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The Winter Conferences are within the books, and whereas the Pirates have solely made one commerce and one signing thus far this offseason, they’ve been engaged on a number of fronts.
There are nonetheless inquiries to be answered earlier than they return to Bradenton, Fla., for Spring Coaching. Right here’s what I heard about these subjects in Orlando:
What’s subsequent for the lineup?
Kyle Schwarber was the Pirates’ high free-agent goal. He stayed with Philadelphia. Jorge Polanco was somebody Pittsburgh actually favored and tried to entice with a assured job enjoying within the infield and what was believed to be a multi-year deal. He signed with the Mets on Saturday as a substitute.
So what’s the pivot? How does Pittsburgh enhance its offense with two of its high free-agent targets off the board?
In Orlando, it sounded just like the Pirates would lean extra into the commerce market as soon as Polanco decided. That doesn’t imply they’re abandoning free company — experiences nonetheless hyperlink them to Ryan O’Hearn and Kazuma Okamoto — however I’d count on them to be extra energetic in commerce talks in the intervening time.
Brandon Lowe’s identify got here up on the Winter Conferences, and he would give the crew the left-handed energy it sorely wants and covets. A left-handed-hitting second baseman coming off a 31-homer season? That may be an awesome match, even when it might come at the price of a one-year, $11.5 million contract and a few prospects. I’d think about these prospects can be extra Main League-ready than lower-level, for the reason that Rays aren’t trying to rebuild proper now, however there’s most likely a technique to make the commerce work.
Will they commerce one other pitcher?
The Pirates entered this winter understanding they might commerce from their starting-pitcher depth for bats, and so they have already made one such transfer, dealing Johan Oviedo and Tyler Samaniego to the Pink Sox for Jhostynxon Garcia. Pittsburgh had talked to Boston about Garcia since at the least the Commerce Deadline, and the Bucs used their pitching capital to land a Main League-ready Prime 100 prospect (Garcia is ranked No. 85, per MLB Pipeline) at a place of want.
You possibly can solely commerce a lot pitching throughout a given winter, but it surely appears like Pittsburgh is keen to deal one other starter for the proper worth.
“We’re open to that. We’ll have a excessive bar,” normal supervisor Ben Cherington stated on the Winter Conferences. “We’ll extra doubtless contemplate that if it’s one thing that’s coming again instantly into our lineup.”
Cherington added that if the Pirates commerce one other starter, they’ll be extra motivated so as to add one other starter to their combine. So should you’re making a mock Mitch Keller commerce to reallocate his wage, put aside a few of that saved cash for a back-end-of-the-rotation arm.
Talking of Keller’s commerce market, I don’t know if he would convey again a giant, confirmed bat. Chatting with league sources in Orlando, the vibe was that Keller was seen nearer to a back-end starter quite than a front-end man. Maybe his market received’t be as strong as some anticipated.
The bullpen was in dire want of extra leverage arms and a lefty specialist, which led to them signing Gregory Soto to a one-year, $7.75 million deal (pending a bodily). There weren’t lots of lefties in the marketplace that they actually favored exterior of Soto, and new pitching coach Invoice Murphy pushed for him, so the Pirates pulled the set off and made a reliever their first signing of the winter.
In fact, the precedence this offseason is bettering the offense, however this bullpen may use one other large arm. Dennis Santana goes to be a leverage man, as is Soto, and Isaac Mattson had a pleasant season. I’ve additionally heard actually good issues about Justin Lawrence, who may step right into a late-inning function.
There’s some potential upside with this unit, particularly after they added so many younger arms to the roster who may assist in the bullpen quickly, like Ryan Harbin and Brandan Bidois. They’ve some roster flexibility with their optionable relievers, however how about one other veteran for the eighth or ninth? The Pirates had some curiosity in Seranthony Domínguez earlier than the Soto signing, and whereas I feel it may nonetheless be on the desk, the main target is on including bats now. If he or one other reliever continues to be in the marketplace later this winter, they might circle again.
