreed to a one-year deal with Gregory Soto worth $7.75MM. Soto had a 4.40 ERA over the past three years but with perhaps more interesting numbers under the hood. His 9.4% walk rate was around average for a reliever, while his 25.9% strikeout rate and 48.4% ground ball rate were a few ticks better than par. A .325 batting average on balls in play and 67.7% strand rate seemed to hurt him, which is why his 3.55 FIP and 3.55 SIERA were more optimistic. If his ERA trends closer to those other metrics, it could be a nice bit of business for the Pirates.
A little over a week later, the Pirates made their first surefire upgrade to the lineup. Like the Oviedo-García swap, this one would see the Bucs trading from their rotation depth. In a three-team trade, they sent Mike Burrows to the Astros in order to receive infielder Brandon Lowe, outfielder Jake Mangum and left-hander Mason Montgomery from the Rays. Burrows was a steep price to pay, as he has six years of club control remaining. But the Pirates had several such arms in their rotation mix and didn’t have room for all of them.
The biggest upgrade for 2026 is Lowe, though he is just a rental, since there is one year left on his contract. But he’s one of the top power bats at the second base position. He has 81 home runs over the past five years. Only four primary second baseman have more. The four guys ahead of him all played a larger sample of games in that span, which speaks to some injury trouble Lowe has had, which is the main knock against him. Though he doesn’t count as a free agent, the Bucs are taking on his contract and will pay him $11.5MM this year.
Mangum and Montgomery are more complementary pieces of the trade but still potentially impactful. Mangum’s first year in the big leagues saw him steal 27 bases and get strong grades for his glovework. His bat was a bit below par but he was still useful on the whole. He has five years of club control and a full slate of options. Even if he’s just a fourth outfielder type, he has value. If his bat finds a new gear, then that’s even better. Montgomery has huge strikeout stuff but poor control. He’s a project but one with upside if things break right. He also comes with five years of club control and has options.
The Bucs were clearly not content to stop after Lowe. In the coming days, they would be connected to guys like Eugenio Suárez and Yoán Moncada. Just before the holiday break, they pulled the trigger on a free agent addition, a two-year deal with Ryan O’Hearn worth $29MM. While a notch below the Schwarber/Naylor pursuits, it was still somewhat notable as the biggest free agent deal of Cherington’s tenure.
O’Hearn isn’t a superstar but has been solidly above average at the plate. Over the past three years, he has 46 home runs, a .277/.343/.445 line and 121 wRC+. He has some ability to play the outfield but is more of a first baseman. It initially seemed like he and Horwitz would share first base and the designated hitter spot, but this would change in the coming months.
The Pirates were still hunting for more offense, getting connected to various bats throughout January. They also showed some interest in Framber Valdez as he lingered unsigned, though that seemed like an odd fit and he eventually landed with the Tigers.
They did apparently have room for one arm in the rotation after their recent trades, as they landed José Urquidy on a one-year deal worth $1.5MM. The Bucs usually sign a cheap left-hander late in the offseason. Since PNC Park is so tough on righty power, those lefties can usually outperform their contracts. Urquidy is right-handed but is basically filling that role since he has reverse splits in his career.
There was one more clear lineup boost to come, as the Pirates signed Marcell Ozuna to a one-year, $12MM deal in February. It’s a bit risky since Ozuna is 35 years old and coming off a down year, by his standards. His season was weighed down by a summer slump which coincided with him battling a hip injury. Perhaps he can bounce back with a full season of health but that’s no guarantee at his age.
In addition to the risk, the addition also gummed up the lineup a little bit. Ozuna is just a designated hitter at this point in his career. He didn’t play the field at all in 2024 or 2025 and was in the outfield for just 14 innings in 2023. If he’s in the DH spot most days, Lowe is at second and Horwitz is at first, that means O’Hearn will have to be in the outfield almost every day. He’s never started more than 23 games on the grass in any season of his career, so that will be new for him, but it seems the Bucs are willing to make that compromise as they try to add as much thump to the lineup as possible.
In addition to displacing O’Hearn, there are other ripple effects. With Bryan Reynolds and Oneil Cruz in the other two outfield spots, guys like García and Mangum will be pushed to fourth outfielder roles or maybe even the minors. It also effectively closed off any chance of another reunion with Andrew McCutchen. He seemed frustrated by the situation but eventually moved on, signing a minor league deal with the Rangers.
The Bucs added one more guy into the depth picture with a spring trade. They sent reliever Kyle Nicolas to the Reds in exchange for infielder/outfielder Tyler Callihan. Nicolas is almost like a righty version of Montgomery, with big stuff but poor control. If he puts it together in Cincinnati, this one could sting, but it’s also possible that doesn’t happen. Callihan has just four big league games under his belt but strong minor league numbers. He played first base, second base and left field last year, so he provides depth in a few spots.
