2024 Record: 76-86
General Manager: Ben Cherington (entering year 6)
Manager: Derek Shelton (entering year 6)
Notable Offseason Acquisitions: OF Andrew McCutchen (1 year, 5 million), OF Tommy Pham (1 year, 4 million), RP Caleb Ferguson (1 year, 3 million), 2B Adam Frazier (1 year, 1.5 million), RP Tim Mayza (1 year, 1.15 million), 1B Spencer Horwitz (trade acquisition from TOR)
The Pittsburgh Pirates did not break through in 2024 as some outsiders expected. Their offense was underwhelming as some of their younger players couldn’t perform to big league standards and some of their linchpins had disappointing seasons (the notable exception being outfielder Bryan Reynolds). The pitching staff was better, but still wasn’t overly dominant as starters Mitch Keller and Jared Jones would flash their high ceilings but would also have their share of duds which evened out to mediocre overall seasons.
Even though 2024 was another flop, the emergence of starting pitcher Paul Skenes as one of the next baseball greats was highly beneficial for the team. Skenes lived up to sky-high expectations as a former number-one draft pick and dominated immediately upon his arrival in May. With a dazzling 1.96 ERA in 23 starts, he coasted to winning the NL Rookie of the Year award and probably would have won the NL Cy Young if he debuted with his team out of spring training. Regardless, Skenes’ talent was here now and the pressure was on Pittsburgh to improve the club quickly to make sure the team could win during this opening window.
However, the Pirates stood pat and remained status quo and did not make any game-changing moves to move the needle that much. Bringing back franchise icon Andrew McCutchen for another year was nice, but he is a fourth outfielder at this point in his career. Caleb Ferguson and Tim Mayza could be good bullpen pieces but don’t possess an all-star upside. The same can be said about journeymen hitters Adam Frazier and Tommy Pham. Noticing a trend here?
Getting Spencer Horwitz, a first baseman from the Toronto Blue Jays was interesting. He has five years of low-cost control left on his current deal who showed some decent pop in his bat. Unfortunately, he went on the shelf in spring training with a wrist injury that required surgery and he is expected to miss the start of the season to recover. Overall, the fans are rightfully frustrated about how the offseason has been handled by general manager Ben Cherington and the rest of higher management.
The best way for improvement, in my opinion, has to come through internally. On the offensive side, it’s time for shortstop Oneil Cruz to make a jump to stardom that fans have been itching for. He has gotten a lot of attention for his stunning exit velocity numbers and high-powered throwing arm. But in reality, he has only gathered 5.1 BWAR over his first four major league seasons. He needs to double that number in 2025 if the Pirates are gonna compete for anything this upcoming year. Third baseman Ke’Bryan Hayes has also got to stay healthy as well.
How can the pitching get better? Jared Jones needs to establish himself as the number two behind Skenes. He has the repertoire to do it, but he just needs to build consistency with his command. If Jones can produce a sub-3.5 ERA this season, I think that makes Pittsburgh more of an under-the-radar team that sneaks into the playoffs if everything plays right.
There are a lot of “ifs” with this scenario though, and the Pirates will most likely be on the outside looking in again. But if they can get enough breakout performances from their homegrown players, a playoff game at the Allegheny River might be closer to reality than you may think.
