With spring training starting this week, the Pittsburgh Pirates offseason has come to an end. Many people thought that this would be the offseason where they got players they need to become contenders, but that was not the case.
The first thing that the team did this offseason was to non-tender Bryan De La Cruz and Connor Joe, two staples of the 2024 lineup. With non-tendering Joe and letting Rowdy Tellez walk in free agency, the Pirates had to get a new first baseman. With the weak first base free agency market, the team decided to make a trade with the Cleveland Guardians for Spencer Horwitz, hours after he got traded from the Toronto Blue Jays.
Horwitz’s rookie season with Toronto was not bad, as he hit .265 with 12 homeruns in 97 games. But Horwitz barely got any playing time against left-handed pitchers, so it will be worrisome to see how he does this season, being the everyday first baseman.
The Horwitz trade looked promising, but then the Pirates announced that he will miss all of spring training with a right wrist injury. This makes Pirates fans ask, who will be the new first baseman until he comes back?
Most likely it will be Endy Rodriguez. Rodriguez was a high-ranked prospect but missed all of 2024 with a torn UCL. His primary position is a catcher, but with Joey Bart on the team, Rodriguez will be the backup.
This would be a good chance for Rodriguez to earn a spot on the team. But if Horwitz does not come back by the beginning of the season, that would mean either Henry Davis or Jason Delay would be the backup catcher on the opening day roster, which is not ideal.
The Pirates did not make any huge free agent signings, with the biggest being outfielder Tommy Pham. Pham is not an amazing signing but will replace De La Cruz. De La Cruz was a right fielder, though, and the team wants Pham to play left while they move All-Star Bryan Reynolds to right.
Moving Reynolds to right might not seem like a big deal, but when he got moved to center in past years, he was one of the worst defenders in all of baseball. Most likely, Reynolds will not be as bad as he was in center, but it will be a change for him.
One bright spot coming into the 2025 season is the young pitching on the team. They have two of the best young pitchers in the league in Paul Skenes and Jared Jones, and they have veteran All-Star Mitch Keller. They also have Johan Oviedo and Bailey Falter as their four and five starters in the rotation.
The rotation is very good to start out the season, but it could get better.
The Pirates’ number one prospect, Bubba Chandler, is very close to reaching the MLB. He can slide into the rotation right away and depending on his spring, he very well could make the opening day roster.
The team also has Braxton Ashcraft, Thomas Harrington, and Mike Burrows, who are in AAA and are top pitching prospects. Obviously, there is not enough room for all of them in the rotation, but the team can see them as role players in the bullpen or trade pieces this year.
Overall, the Pirates did not do much this offseason, but there are still some things that Pirates fans can be excited for this season.
