The Pittsburgh Pirates are headed toward an active trade deadline, but there’s a catch: they want to get better without pushing payroll any higher.
That’s the line from Bob Nightengale of USA Today Sports, who reported that Pittsburgh plans to be aggressive only if it can avoid adding salary. In other words, the Pirates are willing to shop - just not in the aisle that comes with a bigger bill.
That approach fits what general manager Ben Cherington has already laid out. He’s said the club is looking for bullpen help and will target relief pitchers and closers who can strengthen that group.
The logic is easy to follow: Pittsburgh already has one of the best offenses in baseball, and the starting rotation has promise. The weak spot is the relief corps.
And that weakness showed up again on July 18 at Progressive Field. The Pirates dropped the second game of a doubleheader against the Cleveland Guardians, coughing up a 3-0 lead in the eighth inning and surrendering five unanswered runs in a 5-3 loss.
That kind of collapse has been part of the problem. Pittsburgh doesn’t have a bullpen it can trust from night to night, with different arms flashing one week and fading the next. The inconsistency has been the defining trait of the unit.
The payroll picture helps explain why the Pirates are being careful. Their current payroll sits around $102 million, according to Spotrac, which ranks them 23rd out of 30 MLB teams and eighth-lowest in the league.
That’s not close to the spending levels of the Los Angeles Dodgers at $301 million, the Mets at $328 million, or the Yankees at $292 million. For Pittsburgh, though, it’s a notable step up.
It’s the highest payroll the Pirates have carried since Opening Day in 2016. That’s a meaningful marker for a franchise that has usually lived much closer to the bottom of the league than the middle.
The last time Pittsburgh reached the postseason was from 2013-15, and the 2015 club also sat around the $100 million range as the team made the kinds of free-agent additions it needed to get back into contention after 20 straight losing seasons.
This year’s roster has already been built up with some real spending. The Pirates signed Ryan O’Hearn to a two-year, $29 million deal, gave Marcell Ozuna a one-year, $12 million contract, and traded for Brandon Lowe, who is making $11.5 million this season.
Even with that investment, the Pirates are still in a position where they need more help. Their 51-48 record has them firmly in the National League Wild Card race, and their offense has been a major reason why. But if they want to keep that momentum going, the bullpen has to hold up.
There’s another wrinkle here, too. The current CBA expires on Dec. 1, and a lockout is looming, with the possibility of lost games or even the entire 2027 season hanging over the sport. That makes long-term financial commitments even less appealing.
So if the Pirates do add at the deadline, the most likely path is a pitcher with team control - the kind of move that keeps the salary lower. But that route usually costs more in prospect capital, which means Pittsburgh may have to pay in a different currency.
For a club that hasn’t been in this position in more than a decade, the deadline may force the Pirates into a version of aggression they’re not used to.
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This Pirates Trade Idea Feels Like A Deadline Misread Again
The Pirates have spent much of the summer trying to prove their place in the National League race, which is why any deadline conversation has to start with what helps them now and not just what looks movable on paper. Spencer Horwitz fits that discussion because he has been a productive bat when healthy, and the club has other ways to chase pitching help if that is the real need, including a farm system deep enough to deal from without stripping down the lineup.
What makes the idea of shopping Horwitz feel off is the timing and the larger picture around where Pittsburgh is trying to go. A player like that is the sort of piece a contender usually tries to keep, not flip after a brief hot stretch elsewhere changes the perception of his value, especially when the Pirates still need every legitimate hitter they can find for a postseason push. [Read more 🡒]
Konnor Griffin Sees Something Special In Pirates First Round Pick
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Konnor Griffin has seen that profile up close before. The rookie and Curiel were teammates on the 2023 Team USA 18U squad, and Griffins view of him has only reinforced the sense that Pittsburgh may have found another piece for its next wave of talent. With both players still at the start of their pro careers, the possibility of seeing them together again down the line is part of what makes the pick so interesting for a club trying to build toward something bigger. [Read more 🡒]
Pirates Fans Had One Immediate Fear After Latest Oneil Cruz Move
A brief roster move involving Oneil Cruz was enough to send a jolt through Pirates circles, because any time a player with a fractured hand lands on the 60-day injured list, the first instinct is to wonder whether the recovery has hit a snag. In this case, the clubs decision was tied to a roster shuffle as Pittsburgh opened a spot for right-hander Khristian Curtis, while Cruz continues working back on the same timeline the team has had in place since June.
The more encouraging part for the Pirates is that Cruzs return window still appears to be intact, and he is not the only injured regular trending in the right direction. Endy Rodrguez and Spencer Horwitz are also moving forward in their rehabs and could be close to beginning assignments soon, giving Pittsburgh a chance to start piecing together a healthier lineup depth chart just as the calendar turns toward August. [Read more 🡒]