It was a busy offseason and it feels like there’s more optimism surrounding the Pirates than there has been for quite some time. When combining free agents and the money they took on in the Lowe deal, they added roughly $50MM to the 2026 payroll.
Despite trading away several arms, they project to have a rotation including Skenes, Mitch Keller, Braxton Ashcraft, Bubba Chandler and Urquidy. Jared Jones will return from his surgery rehab at some point, perhaps as early as late May. Prospects Thomas Harrington and Hunter Barco will be lurking in Triple-A.
The lineup will need incumbent guys like Reynolds and Cruz to bounce back but the Bucs have added Lowe, O’Hearn and Ozuna as three everyday upgrades. Guys like Garcia, Mangum and Callihan will be pushing for jobs over time. The left side of the infield feels like a weak spot but Griffin should be up to take over shortstop at some point, maybe as soon as Opening Day. That would leave guys like Jared Triolo, Nick Gonzales and others fighting over third base.
Is this enough to get them over the hump? The National League Central is in fairly healthy shape. The Cardinals are rebuilding but the Brewers, Cubs and Reds all made the playoffs last year. Did the Pirates add enough to leapfrog someone?
How would you grade the Pirates' offseason?
Photo courtesy of Jonathan Dyer, Imagn Images
B+
I believe Urquidy was 1 year $1.5MM, not $5MM
Where’s the mlbtr needs editors guy
First off, thank you for the excellent rendering
I have no gripes about this off season. I never had any expectation that they’d spend like a big market team and expected the usual bargain basement types of additions
They exceeded expectations.
There are a great many “ifs” that have to have positive answers for this team to make noise when the kids are going back to school, but I have to think any fan has to have more optimism than they’ve had in years. I’m really looking forward to watching to see how the young pitchers progress, in particular.
And these new additions?
Nice to have hopes for a change
B+. They definitley didn’t sovle everything, but they fixed most things. They got 3 batters who had at least 10 batting runs last year between Lowe, Ozuna, and O’Hearn, added a very fast 4th/platoon outfielder in Jake Mangum (who also gets on base enough to make his speed worthwhile), and a very interesting prospect in Jhostynxon Garcia. It would have been nice if they added a 3B, but Triolo took a big step forward last year, and I think he’s due for another improvement this year. Lowered his chase rate, whiff rate, and upped his exit velocity, basically improved 3 very basic principles of hitting (don’t swing outside the zone, don’t swing and miss, make solid contact).
I think all of that offense is going to help guys like Bryan Reynolds, Spencer Horwitz, and especially Oneil Cruz (Cruz, who had the highest rate of pitches seen outside the zone of any batter lts year who saw 1000+ pitches). You’re finally adding some lineup protection to your legitimate hitters and not making them try and force things to happen.
On top of that, you’re getting rid of a ton of batters who had negative impact. 6 of the 9 Pirates hitters who had -5 or fewer batting runs are no longer on the team. Andrew McCutchen and Ji-Hwan Bae also had -4 and -3 batting runs, and they’re not a factor in 2026.
This bullpen is very underrated. Not any big names, but a bunch of guys with very high ceilings. Rotation is ovbiously very solid, and there is even more talent coming to the pitching staff. Jared Jones will return sometime in late May or early June, he’s coming back from internal brace surgery. Antwone Kelly and Wilber Dotel both are high-ceiling propsects who were added to the 40-man roster this year. Brandan Bidois was lights out and was also added to the 40-man.
The one thing the Pirates have to do is open the year with Konnor Griffin on the roster. You cannot go into the regular season with Nick Gonzales as the primary shortstop for like a month. Love Nicky G, but he’s better for an infield utility role, rather than the primary shortstop. Griffin is a special talent, and he needs to be the go-to shortstop.
All-in-all, it was nice for the Pirates to actually do something this offseason. Truly the first time in a very longtime I’ve genuinley felt confident about the Pirates.
I gave them an A because + and – are half measures.
I had to knock them to a B for the way they handled the Andrew McCutchen situation. Not that they needed to bring him back but it sounds like there was a lack of communication.
Let go of the mcCutchen thing!
He whined about the Pirates not being competitive, well they listened to him and signed a DH that can hit.
He was great at one time but he didn’t deserve a roster spot for eternity or whenever he decides he can’t play!
Go Bucs time to move forward!
As I said they didn’t need to bring him back but they should have told him they’re moving on from him last season. He’s earned that much respect.
Cutch was the last resort.
They would have signed him if they did not get someone better.
They should have told him that once they started spending money.
And he should have figured it out if they did not.
@wade
I liked what they did, but couldn’t give the A because of knowing they players they tried for, but didn’t get. They remind me of the White Sox of the 80s with Zisk, Banister, and Gamble in the OF. The defense gave up runs, but they outscored their opponents.
I still say move Griffin to 3rd. Big body big power bat. Then they can find a SS between Gonzales or triolo.
Griffin has looked excellent at shortstop throughout the minor leagues. He has a 60-grade for his fielding by Baseball America and MLB Pipeline. If he ever moves off of shortstop, he’s going to the outfield because he also played CF in high school. His speed and range would be wasted at third base.
