When MLB Network showed a potential Pittsburgh Pirates starting lineup based on the current 40-man roster, it gave a glimpse into why the front office plans to be aggressive in free agency and through trades.
While the Pirates have the 2025 National League Cy Young Award winner in Paul Skenes, the position player group featured Joey Bart at catcher, Spencer Horwitz at first base, Nick Yorke at second, Nick Gonzales at shortstop and Jared Triolo at third base, with newly acquired Jhostynxon Garcia joining Oneil Cruz and Bryan Reynolds in the outfield and Jack Suwinski as the designated hitter.
That explains Pirates general manager Ben Cherington’s reaction.
“It’s a group we believe in but also want to add to,” Cherington said during Tuesday afternoon during a guest appearance on MLB Tonight. “We want to add to in as many meaningful ways as possible, whether that’s with a bigger fish we hook or multiples. We’re pursuing all kinds of things. It all starts with the belief we can win in 2026, but the position player group is the obvious area to add to.”
The Pirates made waves at the Winter Meetings in Orlando when word circulated that they extended a four-year contract offer worth $125 million, per MLB.com, to top free agent slugger Kyle Schwarber, who led the NL with 56 homers and the majors with 132 RBIs last season.
That Schwarber opted to re-sign with the Philadelphia Phillies for $150 million over five years is no surprise. Nor was the reaction by some baseball analysts that the Pirates’ offer was purely performative.
But Cherington sees it as a sign that he’s only getting started.
“We’re casting a wide net. We’re pursuing all kinds of free agents and trade opportunities at different levels,” Cherington said. “You know when you do that, you’re going to pursue 100 things and you’re going to strike out some. You’ve got to be ready to pivot right to the next things. Excited to be in this situation where we’re looking to add to the major league team.”
After trading right-handed starter Johan Oviedo for Garcia, a top-100 prospect, in a five-player deal with the Boston Red Sox last week, the Pirates made their first free agent splash by signing left-handed reliever Gregory Soto to a one-year, $7.75 million contract Tuesday night.
The Pirates planned to make adding a lefty to their pitching staff a priority, given that rookies Hunter Barco and Evan Sisk are the only left-handers on their 40-man roster. Soto is a two-time All-Star who recorded 50 saves over three seasons with the Detroit Tigers from 2020-22 and is proven to be effective in high-leverage situations, especially against lefties. Soto could be used as a setup man for Dennis Santana or as insurance closer, much the same way Aroldis Chapman was for the Pirates in 2024.
Where the Pirates were expected to dangle 2023 All-Star right-hander Mitch Keller in trade talks, Cherington indicated that he’s more reluctant to part with starting pitching after dealing Oviedo, even though it might be their best bet to acquire a major league-ready bat.
“There’s a lot of interest in our guys,” Cherington said. “We’ve got to be careful about how much to move off the pitching group. You go back about 18 months, we’ve traded a handful of controllable pitchers because we’ve been looking to get that position player talent back. We’ve done some of that. Wouldn’t rule out doing it again, but we’ve got to be careful. We don’t want to thin that group out too much. It all comes down to fit. If it’s something that we think clearly makes the lineup better, maybe it’s something we consider. But it’s a strength, and we want to keep it that way.”
The Pirates sent 2019 first-round pick Quinn Priester to the Red Sox for Yorke at the 2024 trade deadline, only for Priester to thrive with the Milwaukee Brewers this past season. They dealt righty Luis Ortiz, along with pitching prospects Michael Kennedy and Josh Hartle, to the Cleveland Guardians to acquire Horwitz last winter. And they included minor league lefty reliever Tyler Samaniego, who was added to their 40-man roster in November, in the Oviedo deal.
In addition to Skenes and Keller, the Pirates have talented young starters with controllable contracts in Braxton Ashcraft, Barco, Mike Burrows, Bubba Chandler and Thomas Harrington. Chandler (No. 14), 2025 first-rounder Seth Hernandez (No. 27) and Barco (No. 78) are all ranked as top-100 prospects by MLB Pipeline.
Speaking of top prospects, the one player who could change the Pirates’ infield alignment is Konnor Griffin. The 19-year-old shortstop, the No. 9 overall pick in 2024, is considered the consensus No. 1 prospect in baseball, was named Baseball America’s minor league player of the year, won a Rawlings MiLB Gold Glove and the Honus Wagner Award as the Pirates’ minor league player of the year.
Cherington was asked if the 6-foot-4, 225-pound Griffin would be given a legitimate chance to win the starting job in spring training, which would give the Pirates flexibility to play Gonzales at second base and Triolo at third or in a utility role.
“We’re so focused on this part of the offseason and how do we add to this roster through free agency and trade – we haven’t really gotten to that yet,” Cherington said. “We’re lucky Konnor’s a Pirate. It’s been an incredibly strong first 15 months in the organization. He’s met every challenge, surpassed every challenge. He looks like he’s going to be a really good player. The next few weeks, we’ll focus on making the roster better. We’ll see where we are in spring training.”
Pirates manager Don Kelly, who appeared alongside Cherington, was asked how 39-year-old Andrew McCutchen could fit into the plans in 2026 after spending the past three seasons as their designated hitter. The Pirates’ pursuit of Schwarber and other power bats has put McCutchen’s future with the organization in question.
“I respect Andrew McCutchen, a former teammate of mine. We’ve all seen what he’s done in the game. He was a huge part of what we’re doing,” Kelly said. “As we continue to work through the offseason, taking names like that and other guys and try to figure out which way to go. I think Andrew is definitely a fit as you look at it. It’s just how everything breaks forward as we go through the offseason.”