Mitch Keller’s 2026 season may look ugly on the surface, but the right-hander’s own admission adds a layer the Pirates can’t ignore.
In an Oct. 23 interview with MLB.com, Keller said he never felt fully healthy or comfortable during a year that ended early because of a right arm teres major injury. That context matters after a season in which he went 6-8 with a 5.29 ERA in 22 starts before landing on the injured list in August.
For Pittsburgh, though, the bigger issue is what comes next. Keller is still owed $18.4 million in 2027 and another $20.4 million in 2028, leaving $38.8 million on a deal that suddenly looks a lot harder to carry for a team that has long had limited payroll flexibility.
The Pirates may have already passed on their best chance to move him.
Keller’s name came up in trade talk throughout 2025, with the New York Yankees, Boston Red Sox, New York Mets and Chicago Cubs all reportedly showing interest. At that point, he was a dependable innings-eater with years of control left, and Pittsburgh chose to keep him because of what he meant to the rotation.
That decision looks very different now. Keller is coming off a major injury and his highest ERA since 2021. Any team that wants him would be taking on close to $39 million and betting he can get back to his old level.
The Pirates can still trade him, but the market probably won’t look the same. A deal now could mean taking a lesser return, paying down part of the contract or adding another piece to get something done. None of that is ideal for a club that needs upgrades without giving away more young talent.
Holding Keller comes with its own complication, too. Paul Skenes, Braxton Ashcraft, Jared Jones and Bubba Chandler are now the most promising arms in the organization, and all four could be ahead of Keller on the depth chart by 2027.
That creates a blunt question for Pittsburgh: what if its highest-paid starter is also its fifth-best rotation option?
There is still obvious value in keeping an experienced arm around, especially with the younger pitchers carrying workload and injury questions of their own. Keller also deserves a chance to show that 2026 was an outlier and not the start of a slide. But that chance should not come with an automatic rotation job because of his salary.
The Pirates just posted their first winning season since 2018, and the focus now should be on building a rotation that can push toward the postseason. It should not be on protecting a contract from a previous offseason.
Keller’s comments leave room for a rebound, but they do not erase the risk attached to his deal. Nor do they erase the possibility that Pittsburgh waited too long to act when his value was higher.
The Pirates cannot change the decision not to trade him. What they still can control is whether that decision shapes the way they build their rotation going forward. With $38.8 million still committed, Ben Cherington can’t afford to treat that as a small detail.
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