Griffin is hitting 208 against minor league pitchers in the first half of Spring Training.
He has three homers but his long swing since he is tall may not play nearly as well as many think it will against ML pitching.
Start him out in AA and then move him to AAA and if he hits well bring him up after 60 games.
He is 19 years old and very hard working and easily taught but don’t put so much pressure on him.
Remember that AA to AAA is half a level but AAA to ML is 1 1/2 levels.
I really don’t care if he is hitting .200 or .700 in Spring Training. The Pirates’ all-time Spring Training batting average leader is Ronny Paulino. Griffin has 7 batted balls at 100+ MPH and 75% contact rate in Spring so far. He also had a 75.7% contact rate throughout the minor leagues, and both BA and MLB Pipeline grade his hit tool out at a 60, which is like a .280 batter. If we’re sending him to Double-A to start the year, and keeping him in the minors for 60 minor league games, we’re going to be screwed. That’s like 40% of a season.
First off,they will really get screwed if they lose a year of Griffin if he is as good as you think that he is.
Second if he cannot hit the minor league pitchers that he is facing the first half of Spring Training how is he going to do in the ML when the money is on the line?
I do not care if he can hit the ball 800 mph,I care about results.
The Pirates may make the last wild card if everything comes up roses but I would rather play for the long haul with this young player.
What does Ronny Paulino have to do with it anyway?
Griffin has tied for the most at bats in Spring Training so they are seeing what he can do against minor league pitching.
If he plays and hits well and the Pirates need him and if they are playing well shorten the schedule.
What you do not want to do is rush him based on his minor league contact rate because A and AA are not the MLs.It is quite important for him not to lose momentum in getting better just to play him in the ML’s.
There is an overall picture that stats geeks just do not understand.
This has nothing to do with being a stat geek. Spring Training results are not an accurate representation of the player. I want results too, but when we’re talking about Spring Training, results don’t matter, and process takes priority by a lightyear. Stats in spring training like batting average, OBP, or slugging percetage are to be based on a sample size of like 50-60 plate appearances.
A 103 MPH lineout is better than a 74 MPH bloop single in spring training. You may not like it, but that’s definitley how MLB teams view it too (maybe except for like the Rockies and their skeleton crew analytics/player R&D department). Obviously, I don’t hold that same opinion about a 103 MPH lineout vs a 74 MPH bloop hit in the regular season, but too many things are happening (ie players making adjustments, shaking off winter rust, working on other things in their game) in too small of a sample size to say “Well, his batting average and OPS aren’t that good, so that mean’s he’s not ready,” especially when we’re talking about <100 plate appearances and in spring training.
If we really do want to talk about results, we're looking at a guy with a .894 OPS in spring training. That's currently higher than Riley Green, Bo Bichette, James Wood, Jo Adell, and Nick Kurtz.
The Ronny Paulino comparrison is just using an example of how badly Spring Training results are an indicator of how good player is. I watched Edinson Volquez in 2014 have an ERA approaching 10.00, and then proceeded to have a fantastic season for the Pirates. I watched Kevin Newman hit over .600 in 2021, and then go on to bat below .230 in the regular season. Once you've watched Jose Osuna rip apart Spring Training pitching like it's nothing for the fourth time, you start to realize why teams don't put much weight into spring training results.
My expectations for Griffin are not very high. My expectations, at the very minimum, are like a 100-110 OPS+ batter with plus defense at shortstop. Some stolen bases and home runs are also nice. That's like a 3 win player. For the consensus number one prospect in baseball, and one that is getting some unreal comparrisons, that should be fairly easy to accomplish.
We all get a little tunnel visioned from time to time. I'm guilty of it, and it seems like you might be here, focusing just on the results. I've watched everytime he's come to the plate (when it's televised) because (like I said before) spring training results are not reliable and you can't make a judgement call off of it. You have to take spring training on a pitch-by-pitch basis, and not let the bottom line get in the way of what you're seeing.
When I watch Griffin I see a guy who's ripping the cover off the ball and having pretty good plate appearances, especially for a 19-year-old. His hardest hit batted balls are off of legitimate MLB-caliber pitchers. Kyle Leahy, Shane Baz, Max Fried, Casey Mize, Ranger Suarez, Tim Mayza, Seth Martinez, Jonathan Hernandez, all guys with MLB track records Griffin had a 90+ MPH exit velo batted ball off of. I've watched him have some very hard hit outs. And yeah, I know not every hard hit ball is going to go for a hit, or is unlucky. But I'd rather see him do that in spring training than look lost up there and just put up a .300 batting average by making bad swing decisions and just blopping them over fielders heads.
