DALLAS — The Pirates discover themselves in a well-recognized spot to the place they have been a 12 months in the past: making an attempt to enhance a workforce that went 76-86 and recover from the hump of the final phases of a rebuild and into the playoffs. There have been loads of causes for optimism, pleasure and frustration at totally different factors all through 2024, however as supervisor Derek Shelton mentioned in an interview with MLB Community, the targets for this 12 months are loftier.
“It is a division that we are able to win as a result of our beginning pitching is de facto good,” Shelton mentioned. “We do want so as to add bats. … However I really feel actually good about the place we’re at.”
The Pirates did add a bat in the course of the Winter Conferences in Dallas this week, making what might be their greatest commerce in years. Additionally they know there’s work nonetheless to be completed.
The Pirates made a splash on the commerce market, dealing Luis Ortiz and pitching prospects Michael Kennedy and Josh Hartle for Guardians infielder Spencer Horwitz. Horwitz slashed .265/.357/.433 with 12 residence runs and 40 RBIs throughout 97 video games for the Blue Jays final season and comes with six years of workforce management, a plus for a membership that has been trying to find a long-term reply at first base for years.
“We imagine within the bat, we imagine within the individual,” basic supervisor Ben Cherington mentioned. “We imagine he has an opportunity to be a part of that answer. And, glad that now we have an opportunity to have him for some time.”
The Pirates are additionally in settlement for a Main League cope with reliever Elvis Alvarado, pending a bodily. It’s a cut up contract for a hard-throwing transformed outfielder who averages 98 mph on his fastball however has but to crack the Majors.
1. Nook outfieldCherington was clear Monday that the Pirates had spent lots of their vitality this winter in the direction of bettering the offense, particularly first base and nook outfield. Between the acquisition of Horwitz and Bryan Reynolds beginning an offseason program to play first base, the previous place is in fairly good standing now. Now they should add an outfielder to hitch Reynolds and Oneil Cruz.
2. Leverage relieversShelton is bullish that David Bednar will bounce again from his disappointing 2024 marketing campaign, however wouldn’t commit but that he’s the workforce’s 2025 nearer. No matter his reply, there’s a necessity for at the very least one late-inning arm. The Pirates had curiosity in bringing again Aroldis Chapman earlier than he signed with the Pink Sox. They’ll must pivot to search out another person to hitch Bednar and Colin Holderman to shut out video games.
3. Lefty relieversThere’s a necessity for extra bullpen depth basically, however getting one other lefty reliever can be crucial contemplating that Joey Wentz is the one one on the roster. Chapman was the Pirates’ solely dependable lefty of their cavalcade of southpaws final season.
The Pirates entered the Rule 5 Draft with 4 open spots on the 40-man roster (will probably be at 37 after Alvarado passes his bodily and the deal turns into finalized), however handed within the Main League portion.
Within the Minor League section, the Pirates took 5 gamers: right-hander Franck De La Rosa, catcher Aaron McKeithan, lefties Randy Labaut and Steve Hajjar and outfielder Joel Mendez. Additionally they misplaced three gamers within the Minor League portion — right-hander Darvin Garcia, catcher Dylan Shockley and infielder Isaias Dipre.
The Pirates got here into the offseason understanding they’d a surplus of beginning pitchers and a necessity for bats. In idea, one thing just like the Horwitz commerce has made sense for some time, buying and selling from a power for a necessity.
They nonetheless have beginning pitching depth, however time will inform in the event that they’ll deal one other starter.
“In some unspecified time in the future you’ve acquired to watch out,” Cherington mentioned. “We need to keep that as a power and also you go too far, you begin to dig into it an excessive amount of and all of the sudden, you will get your self in bother. So, we’ll should be considerate and cautious about it. Nonetheless really feel like that is an space of power and depth. We’ll simply must see what comes.
“We’re nonetheless taken with including to the workforce. We expect there will be lots of alternatives to do this. We do not really feel like we’re in a rush to do this. We’ll keep after it and we acquired a pair extra months to work on it.”
