Ben Cherington’s comments about the Pirates’ 2027 plans opened the door to a question Pittsburgh may not be able to dodge for long: if Ryan O’Hearn and Spencer Horwitz are both going to split time at first base and designated hitter, is Horwitz the better trade chip?
That was the picture Cherington painted Wednesday afternoon on MLB Network Radio. The Pirates general manager said the expectation is for O’Hearn and Horwitz to rotate between first base and DH next season.
On its face, that’s a workable setup. Both can hit, and keeping both bats in the lineup makes sense in a vacuum.
The issue is that the fit looks crowded almost immediately. O’Hearn and Horwitz are left-handed hitters with similar offensive profiles, limited defensive range beyond first base and DH, and little help against left-handed pitching. For a club that needs more balance, locking up both spots with two near-mirror images of each other creates a pretty obvious bottleneck.
That matters because Pittsburgh’s weakness against left-handed starters was impossible to miss in 2026. The Pirates went 18-33 in those games and hit only .229 with a .300 on-base percentage and .359 slugging percentage. All three of those numbers ranked last in Major League Baseball.
Neither O’Hearn nor Horwitz solved that problem. O’Hearn posted a .620 OPS against left-handed pitching, while Horwitz was even lower at .596. Their value showed up much more clearly versus right-handers.
That doesn’t make either player disposable. O’Hearn put together a .265/.330/.440 season with 18 home runs in 2026, while Horwitz finished at .244/.344/.364 with 10 homers despite dealing with injuries.
Both are useful pieces. The question is whether Pittsburgh can afford to build around both at the same time.
The DH spot is part of the issue, too. If O’Hearn and Horwitz are sharing first base and DH, that leaves less room for Bryan Reynolds to get occasional rest while staying in the lineup.
The same goes for Oneil Cruz, whose health and offensive impact matter a great deal to Pittsburgh’s long-term success. In other words, the Pirates may be boxing themselves in by committing those two positions to a pair of similar hitters.
That’s where Horwitz enters the trade conversation.
The idea isn’t new. Back in July, MLB.com identified Horwitz as Pittsburgh’s biggest potential trade-deadline asset, noting his team control and the possibility of shifting O’Hearn to first base. Horwitz still has appeal as an on-base threat with multiple seasons of control left, and before a hamstring injury in late June, he was hitting .280/.386/.455 with 10 home runs in 74 games.
His season changed after that. When he returned in August, he hit just .180/.263/.201 over his final 40 appearances.
That kind of finish makes any trade return trickier, and it also means the Pirates would be selling low. Still, the upside he showed earlier in the year is real enough that another club could view him as an everyday first baseman.
Pittsburgh also has more pressing needs. The Pirates need a right-handed impact bat, more infield help and possibly another starting pitcher.
Horwitz could be part of a deal that addresses one of those holes without forcing the team to give up major prospect capital. And if O’Hearn is already the preferred first baseman, moving Horwitz would open the door to a more flexible lineup.
Cherington’s remarks did not amount to a declaration that Horwitz is on the block. If anything, they suggested the Pirates currently expect both players to have meaningful roles in 2027. But plans can shift quickly when the right deal appears.
Keeping both bats would give Pittsburgh some offensive stability. It could also leave the roster stuck with the same imbalance that helped drag down its production against left-handed pitching.
Horwitz is too valuable to move without a meaningful return, but the Pirates also shouldn’t treat the O’Hearn-Horwitz pairing as untouchable. If trading Horwitz helps bring back a right-handed hitter or another needed upgrade, that’s a conversation Pittsburgh has to take seriously.
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