Quite honestly, I don't think you're rushing him if you send him to the Major Leagues. You can't handle his talent level the same was as one would for some mid-tier prospect, or even a top prospect who ranks in the top 100. His wRC+ got better at each and every level of the minor leagues. For a talent like him, more than a 10-15 games at Triple-A is just wasting his time. You're going to keep him down for 50-60 games to do what? Opinions aren't going to drastically change in a 50- 60 game window.
And even then, I’m not even fully confident in looking at something like exit velocity and contact rate in spring training. It’s a lot better than just BA/OBP/SLG, because it at least shows you’re making good contact and how much contact you’re making in general, but it’s still not going to give you a very accurate idea of how good/bad a player is doing when just looking at spring training exit velocity. The most Statcast tracked batted balls a player had during last year’s spring was 47 by Steven Kwan. That’s way too small of a sample size to make a definitive judgement call on.
Like I said, you have to take ST on a pitch-by-pitch basis. How many hits a player has is meaningless. How hard a player is hitting the ball is less meaningless, but still not an accurate way to look at it. When I watch Griffin, I’m seeing a batter who looks way more advanced beyond his years. He’s having a lot of good plate appearances, he’s not looking lost, and he’s making good contact. Those are the most important thing to me when it comes to watching Spring Training.
For those reading my extremely long comment, here’s the TLDR:
-Please don’t put a heavy focus on something like batting average in spring training. It’s too small of a sample size with too much noise.
-Something like exit velocity and contact rate are more telling when looking at something like this (but still don’t take it as gosple because there is still too much noise)
-Just watch Griffin, don’t worry about if he’s getting hits in Spring Training.
-Sending him down for 50-60 games is only wasting everyone’s time. This isn’t someone you can treat like the 80th, the 50th, or even the 25th best prospect in the sport. He’s the undisputed #1 prospect right now and by a reasonable margin. Treat him as such.
Are you playing for 2026 only? Griffin will be around for a while. No need to rush him. Lets wait to see how he does as ST thins out the minor league pitching.
Brevity.
While I appreciate your long winded explanation,and agree with much of it,I think that one can get lost in words and ideas and miss some of the basics.
The main point is do you really want to lose one year of his services for one year when the Pirates still probably won’t make the playoffs?
Certainly half of spring training gives too few at bats to make a definitive statement.But the ML pitchers that he has faced are just ramping up for the regular season.
I am no batting coach expert on mechanics but the long swing that he has may not play as expected.We shall see.Better to find out in the upper levels of the minors even for just a few games.
I have a higher expectation than you do for a physical talent like this.It seems to me that he could be the best center fielder in baseball,and hit hopefully much better than you sense that he will.
Remember that he is just 19,and none of us were advanced enough at that age to take failures easily.Don’t set him up for it.
I think that it is very good that you can explain your decisions in this detailed manner based on a number of observations.
But I do think that when one sees the trees and the details of each tree one may easily miss the forest.
Fair enough, but box score watching and caring about results in Spring Training is like looking at the forest from the Moon. You might be able to make out a forest, but you can’t make any meaningful observations. You can’t tell what kind of forest it is, what kind of plant life is there, and if the forest is healthy or not. Caring only about the bottom line results in spring training doesn’t tell me if a guy is working on things, if those things are helping him, if he’s laying off the pitches he needs to/swinging at the pitches he needs to, or making good contact.
You are again correct.But my point is those intricate details that you mention may or may not occur in the same manner under the intense microscope of in season ML baseball games and especially for a 19 year old any more than the statistics would.
I enjoy conversations like this with intelligent and knowledgeable posters as they can shape the discourse and clearly show differing opinions.
By this logic the Pirates shouldn’t have called up Paul Skenes either. They have nothing to gain by forcing their #1 prospects to stay in AAA.
They also have a lot to gain by putting him in the Major Leagues. Griffin is eligible for prospect promotion incentive. If he wins ROTY, or finishes top 3 in MVP voting before his first year through arbitration, the Pirates get an extra first round draft pick. If he isn’t called up by the end of the 2nd week of the season, the Pirates lose that opportunity to earn that extra first round pick.
Skenes was three years older and had played college ball at a very high level and excelled.
It was evident that he would excel in the MLs and further pitching in the minor leagues would be just wasting pitches.
They definitely improved as an overall team. I think a lot would have to go right for them to sneak into the playoffs but nonetheless they’re going to be better. If only my cubs can figure out a way to beat Milwaukee.
The Brewers will not be as tough this year.
A
Would be A+ if they got a SS or 3b but there wasn’t anyone available who made sense other than the Japanese guys and I don’t know much about them. Maybe they aren’t 3b or that good.
I have Okamoto on my MLBTR fantasy team. I was really hoping the Pirates would get him but playing in that park would have hurt him a bit.
Okamoto is probably passable at 3B but ideally he’s 1B/DH. However Toronto has Guerrero and Springer in those spots. We shall see how that defense works. Murakami is pretty much 1B/DH now and that’s how the White Sox plan to use him.
