Five Things the Pirates Must Do To Become Contenders in 2025
With the talent the Pirates have in their starting rotation, it's time for the front office to start spending to build a true contender.
The Pittsburgh Pirates are once again going to miss the playoffs and, in all likelihood, finish last in the underwhelming NL Central.
A scenario like this would usually lead to discussions about rebuilding or retooling, but today we will talk about…contending? Yes, that’s right. A potential playoff push for the Pirates in 2025.
Despite the Pirates’ record, there are reasons to believe Pittsburgh could be in the mix as early as next year. If you are asking yourself how that is possible, let’s not forget the Pirates have already checked one big box: the rotation.
Paul Skenes is a certified ace, Mitch Keller a good two, Jared Jones is a developing number three, and Bailey Falter is a solid four. A selection of high-upside arms gives the Pirates an intriguing outlook beyond those four.
Obviously, the rotation is only one aspect of a competitive team, but it’s an important one.
Pittsburgh has established a couple of lineup foundation pieces in Bryan Reynolds, Oneil Cruz, and Endy Rodríguez, but more help is needed. The team had too many role players slotted into everyday spots in 2024, and it showed on the field.
With the talent the Pirates have in the rotation, all on pre-arb or reasonable deals, the time to spend is now.
1. Pirates Must Be Serious in Addressing First Base
The time has come to quit being cute about how this team fills first base. The Rowdy Tellez signing was a shot in the dark, and we all knew it had a low chance of producing. Connor Joe is a stop-gap level player who, at his core, is a platoon-only option, and a middling one at that.
The need at first is abundantly clear, and it’s time to forget about lesser options and finally address the need with a better option.
Luckily for Pittsburgh, there’s more than one way to go about finding a first baseman. They could shock the world and sign Pete Alonso, but we will be more realistic for this thought exercise.
Pennsylvania native Christian Walker makes too much sense for the Pirates not to at least go after. Heading into his age-34 season, Walker is unlikely to demand a long-term deal or a price tag the Pirates cannot stomach. He’d bring much-needed power to the lineup while also bringing experience to a young clubhouse.
If Walker would rather sign elsewhere, an internal option via position change could make sense. Bryan Reynolds, who is signed through 2031, is the perfect fit to make the move. His bat carries his value, and moving him out of the outfield would improve the team’s defense.
Reynolds’s defense has been in decline since 2021, and his -14 OAA in 2024 should be enough to finally convince the Pirates to make the move.
Reynolds would have his new long-term fit, the Pirates would not have to worry about first base, and there are usually a lot more outfielders available in free agency to shore up left field.
2. Make the Uncomfortable Trade
Small market, penny-pushing teams are always reluctant to move young talent. Good, cheap players are the primary ingredient to their recipe, but it’s time to add some spices to make this team come alive.
Moving prospect arms can be scary, but unless you decide to start signing high-end free agents, it’s the easiest path to improvement.
With numerous needs in the lineup, I think it is the perfect time for the Pirates to make a move to add an established bat. Top prospect Bubba Chandler should be considered untouchable, but no other pitching prospect should have that label.
With Keller locked up and Skenes, Jones, and Chandler all in the mix for the foreseeable future, the time to make a trade is now. Hunter Barco, Braxton Ashcraft, Thomas Harrington, and other pitchers are moveable assets with fairly high value.
If the acquiring team has a major league outfielder available, great. Pittsburgh has a need there. Is a shortstop available? Second baseman? First baseman? Great, great, great.
The Pirates are not cornered into targeting only one position, and because of that, they can negotiate with more teams and increase the chance of maximizing their return.
3. Do Not Let the 2024 Deadline Dictate 2025 Improvement
The Pirates’ 2024 deadline brought in outfielder Bryan De La Cruz, utility man Isiah Kiner-Falefa, and pitchers Jalen Beeks and Josh Walker. Fine moves, but hardly the level of players that drastically change the outcome of a season.
Although those trades cost the Pirates assets, none of those players should be given a golden ticket in 2025.
De La Cruz is a fourth outfielder or platoon starter. Kiner-Falefa is a great Swiss army knife who gives the team the flexibility to add at a couple of different possible positions and have him fill in the holes. He’s a super utility or lower-end starter on a good team. Think of him in the way Houston uses Mauricio Dubon.
Pittsburgh has to be willing to improve, and if that means having their most recent acquisitions play lesser roles, then so be it. The mentality should be that these 2024 deadline moves were merely taking advantage of the situation and improving the depth for 2025.
4. Pirates Need To Stabilize the Bullpen
The David Bednar falloff has been disappointing. We all know how up-and-down relief pitchers can be, but Bednar had a rock-solid track record posting sub-three ERA’s the three seasons prior to this year.
I’m willing to bet a bounceback is more likely than another disastrous season, but counting on that is dangerous.
Luis Ortiz and Colin Holderman have been very useful, and the return of Dauri Moreta at least gives Pittsburgh another arm, but more is needed. Again, we are going to try to be realistic, so another move like the Aroldis Chapman signing could be in store.
They’ll need more than just one upgrade, however. Maybe they get a relief pitcher in one of the trades mentioned earlier in this article. Or, like I suggested with Reynolds and like the Pirates have done with Ortiz, they could fill from within.
The name that sticks out to me is Mike Burrows. Burrows is already on the 40-man roster and has a fastball that could play up out of the bullpen. After battling an injury and falling behind on the organization’s rotation depth chart, the classic starter-to-reliever move is looking like his best path to success.
5. Finally, the Pirates Have To Spend Some Money
You thought I would get through this entire article without talking about the Pirates and their spending? Of course not.
Before we complain, I do want to give the Pirates some credit for locking up Keller, Reynolds, and Hayes. The Hayes deal is not looking great, but at least it was not a ton of money.
While every team will add some $2-$4 million veterans to fill out a roster, those moves cannot continue to be the biggest moves Pittsburgh makes.
The Pirates are in a position where their best players are either pre-arb or making less than $16 million a year. Now is the time to spend before Jones, Cruz, Rodríguez, and Skenes all see significant pay increases.
To paint a better picture of the Pirates’ financial situation:
- Pre-Arb: Endy Rodríguez, Henry Davis, Nick Yorke, Nick Gonzales, Jared Triolo, Oneil Cruz, Luis Ortiz, Jared Jones, Paul Skenes, others
- Arb 1: Johan Oviedo, Bailey Falter, Bryan De La Cruz, Joey Bart, Colin Holderman
- Arb 2: Connor Joe, David Bednar, Dennis Santana
- Signed (2025 Salary): Ke’Bryan Hayes ($7M), Isiah Kiner-Falefa ($6.28M), Bryan Reynolds ($12.25M), Mitch Keller ($15.41M)
- Expired/Option: Yasmani Grandal, Rowdy Tellez, Michael Taylor, Andrew McCutchen, Marco Gonzales ($15M), Aroldis Chapman, Ryan Borucki, Jalen Beeks
That’s roughly $30 million coming off the books, assuming Gonzalez has his $15 million option declined. Of those expiring deals, Beeks and McCutchen are the only ones I could see making sense to bring back.
Pittsburgh is going to need to not only reallocate that money but come up with some more in order to have playoff hopes in 2025.
Conclusion
While this might seem like a tall task, all five of these things are well within the realm of possibility.
The Pirates have been building through the farm and have hit on several homegrown players. Signing those players long-term gives me at least some hope that they are more likely to push for contention. We’ll see if that’s false hope or not.
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