The Pirates are coming off a season that ended with real momentum, but the next step is the one that matters most. After finishing 82-80 in 2026 - their first winning season since 2018 - Pittsburgh still missed the postseason for the second straight year and has not been back since 2015. If the club wants to change that in 2027, the front office has some clear calls to make.
One of the biggest is at third base, and the external name that fits best is Nolan Arenado. The Arizona Diamondbacks third baseman is nearing the end of his career, and he would give the Pirates exactly what they need: a right-handed power bat and a proven defender with a long track record. Arenado won 10 straight Gold Gloves from 2013 to 2022, has taken home five Silver Slugger Awards, and led the National League in home runs three times.
Even at 36 during the 2027 season, he still looks like a useful difference-maker. In 2026, Arenado hit .255/.331/.475 with 25 doubles, 30 home runs and 86 RBI in 152 games, good for an .806 OPS.
That was his first season with 30 homers and an OPS above .800 since 2022. Against lefties, he was even better, batting .271/.344/.550 with 10 home runs and an .894 OPS - the kind of production Pittsburgh badly needed in 2026.
That matters because the Pirates’ in-house option at third is Nick Gonzales, who hit .303 last season, sixth-best in baseball, but was a disaster on defense. His -15 defensive runs saved and -11 outs above average were both the worst marks among third basemen with at least 850 innings.
Arenado wasn’t quite at his old standard in the field either, finishing 2026 at -4 DRS and +2 OAA, but he still profiles as a better answer than Gonzales. He would also come at a manageable cost, with the Pirates on the hook for just $6 million in 2027 while the St.
Louis Cardinals are paying $9 million of his $15 million salary. Arenado does have a no-trade clause, but if Pittsburgh can line up the deal, it has to pursue it.
The bullpen is another area that needs attention, and free agency offers a name that makes sense in Alex Vesia. The left-hander has been a steady force for the Los Angeles Dodgers and was part of their postseason runs, including seven appearances in each of their 2024 and 2025 World Series campaigns. He has posted a sub-3.00 ERA four times in his career, and since debuting in 2020, he has been one of the better strikeout relievers in the game.
Vesia does it with a three-pitch mix - a four-seam fastball, slider and changeup - and while his heater sits at 92.1 mph, he makes life harder on hitters by limiting hard contact and generating whiffs with his offspeed stuff. Pittsburgh needs a veteran southpaw who can help stabilize the relief corps, and Vesia fits that need. The competition will be fierce, but if the Pirates are willing to go strong in the market, he would deepen the bullpen quickly.
Then there’s Murf Gray, the biggest minor league breakout in the organization. The 2025 draft pick out of Fresno State, taken 73rd overall, made his first professional season count. Across 126 games and three levels - Single-A Bradenton, High-A Greensboro and Double-A Altoona - Gray hit .305/.402/.567 with 100 runs, 143 hits, 27 doubles, 32 home runs, 266 total bases and 97 RBI.
He led all Pirates minor leaguers in hits, home runs, RBI, total bases, extra-base hits with 59, and slugging percentage. That performance earned him both the Willie Stargell Slugger of the Year and Honus Wagner Player of the Year Awards.
Gray still needs to prove himself at Triple-A before he gets a look in Pittsburgh, but the Pirates have a player who can hit for average, provide power and play solid defense at third base. He may need more time, yet his bat is making the club’s patience harder to maintain.
The last major decision is how to use Carmen Mlodzinski. Over the last two seasons, the Pirates have shifted him around, putting him in the rotation when needed and then moving him back to the bullpen.
He struggled in 2025, when he had a 5.67 ERA in nine starts and was sent to Triple-A Indianapolis. In 2026, he was better, posting a 3.76 ERA in nine starts and 11 outings, but he returned to relief after Jared Jones came back from injury.
That led to him landing on the Restricted List after he refused to pitch afterwards.
Pittsburgh gave him another starting opportunity after Mitch Keller’s season-ending injury in early August, but Mlodzinski was shelled for a 14.04 ERA in three losses before heading back to the bullpen. His desire to start makes sense from his perspective, but the Pirates need to put him where he helps most. In relief, he can cover multiple jobs - long relief, setup work and high- or low-leverage innings - and do it efficiently.
If Pittsburgh wants a better shot at 2027, these are the kinds of moves that can shape it. A solution at third, a bullpen upgrade, a realistic path for Gray and a permanent bullpen role for Mlodzinski would give the Pirates a much better foundation than they had a year ago.
In Other News...
Pirates Fans Just Got Another Painful Reminder About The Archer Trade
The Chris Archer deal has become one of those trade reminders Pirates fans cannot quite escape. When Pittsburgh sent Tyler Glasnow to Tampa Bay in 2018, the hope was that Archer would stabilize the rotation, but the long view has looked far different. Glasnow grew into a frontline starter with the Rays before moving on to the Dodgers, while Archers time in Pittsburgh never matched the expectations that came with the move.
It also fits a larger pattern that has made Tampa Bay so difficult to keep pace with. The Rays have built a reputation for targeting talent in trades and then getting more out of it, while the Pirates have spent the years since trying to sort through the fallout of roster decisions that have not always aged well. For Pittsburgh, the Archer trade remains a painful example of how one big swing can echo for a long time. [Read more 🡒]
Pirates Could Face A New October Problem Under MLB's Proposal
Major League Baseball is floating another round of postseason changes, and for a Pirates club that has tried to build its way back into the picture with a stronger pitching staff, the timing is worth watching. Pittsburghs 2026 winning season showed what a deeper rotation and improved run prevention can mean over six months, but any new playoff structure would put a different kind of pressure on how the roster is built, especially when the margins get thinner in October.
The proposal is still part of collective bargaining talks and nothing is final yet, but the direction of the discussion matters for a team like the Pirates. A format that could alter opponent selection in the first round, then stretch a later series even longer, would reward depth and flexibility in ways that expose any bullpen shortfall. For Pittsburgh, the question is not just whether it can get back to the postseason, but whether it would be equipped for whatever version of October baseball arrives next. [Read more 🡒]
Pirates Rotation Suddenly Hinges On Mitch Kellers Long Road Back
Mitch Kellers season is already over, and for the Pirates that shifts the focus from a late-year rotation piece to a long recovery that will stretch deep into the offseason. The right-hander was moved to the 60-day injured list after a shoulder injury that did not require surgery, but still figures to keep him off a mound for quite a while as Pittsburgh plots its plans for next year.
The club is expecting Keller to resume throwing late in the offseason and eventually rejoin the rotation, though the path back is the story now. Young outfielder Esmerlyn Valdez also finished the year on the injured list with a hamstring strain, but he says he is healthy and plans to sharpen up in the Dominican Winter League before the next season begins. [Read more 🡒]