I think with Triolo the Pirates are okay at 3B, he’s a bit like Ke’Bryan Hayes was. Good fielder, weak bat. They also have Griffin beating the door down hopefully soon, which should solve SS.
The very important keys, other than health, are that Cruz needs to finally get his act together and Reynolds needs to bounce back. They aren’t going to get very far without them producing consistently.
The pathetic thing about the article is they seem to think that having contracts under team control equals talent.
How does anyone not rank this an A?
It may be an A for the Pirates but that is like grading term papers on a curve.
I gave them a B but for them a B+.
They tried to sign Okamoto, Valdez, and Schwarber. If they had, it would have been an A.
Sure they did.
Nords-You miss the point that the Pirates were the worst hitting team in baseball last year and the additions will clearly improve the lineup inasmuch as they are all reasonably good hitters.
The team went from having zero depth at OF to having 5 guys that can start. Addressed 2B and DH.
This off season was the best one this team has ever put forward in ages.
My overall grade is in the B to A- range. The Pirates did a lot more than i expected…one of the few times they exceeded my expectations. The rotation has ridiculous high ceiling. If the young kids click, and the team gets in the post-season, there’s no one that will want to face a squad led by Paul Skenes in a series. Even the Dodgers. Bring on the season.
Grading them A- on the curve because I didn’t expect the Pirates to spend money. In their division, their pitching (if healthy) and a hot streak could vault them into playoff contention.
Hopefully stay away from injuries this year
I have this a B grading. A grading is they were able to add at 3B or SS. That left side of the infield is very weak in my opinion. Rather it be offensively or defensively, Triolo, Gonzales, Yorke, and some others playing at those positions, is a scary thought. You want better offensive production from 3B than what Triolo can provide. Gonzales will have one of the worst defensive metric at shortstop. Yorke is getting ate up when trying to play third base. It’s just not what you want to see if the Pirates look to contend for the NL Division or Wild Card. 86 wins is what I will give them this year. Maybe a wild card, maybe not, but a huge improvement over the last decade
Shortstop is pretty much set with Konnor Griffin. Even if he doesn’t open the season with them, he’ll probably be up by the start of May. Dude is a legitimatley special talent. He’s one of those guys you can just tell.
I give the pirates an A. If Cruz and Reynolds can fo better surrounded by the added bats. I see 90 wins. Barring injuries, should contend in a weak division. LETS GO BUCS
Hope springs eternal.
They are at 84 for me if most things turn out well.
I agree. 90 wins easily. These guys have some excellent players on this team. I’m probably the only one but I’m picking them to win the National League and go to the World Series.
Agree, B+
…but it’s a C- if they do anything to manipulate Griffin’s service time. If that happens and they wait to call him up, I hope he still finishes top 2 in ROY voting and earns the full year of service time.
Gave them a B, but B+ sounds right. They’re pretty much firmly in bottom feeder territory given how Nutting treats this team. However Lowe, O’Hearn, Password, and Ozuna are sensible moves to shore up the offense, and finally ditching Suwinski is a major addition by subtraction. Cherington upgraded the lineup considerably, at least on paper, while staying within the pocket lint budget he was given. The pitching staff is going to carry this team, and as long as the lineup can hover in the middle of the pack they should be potentially WC3 contenders.
Certainly am not a fan of them, or really all teams, saying “hey we were in on _____ too!” every time a free agent signed elsewhere. I really hate that part of the offseason in general because, like, who cares if you almost signed someone? You still didn’t get the guy. It doesn’t really affect other negotiations too much either.
My analysis position-by-position in the line-up:
Catcher: Henry Davis is going to get a bulk of the playing time. Really hoping he figures something out this year at the plate. Doesn’t even have to become a silver slugger candidate. Just put up like an 85-90 wRC+ with a dozen home runs, and his defense will carry the rest. I think they’ll trade Joey Bart before the start of the regular season, and go into 2026 with Rafael Flores as the 2nd catcher.
First base: Looking forward to how Spencer Horwitz is going to do. He caught fire in the second half. Flores should also help off-set some of his struggles against lefty pitching.
Second base: Adding Brandon Lowe is the sort of middle-of-the-order power they needed. This is pretty much a guarenteed 25 home runs as long as Lowe stays somewhat healthy.
Third base: Jared Triolo is…fine, I guess? His defense is spectacular, but his hitting still needs refinment. The adjustments he made last year were promising though. He looked a lot better at the plate compared to 2024. Hope he looks more like his second half self.
Shortstop: Konnor Griffin is going to be good. Even if he produces average to slightly above-average production at the plate (like a 100-110 wRC+), his defense at shortstop and baserunning are going to make him a 3+ win player. His ceiling is in the stratosphere.
Left field: Bryan Reynolds is in for a rebound year. He started to figure things out in the second half, but really just needs to have more protection around him. He was forcing things, and it wasn’t working.
Center field: Oneil Cruz was pretty much the in-verse of Reynolds. Started the year off hot, cooled off when summer rolled around. But like Reynolds, more protection in the line-up is going to help him so he doesn’t start trying to force things to happen.
