The Pirates took a step forward in 2026, finishing 82-80 and getting over .500 for the first time since 2018. It still wasn’t enough to reach the playoffs, so Ben Cherington and the front office are heading into an offseason that may be shaped by CBA talks and a looming lockout.
That makes the next few months especially tricky for Pittsburgh, because the timing of negotiations could change everything once free agency opens. If talks are still moving before December 1, the Pirates may have one kind of conversation with impending free agents. If they spill past that point and the lockout begins, the landscape could look very different.
At the top of the list is simple: keep Brendan Lowe.
Lowe was one of the best second basemen in baseball after arriving from the Tampa Bay Rays in last December’s three-team deal that sent Mike Burrows to the Houston Astros and brought Mason Montgomery and Jake Mangum to Pittsburgh. In 656 plate appearances, the 32-year-old hit .260/.331/.493 with 35 home runs, 96 RBIs and a career-high 5.4 bWAR. He was also one of three finalists for the National League Gold Glove Award at second base.
The money could get serious fast. Ryan O'Hearn currently holds the Pirates’ biggest free-agent signing by average annual value at $14.5 million, but Lowe is projected by Spotrac to land a four-year, $91.24 million deal.
The question is whether Pittsburgh is willing to push past its usual range to keep him. If the Pirates want to retain a star, this has to be priority No.
The bullpen is next, and the need is obvious. Mason Montgomery emerged as a late-inning force, posting a 2.88 ERA, 18 saves and 13.8 K/9 with elite underlying metrics. Luke Weaver, who came over from the New York Mets at the trade deadline after being one of the league’s best relievers, struggled to a 4.96 ERA in 16 1/3 innings for Pittsburgh, though a severe case of poison ivy played a role in that rough stretch.
Even with Montgomery and Weaver in the fold, the Pirates still need more firepower at the back end. Yohan Ramírez, Lake Bachar and Carmen Mlodzinski - if he doesn’t return to the rotation - have handled middle relief duties well enough, and younger arms like Wilber Dotel, Antwone Kelly and Thomas Harrington might take steps forward.
But none of them should be trusted to handle the biggest moments yet. Pittsburgh can’t afford another season in which close games slip away because the late innings aren’t sealed.
The offense was a strength in 2026, but not against every type of pitching. The Pirates scored 767 runs, sixth-most in baseball, and they were especially strong versus right-handers, ranking sixth in OPS at .749 and tying for eighth in wRC+ at 105. Lefties gave them trouble, though, with Pittsburgh finishing at 92 wRC+ against southpaws, tied for eighth-worst in MLB.
There were bright spots in that split. Esmerlyn Valdez put up a 168 wRC+ and 1.012 OPS against left-handers, while Oneil Cruz, Konnor Griffin and Bryan Reynolds also fared well.
But several regulars struggled in that matchup, including Lowe, Ryan O'Hearn, Nick Gonzales, Jake Mangum and Spencer Horwitz. If the Pirates want to break an 11-year postseason drought, solving those lefty issues matters.
Rotation help, preferably from the left side, is also on the to-do list. Paul Skenes wasn’t quite at his peak, but the top of the rotation still gave Pittsburgh a solid foundation. Skenes finished with a 3.82 ERA and 200 strikeouts in 174 1/3 innings, while Braxton Ashcraft posted a 3.65 ERA with 173 strikeouts in 165 1/3 frames and Jared Jones logged a 3.72 ERA with 123 strikeouts in 101 2/3 innings.
Bubba Chandler also showed promise in his rookie season, going 4.50 ERA across 154 innings and flashing the tools to become a frontline starter down the line. The bigger issue is that all four of those arms are right-handers, and Mitch Keller is too, leaving the Pirates short on balance.
Keller missed the final two months with a teres muscle major injury and wasn’t sharp when he pitched, finishing with a 5.29 ERA over 115 2/3 innings. He’ll make $18 million in 2027 and $20 million in 2028, so he is likely to stay in the rotation, though a trade isn’t out of the question if Pittsburgh finds a taker.
If Keller were moved, that would create a vacancy for a left-handed starter, something the organization could use. Hunter Barco may be the only healthy upper-level lefty starter in the minors unless the Pirates believe in him, because Anthony Solometo is recovering from left shoulder labrum surgery and could miss a chunk of the 2027 season.
Pittsburgh isn’t shopping in the Tarik Skubal tier, and it probably won’t be in on the biggest left-handed starters available. What it does need is simpler than that: a southpaw who can take the ball and cover innings as a No. 5 starter.
The final priority is defense in the outfield. Pittsburgh’s unit posted -10 Outs Above Average and -16 Defensive Runs Saved, and the easiest way to soften that problem is to keep O'Hearn at first base or in the designated hitter spot more often. He logged -5 DRS and -4 OAA in 335 1/3 innings in the outfield.
Reynolds had a mixed defensive year with 6 DRS and -3 OAA, Valdez came in at -6 DRS and 2 OAA, and Cruz graded out poorly in center at -7 DRS and -1 OAA. Mangum, meanwhile, was closer to average, finishing with 1 DRS and -1 OAA after posting 3 DRS and 6 OAA for the Rays in 2025. Pittsburgh needs a defensive-minded fourth or fifth outfielder, even if that’s the least urgent item on the list, and it should be a manageable fix.
In Other News...
Esmerlyn Valdez Is Raising A Familiar Pirates Concern
Esmerlyn Valdez gave the Pirates exactly the kind of early jolt they hope a young bat can provide, reaching the majors in May 2026 and quickly looking like a rare developmental win. By July, he had been named National League Rookie of the Month, and for a while it seemed as if Pittsburgh might have found a young hitter whose approach and power would translate right away.
But the second half has brought a more familiar concern for a club that has seen this movie before. Valdezs swing decisions and contact issues have started to look a lot like the path Jack Suwinski once took, which puts the Pirates back at a familiar crossroads: keep trusting the same developmental formula, or rethink how they handle a prospect whose early success has already started to bend the wrong way. [Read more 🡒]
Pirates Prospect Pipeline Suddenly Has A Problem Fans Can't Ignore
The Pirates still have plenty to point to in the lower minors, with Seth Hernandez, Edward Florentino and Murf Gray all giving the system some needed optimism. But the organizations pipeline has taken on a more uneasy feel in 2026, because some of the names that were supposed to bridge the gap to Pittsburgh did not take the expected step forward. Termarr Johnson endured a rough season in Triple-A, and Thomas Harrington also had trouble finding traction at that level.
Zander Mueths path has become even harder to chart. Injuries have interrupted his development and limited the innings he has been able to stack, which matters in a system that needs help from more than just its headliners. When a prospect group starts losing momentum in both performance and availability, it changes the conversation quickly, and for the Pirates, that leaves one of the more important questions in the organization still hanging over the rest of the season. [Read more 🡒]
Pirates May Have Found The Buy-Low Bullpen Arm They Need
The Pirates have spent plenty of time looking for bullpen help, and the search keeps circling back to the same need: a reliever they can trust when the game tightens late. Lucas Erceg fits the kind of buy-low conversation that can make sense for a club trying to add a high-leverage arm without paying full price, especially after Kansas Citys usage and evaluation of him have made him a name worth watching.
Erceg still offers traits Pittsburgh would value, even with some recent rough patches clouding the picture. The real question is whether the Royals would even entertain moving him, because if they do, the Pirates could see a reliever with upside and team control as a fit for a bullpen that needs more reliable late-inning answers. [Read more 🡒]