Pirates offseason watch: What do they need to address?

As the free agent signing period gets underway, what should the Pirates' area of focus be on?

Photo Credit: WTM

With the offseason in full swing, teams can start signing free agents can sign with new teams starting today.

Coming off a 14-game improvement from the previous year, this could be a big offseason for the Pittsburgh Pirates. With 76 wins, they found themselves eight wins away from the final two Wild Card teams in the NL, one of which made the World Series in the Arizona Diamondbacks.

So, what do they have to do to get over that final hump and into the playoff picture? That’s a little more complicated than ‘sign players A, B, C,’ as several other factors are included throughout a 162-game season, but I took a shot at some areas that the Pirates may be looking to upgrade.

Pitching, pitching, pitching

The Pirates were decimated with injuries regarding their rotation in 2023. So much so that they only had four players make 10 or more starts, two of which hit 20 (and 30).

Realistically, Johan Oviedo and Mitch Keller will enter 2024 with a rotation spot wrapped up. From there, it’s pretty much an open field, and it wouldn’t be a surprise if most of their budget goes to addressing this position group.

The two other players to make 10 or more starts - Luis Ortiz and Roansy Contreras - have serious question marks surrounding them and their ability to pitch in the major. Contreras was shifted to the bullpen and was hit around some more before being shipped to the FCL to work on things.

He made it back up to Triple-A but will enter 2024 with no options remaining, meaning they will have to find a role for him - starter or not - or risk losing him in waivers.

Pitching doesn’t come cheap; we will get the harsh reality when the first few sign. Many were mentioning Blake Snell or Jordan Montgomery as options or at least desired targets. Still, there is sometimes more risk than reward with these free-agent pitchers, with the former more detrimental to a team like the Pirates than others.

The Pirates need pitching, and a lot of it, perhaps more than a singular guy at the top of the rotation, especially if you are buying into the farm system they built.

Don’t forget about the defense

Regarding Outs Above Average (OAA) on Baseball Savant, the Pirates were about middle-of-the-pack defensively. That isn’t bad at first glance, but when you consider that they had Ke’Bryan Hayes, whose +17 OAA was tied for the third-highest mark in baseball, maybe not as great.

The infield was a +5, which again isn’t horrible, but we also have to take Hayes into account, but the outfield was also a -3. To no one’s surprise, Jared Triolo finished second on the team in OAA with a +5 mark. Nick Gonzales was barely above average (+1) but still has a below-average arm.

The infield defense could improve by default, as four of the bottom five players in OAA are no longer in the organization. The one that is (Ji-Hwan Bae) also grades out well in the outfield.

Bryan Reynolds (-4) and Henry Davis (-6) were the two worst on the team in the outfield. Reynolds will be operating left field for the foreseeable future, but depending on the plan for Davis, right field now becomes something that needs to be addressed.

Bae and Jack Suwinski graded out positively in the outfield, mainly in the center. If Davis moves back behind the plate, they could shift Suwinski to right and have Bae play center.

Connor Joe (+1) wasn’t bad there, but this seems like another opportunity to improve. The Pirates have Canaan Smith-Njigba on the 40-man roster, and after having a good year in Indianapolis, he could get another chance to make the major league team.

One last note on defense in general: it’s still a critical part of the game, as the Dbacks and Texas Rangers finished fourth and fifth in OAA during the regular season.

No power? Better be fast

I mentioned the other day that, ultimately, power beats out speed in the playoffs, but it also costs more.

The Pirates ranked 22nd in OPS, 28th in home runs, and 23rd in total bases in 2023, not really ideally, and unless they invest a lot of money, it will be hard to improve upon those next year.

Getting Oneil Cruz back will help, as he has 30-home run potential, but is that enough to catapult them into an elite team when it comes to power? Probably not.

There is another way that the Dbacks exploited last year to even things out when you don’t hit for power, and that’s on the bases.

Baseball Savant said the Pirates had 16 players who finished with above-average sprint speeds. They had four players in the top 100 regarding average sprint speed, with Bae leading the team and finishing 18th overall.

Nick Gonzales and Liover Peguero - two options for the second base position - also finished in the top 100. Even Henry Davis finished in the 72nd percentile regarding sprint speed.

The tools are there for the Pirates to take advantage of their lack of power, but that doesn’t mean they shouldn’t be on the market for someone who can add a little pop to the lineup.

So, if they can’t in bringing someone can add some legitimate power to the lineup (which wouldn’t come cheap, both through free agency or by trade), then continuing to add speed to the lineup should be the priority.

Is the catching position set?

Endy Rodriguez will be the team’s starting catcher going into 2024, but are the Pirates set with Jason Delay as their backup? Will the plan be to have him as a stop-gap until Davis is ready to be the backup? What if that time never comes?

Delay is more known for his defense, but he did have a stretch where he hit well last season.

When it comes to throwing base runners out, Rodriguez was one of the better catchers in the league, but there is still some work that needs to be done in blocking (31st percentile) and framing (44th percentile).

Carlos Santana reunion?

Maybe the most glaring hole that isn’t pitching would be at first base, especially after the Cleveland Guardians claimed Alfonso Rivas.

The Pirates signed Carlos Santana and traded for Ji-Man Choi to split time at first last year, but both were gone by the trade deadline. Choi didn’t play much due to being hurt, but Santana hit and fielded well and finds himself a free agent again.

Alex Stumpf of DK Pittsburgh Sports listed some options, Santana included, that the Pirates could bring in to upgrade the position.

Now four years into Ben Cherington’s tenure as General Manager, this is the year that you would want to see a significant jump into contention. They took a solid step this year, but the work isn’t done, and could be a very busy offseason for the front office.