Right field: Ryan O’Hearn playing outfield (at least semi-regularly) will be an adventure. His bat is what he’s here for, but I just hope he can be good enough in right field. At least the Pirates have some pretty solid defenders like Jake Mangum and Jhostynxon Garcia to help out if needed.
DH: Sad to see McCutchen go, but at least Marcell Ozuna is an upgrade on the field (can’t say the same about off the field though). Ozuna’s hip problems are cleared up, and he looks m0re confrontable at the plate in Spring Training than he did during the second half of last year.
I’ll wait for your movie, or at least until your novel comes out in paperback. I am glad you are excited for the season!
RE: stymee
I never quite understand the need for people to tell everyone “I’m too dumb/illiterate/lazy to read more than a couple of sentences”.
Juan there you go again.
Stymeedone was giving mlb a plus with the exclamation point.
And even mlb will admit his extensive verbiage,although I appreciated his thorough analysis in this post.
Maybe someday you will figure it out Juan.
Why would Henry Davis be ahead of Bart (who was good for them last year)?
Btw-I think the Bucs win 87 games this yr and sneak into the wild card..mainly based on their pitching.
Bart was not good for teen last year. 2024, sure. Last year, regression
I’m not thrilled about either as hitters, really
Kyle- The only thing that Bart does well is hit left handed pitchers.
He is mediocre behind the plate at best and at this age probably will always be.
Henry has developed into a fine catcher.
If he is good enough for Paul Skenes he is good enough for me.
Davis is far better at throwing accuracy and is very good at calling pitches
Bart by the way has had a horrible spring going 2 for 17 I believe and may have been better last year but he doesn’t have the defensive skills that Davis has
They already said that Davis is going to get ~60% of the playing time behind the plate.
MLB- Fine post,and I have a couple comments.
While I hope that Flores is good enough to make the team,and may be a decent ML hitter,I shudder if he has to take over for Henry in case of an extensive injury.The Pirates have some key soft spots,and this is one of them.
We disagree on the timing for Griffin,and hopefully Nick can fill in at shortstop reasonably well for one third of a season.
Garcia is hitting very well in spring training but as you and I know it may not mean much.I am not sure that he is a good outfielder and the Pirates would benefit from him having more time in AAA including working on fielding.Mangum could be a workhorse playing at least 120 games as the fourth outfielder.
You do not mention pitching but as I always have said the need for a backup closer is real and injury to Santana could be catastrophic.
Gonzalez wasn’t a good defensive second baseman, he will be worse playing shortstop
He may not even be average at shortstop but he can fill in for a month and a half and make the routine plays and hit decently.
They may bring Akili back for that time period since he is a good shortstop and has hit better in AAA over the last year.
What about Endy? He’s having a nice spring and also catches
Endy hasn’t played in two years.
He cannot stay on the field.
He has never hit in the ML’s.
I wouldn’t put too much faith in him until he plays for a year in AAA and proves that he is not injury prone and can hit.
I’m not really sure about Endy. He’s missed so much time, not really sure where you put him right now.
I think your back-up closers right now are Justin Lawrence and Gregory Soto. Soto has experience as a 9th inning guy, and made an All-Star game as one. Lawrence was nasty last year, and getting him out of Coors is a massive plus.
If we’re putting Nick Gonzales at shortstop for anything past a few games, we’re pretty much sacrificng all defense up the middle with him and Brandon Lowe.
I thought about Soto and I think that Kelly may be smart enough to plan forward to be able to use him in the ninth inning against top of the lineup left handed hitters.
Lawrence has talent but has not had the chance to show it.
Soto may be drawn too thin if Santana is injured.
I do not disagree with your last paragraph and that is why I mentioned Akili.But I think that for five weeks they may be able to get by especially playing Lowe at DH against right handers to give Ozuna a rest.
I do not think that Gonzalez was as bad of a fielder as many on here say he is but there may be metrics that say otherwise. I do have some doubts that they are as accurate as hitting and pitching metrics are though.
C
They improved the team, but only from bad to ok
No one is talking about what to do with Gonzalez if Griffin makes the opening day roster or when he’s promoted
With Lowe at second and Triolo at third, Gonzalez doesn’t have a spot in the lineup
I graded their offseason as a B. They made improvements to the offense and the pitching is better than last season but their season will depend on whether Cruz rebounds or not.
