Pirates Morning Report: Let’s Set The Record Straight

The offseason is now in full swing, although not much has happened yet with everybody waiting to see where Juan Soto signs and for how much. The off season may be tougher on Pirate fans than the regular season because the Pirates do so little. Even when they sign someone it is usually on garbage. They spent over 35 million on garbage last year. With the exception of Andrew McCutchen and Aroldis Chapman, the free agent signings of Rowdy Tellez, Michael A. Taylor, Yasmani Grandal, Marcos Gonzales, and Martin Perez contributed absolutely nothing to the Pirates cause. The propaganda put out by the Pittsburgh media is the Pirates cannot afford someone like Juan Soto or other top free agents. The system is unfair. Baseball needs a salary cap. As I will show this is another example of pure garbage. Let’s look at the facts, Jack

The Pirate payroll in 2024 came in at around 85 million, which put them 29th in baseball only ahead of the Oakland A’s. When you remove the free agents from the equation in 2025 this will drop it to around 50 million. The only free agent the Pirates might resign would be Andrew McCutchen from last year’s bunch. The speculation on what Juan Soto might sign for is really wild. I will go with one number that has been bandied about. If he would sign for 700,000 million for 13 years this would come out to an annual salary of almost 54 million. This would put the Pirate payroll at approximately 104 million. If the Pirates can’t have a 100 million dollar payroll, then they might as well trade Paul Skenes, Oneil Cruz, Jared Jones immediately. People will argue that if you sign Soto for that much that the Pirates will not be able to sign those 3 players to long term contracts. I wrote before that one of the top priorities this year for the Pirates should be to sign Skenes to a 6 year deal worth 30 million per year. However, to get a player like Juan Soto that plan could certainly be tabled. Adding Soto makes the Pirates immediate contenders not only for the playoffs but for the World Series. Those revenues would certainly help toward extending those three players. The bottom line is it’s not that the Pirates can’t afford Soto, it’s that they really do not want to sign Soto. There are many in the list of top 30 free agents that could really help turn the Pirates into contenders. They probably won’t sign any of them even though they could easily afford at least two of them. Here is a list of the ones that fill the Pirates needs the most.

In no particular order, Pete Alonso 1st base age 30, Alex Bregman 3rd base age 31, Teoscar Hernadez OF age 32, Anthony Santander OF age 30, Tyler O’ Neill OF age 30, Jurickson Profar OF age 32, Tanner Scott left handed relief pitcher age 30, Christian Walker 1st base age 34, Paul Goldschmidt 1st base age 37 and good old Carlos Santana 1st base age 39. With the exception of Bergman all of these free agents listed are areas of need for the Pirates. There are some great starting pitchers out there and although this is a Pirate strength as the old saying goes you cannot have enough pitching. Getting another top of the rotation starter may send one or more of the starters to the bullpen, which is a good way to bolster a very thin bullpen. It might set up a trade for an offensive threat by sending one of the mid rotation guys to another team. Last year I wrote that the Pirates should sign Cody Bellinger. The Cubs signed him for 30 million, less than what the Pirates paid for all that garbage. Granted Bellinger did not really light it up last year with a slash line of .266/.325/.484 with a WAR of 2.2, think Oneil Cruz with defense. These numbers were way better than anything the Pirate first basemen and centerfielder put up in 2024. Would it had been enough to get the Pirates into the playoffs, who knows, but it would have most likely meant meaningful games in September. Will the Pirates sign anybody in the top 30 free agent market? Most likely not. There is always a risk when it comes to signing free agents. All of the above players are 30 or over. However, the Pirates in their current state have a lot of young unproven players. They only have 3 bonified major league position players, Oneil Cruz, barely, Isiah Kiner-Falefa and Bryan Reynolds, solidly. Any free agent they signm if they only perform at the Major League average will be a huge upgrade. They desperately need a corner outfielder and a first baseman. They are sitting there right in front of them. Instead, the Pirates will probably continue as the king of the waiver deals and minor league contract signings. Here are their last two. I will withhold their names to protect their families and agents from embarrassment. Waiver player no. 1 has 139 major league at bats with a slash line of .209/.245/.331. He is an outfielder and a 1st baseman but not like Cody Bellinger. With Waiver player no. 2 it even gets better. Career minor league player, 28 years old with 139 major league at bats. His slash line is .152/.222/.273. What I get a big kick out of is when you read the articles about these acquisitions they somehow write about how they can help the Pirates. They actually have the audacity to give some justification to picking up these players. The only things these players can do is to help continue the losing ways of this pathetic organization. It is too bad there is something not politically incorrect about the nickname Pirates. There would be no problem coming up with the Pirates new name. The Pittsburgh Pathetics. The Pirate payroll is set up perfectly to make at least 2 free agent pick ups that would run between 20 and 30 million per year per player. It is so sad that this has practically no chance of happening. Which is the same that can be said for a winning season next year.