Morning Rundown: What's next in the offseason for the Pirates?

With the Winter Meetings over and done with, what is there to be done for the Pirates?

The Winter Meetings have come and gone, with the Pirates adding another name to the 40-man roster after trading for left-handed pitcher Marco Gonzales.

Before that, they also signed catcher Ali Sanchez to a contract, putting them at 39 players on their 40-man roster.

So, with the Pirates making the first couple of moves this offseason, what’s next?

More pitching

The Pirates added Gonzales, which is a good start, especially at the price they got him for. More work is still needed, as even if at his absolute best, he probably just makes up for the innings that are going to be lost by Johan Oviedo.

Mitch Keller and Gonzales are likely the two that are guaranteed a rotation spot right now. After that, their options are Roansy Contreras, Bailey Falter, Andre Jackson, Max Kranick, Luis Ortiz, and Quinn Priester.

JT Brubaker and Mike Burrows could join the mix later in the season coming off of Tommy John, and so could some of their top prospects like Paul Skenes and Jared Jones.

They could make a rotation out of that, but it’d be filled with question marks. There are still some names out there available through free agency and potentially by trade. It’s hard to imagine Gonzales being the only addition.

Ben Heller was also added as a depth reliever piece. He has some intriguing stuff and fared well in a brief stint with the Braves last year. He might not get a major league spot out the gate, but he’s someone that you could certainly see playing in Pittsburgh this year.

First base a must?

Based on the 40-man roster, there are only three players who spent time at first base last year - Jared Triolo (52.1 innings), Connor Joe (101.1), and Endy Rodriguez (2).

Unless the plan is to platoon all three there next year, I don’t see a scenario where they don’t bring in someone externally.

Outfield addition?

With the Pirates being adamant that Henry Davis will be at least starting spring training as a catcher, and that’s where his off-season focus is, that means there’s an additional hole in right field that needs to be filled.

They signed Gilberto Celestino to a minor league contract, their first move of the off-season. He’s played center field the majority of the time but has a strong enough arm he could make the switch to right if he makes the team.

Canaan Smith-Njigba didn’t get much of an opportunity after he struggled when he broke camp with the team, but he hit 15 home runs and stole 21 bases while with Triple-A Indianapolis.

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Realistically, the Pirates haven’t done much this off-season, but it’s still early. While the Winter Meetings is an excellent and easy place to make a deal, there wasn’t a lot of activity in general.

It could have just been a starting point for most teams, including the Pirates. We are still in early December, a reasonable amount of time away from pitchers and catcher reporting.

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