Griffin’s spring doesn’t look good on paper but he’s not playing every game either. Players need consistency to show their skills and only playing him rarely makes it more difficult to see his potential
I am not disappointed that Cutch wasn’t brought back but am disappointed in how management handled the situation
Is Gonzalez not having a spot in the lineup a bad thing?
no, it’s not a bad thing but management will need to do something about his roster spot, maybe send him back to Indy if there’s an injury
He was also a #1 pick by Cherington
I keep hearing how Nick being in the lineup is reflective of how bad their hitting at the bottom of the lineup will be. I must have been dreaming last year as he was one of their better hitters
That’s not saying much, sure, and no, he’s not a shortstop, but come on. He’s one of the few guys who took it upon himself to improve with a great deal of work
Me? I think they should just put Griffin on short and leave him there. He’s a generational talent and he’ll figure it out quickly. But Nick was not Suwinski last year, nor was he Davis. They’ve had a whole lot of guys trying to play short in the past few seasons who were just lost at the plate
Gonzalez was routinely put in the clean up position in the lineup and couldn’t drive in the runs that a number 4 hitter should
Is that because the other 8 hitters were so bad or because Gonzalez isn’t the hitter everyone thinks he is?
It’s a difficult assessment to make. The Pirates were such a poor hitting team, it likely made him look better. But he is no 4 hitter.
At the same time, he showed more than Davis, Triolo, Suwinski and any number of guys they had in the lineup last year
I’m not disagreeing with you , WUOT, he was a much better hitter than those you mentioned but if/when Griffin makes the major league roster, which infielder is left without a position?
Most likely it’s Gonzalez
Yep. Agreed
Paul- I think that Nick becomes the utility man inasmuch as it seems that Triolo will takes Hayes’ place at third base and be every bit as good overall.
Nick is a hard worker and good team player with talent.His hitting is not appreciated by some and he is certainly no better than a number seven hitter but in my opinion he is an average ML hitter albeit with almost no power.
He will play second base when the inevitable injury hits Lowe who has only averaged 113 games played per year for the last five years.
Triolo showed more than Gonzales in 2025.Pirates had 10 batters last year with 300+ plate appearances. Gonzales was 8th in OPS, OBP, 7th in slugging, 6th in total bases, and 8th in OPS+. Even with how bad the Pirates’ line-up was, he wasn’t even a top 5 hitter for them. Gonzales should be nowhere near regular playing time. He should be on the bench.
Do you think that his fractured ankle which kept him out until June could have adversely affected both his hitting and fielding stats?
He was much better in 2024 being comparable to the best Pirates hitter after Brian Reynolds.
Hopefully the Pirates have not given up on a first round draft choice just yet.
Maybe, but he wasn’t a particularly great player in 2024. Pirates had 9 hitters in 2024 with at least 300 plate appearances. Gonzales was 5th in OBP, 4th in SLG%, 4th in OPS, and 4th in wRC+. He had the lowest walk rate as well. Only thing he was comparable to Reynolds in was batting average. Reynolds drew walks nearly twice as often, and had a slugging percentage of nearly .450. Gonzales couldn’t even get his SLG% to .400. Gonzales hs range at second base, but struggles with tough plays.
Realistically, his ceiling is Adam Frazier-lite. He’ll give you a .270 batting average and get on base at an averageish rate, but don’t expect much power or walks, or the same defense at second base. Gonzales also doesn’t have the same bat-to-ball skills Frazier did at his peak, so there are going to be more strikeouts.
He’s going into his age-27 season, and his best single-season wRC+ is 94. The Pirates shouldn’t give up on Gonzales just yet, but Gonzales has to earn his spot back. They can’t just wait around and trotting him out everyday, hoping he figures something out if he keeps producing a sub-95 wRC+.
He needs to reduce his strikeout rate and walk twice as much.
He will never be a power hitter.
My guess is that Lowe will be gone after this year.
Gonzalez played reasonably well in what was in essence his rookie year and started off with a broken ankle in his sophomore year.
He is just now entering his prime years.
He is sufficient to start at second base with improvement unless Termarr can outshine him quickly.
Gonzalez has been the more consistent hitter over the course of an entire season. Triolo has shown streaks. In a perfect world, they’re likely both bench players. But again, I’d take either over what I saw from Suwinski, Davis, a host of rotating outfielders and even Bart last season
As for Termarr, I’m wondering if the kid will ever make it here
If by consistent, you mean consistently meh or worse, then sure. But until Gonzales can get his wRC+ to at least 95, or drastically improve his defense, he’s not someone that should be getting semi-consistent reps.
Washed- Remember that Termarr is only 21 years old.
He was overhyped as many high school players are but I am very interested to see what he does this year.
I saw him interviewed and he seemed like he had it together.
He hit 272 at AA Altoona last year with a 745 OPS and a good walk to strikeout ratio and this is a clear improvement over previous years.
He may move up to AAA very soon if the Pirates see it in him.
They may even want him and Griffin playing together if the Pirates think that they are the keystone combo of the future.
Not worried about Termarr. He was really young for Double-A, and the average triple-slash in the Eastern League last year was .232/.318/.362. He’ll probably be fine.
2026 National League Champion.
Very solid off-season for Pittsburgh! I sense a fun battle with the Brewers.
B or B+ for me. They did alot to fix holes and shore up weak spots. While I wish they had gotten a better 3B option, realistically, there wasn’t much out there for the price. I think McNeil would have been a sneaky good add but at that time they still thought they were in the running for Suarez and/or Okamoto and wanted a RH bat to even out the lineup. Neither Suarez or Okamoto will contribute *that* much more than Ozuna is projected to (just looking at wRC+, of course, as they will contribute in the field as well) and each cost a bit more, so not a bad move.
I’m fine with their pitching moves and while I wish we could have squeezed Mayo out from the Orioles before injuries derailed those talks, I believe Triolo will be an at least average 3B.
Griffin should be up soon if not right away, but even if he isn’t, this team has a glut of serviceable infielders that you don’t get excited about but also don’t worry about screwing things up.
This grade would move to an A easily if any of the following happen:
–Griffin is extended
–a 3B is brought in like Baty, Paredes, or Vientos, the last of which being least desirable (I even wonder if Bohm isn’t still available for the right price)
–one final move that gets us a high-upside prospect for another team’s lingering needs (I am likely in the minority thinking that we still have one arm in our system we could get rid of if a team offers the right return or even packaging two needs like a catcher and infielder for that return)
I think BC saved his job this year but we’ll see how they actually perform.
Serviceable infielders isn’t good enough when their offense ranked last in the majors last year
They need consistency in the results of scoring runs
Alika Williams isn’t going to help much offensively and neither is Gonzalez.
Nick Yorke should make the roster and be their utility player
I disagree a bit. I don’t think a lineup needs 9 punches in order to be competitive. The Phillies and the Reds last year got into the playoffs by having 6/7 good hitters and great pitching. We have great pitching and we have at least 6/7 hitters that are good.
Our lineup would surely be better with a better hitting 3B but I don’t think it’s impossible for us to sneak into the playoffs with the roster we have now.
the Reds and Phillies had a far better offense than most teams in the league last year
How do you compare Schwarber to our current lineup?
The Reds had the 25th best offense by fWAR last year. They got to the playoffs by their pitching.
The Phillies had the 7th best (tied with D’Backs, who had a losing season) and most of that was driven by a 5/6 guys who had at least 200 ABs that had over a 100 wRC+:
Schwarber (152)
Harper (131)
Turner (125)
Marsh (116)
Sosa (111)
Bohm (105)
Schwarber was insane, yes. But the Phillies didn’t have a super stacked lineup. They had average (or slightly below average) hitters backing up these 6 guys and the top pitching rotation by fWAR.
A couple of people here, and baseball “experts” keep griping about 3rd base. Triolo is basically a cheap Hayes. 1 other post said this as well. Great glove, can’t hit. It’s kind of strange how he was a salary dump and an equal player barely gets any recognition. BTW, solid B. Could improve to an A if a majority of the new perorm to expectations
B would be an A+ if they could’ve locked down any 3b upgrade or a more sure thing big bat anywhere else. Would be a B+ if they would’ve found a reasonable way to keep Cutch in the franchise.
They put the club on the brink of contention. If Davis hits anything, Cruz gets any were close to what he should be for his physical talent and Konnor does well when promoted then they have a shot to do respectable or better.
You forgot Reynolds in all of this
Since they failed to get another big bat, they need him to be his old self.
As long as Reynolds is non-Negative it’s okay.
Non negative isn’t going to cut it
They need a return to form in terms of homers, runs batted in and really, average
I like the additions the Pirates made this off season but let’s be real. Without Reynolds and Cruz turning it up, how much is it going to matter?
I agree.Let’s face it these new additions will hopefully hit well but there are no all stars there.The lineup is now no better and probably less than average unless Reynolds and Cruz can attain what Reynolds had and Cruz can do what many think that he can do.
A. Paul Skenes is the clear ace of the staff, Bubba Chandler and Mitch Keller solid #2 and #3 in my mind, while the rest of it is like Barco, Urquidy, etc. Jared Jones coming back helps, and the fact that they traded Mike Burrows to us helped my grade. They did good with the offense, and actually spent like small market teams need to (I think somebody would agree with me called Steinbrenner). Potential playoff team for sure.
Burrowes is looking quite good for you,but a team has to give up quality to get quality,and it may turn out to be a win win for both of these teams in the three team trade.
I think that both Ashcraft and Barco can be fine ML starting pitchers and they are real reasons why Cherington thought that he could trade Burrowes.
Bubba certainly has the ability to be a #2 but he has to prove it over time.
While it’s only a spring training game, Bubba struck out 8 over 5 innings yesterday against the Braves, giving up only one run
Chandler has an ability to be #1 starter, well, not when Skenes is on the Pirates or healthy. It could be a win win, ya’ll got 3 assets, Rays got Melton and Brito, while we got Burrows, a potential “pillar” in our rotation as Dana Brown likes to say.
And I’m sticking with the idea that Jared Jones is going to be a big time starter. I’m glad they’ve kept him through all of this
I think that the key with Jones is if his arm can take the pounding of starting.
As soon as he has serious arm problems again they should move him to the bullpen.