{"id":403630,"date":"2026-01-10T06:32:07","date_gmt":"2026-01-10T06:32:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/403630\/"},"modified":"2026-01-10T06:32:07","modified_gmt":"2026-01-10T06:32:07","slug":"pirates-looking-for-left-side-infielder-rotation-depth","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/403630\/","title":{"rendered":"Pirates Looking For Left Side Infielder, Rotation Depth"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Pirates finalized their two-year deal with Ryan O\u2019Hearn<\/a> on Thursday. That signing paired with the\u00a0Brandon Lowe<\/a> trade gives the Bucs a couple of middle-of-the-order bats from the left side.<\/p>\n

General manager Ben Cherington spoke with reporters at O\u2019Hearn\u2019s introductory press conference and highlighted two areas the team is still looking to add. \u201cIf we could add someone on the left side of the infield, that\u2019s something we\u2019ll keep an eye out for. We\u2019ll remain opportunistic in the outfield, see what comes our way,\u201d the GM said (link via Colin Beazley of The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette<\/a>). Cherington also said they\u2019d like to \u201cadd back\u201d to the pitching staff after they dealt\u00a0Mike Burrows<\/a> and\u00a0Johan Oviedo<\/a> in the respective Lowe and\u00a0Jhostynxon Garcia<\/a> trades.<\/p>\n

The left side of the infield is an expected target. Pittsburgh was involved on NPB third baseman\u00a0Kazuma Okamoto<\/a> before he signed a four-year contract with Toronto. They\u2019ve been loosely linked<\/a> to\u00a0Eugenio Su\u00e1rez<\/a>, the second-best available free agent at the position after\u00a0Alex Bregman<\/a>. If Su\u00e1rez\u2019s asking price also proves too rich, the Bucs could look to a one-year deal for\u00a0Yo\u00e1n Moncada<\/a>, Willi Castro<\/a> or Ram\u00f3n Ur\u00edas<\/a>.<\/p>\n

It\u2019d be more difficult to find an everyday answer at shortstop. There aren\u2019t any free agent options beyond\u00a0Bo Bichette<\/a>, assuming they\u2019re not interested in an Isiah Kiner-Falefa<\/a> reunion. There hasn\u2019t been any kind of trade market at the position. The Pirates would only be interested in a stopgap anyway. Konnor Griffin<\/a> is arguably the best prospect in baseball. Pittsburgh hasn\u2019t closed the door on him forcing his way to the big leagues out of Spring Training even though he only has 21 games of Double-A experience. Even if that\u2019s too ambitious a timeline, he figures to be up at some point in 2026.<\/p>\n

Unless Griffin breaks camp, they\u2019re projected for a\u00a0Nick Gonzales<\/a>\/Jared Triolo<\/a> pairing on the left side. Gonzales is a former top 10 pick but has a middling .257\/.300\/.375 batting line in parts of three seasons. He\u2019s miscast as a shortstop. Gonzales was drafted as a second baseman and has mostly played the keystone with varying reviews from scouts and defensive metrics. He has 230 MLB innings at shortstop and has only started one game at third base.<\/p>\n

Adding a third baseman would allow the Bucs to use Triolo as their stopgap shortstop. The 27-year-old is a better defender at third base but has more shortstop experience than Gonzales. He also has the superior defensive grades as a second baseman. Triolo has a similarly light bat, carrying a .236\/.320\/.347 slash in three seasons. A strong second half (.276\/.353\/.422) has earned him multiple votes of confidence from Cherington, yet he\u2019s not going to firmly stand in the way of an upgrade.<\/p>\n

Su\u00e1rez might be the only clear improvement on the free agent market among realistic targets for the Bucs. There\u2019s still time for a late-offseason trade opportunity to present itself. The Phillies run at Bichette, for instance, would almost certainly lead to an Alec Bohm<\/a> trade if a deal comes together.<\/p>\n

Left field doesn\u2019t seem to be as big a priority. Pittsburgh acquired Garcia and\u00a0Jake Mangum<\/a> via trade. O\u2019Hearn has the ability to work as a semi-regular corner outfielder on top of his first base\/DH split alongside\u00a0Spencer Horwitz<\/a>. Lowe has outfield experience as well, though Cherington said he\u2019ll work as the primary second baseman. Pittsburgh also tendered a contract to Jack Suwinski<\/a>, so he\u2019s still in the mix as a depth piece.<\/p>\n

Any rotation pickup is likely to be on a one-year deal late in the winter.\u00a0Paul Skenes<\/a>,\u00a0Mitch Keller<\/a> and\u00a0Bubba Chandler<\/a> are locked into the rotation. Braxton Ashcraft<\/a> should be in there as well, though he worked in a swing role last season and only once pitched beyond five innings in a start. Rookies Hunter Barco<\/a> and\u00a0Thomas Harrington<\/a> would compete for the fifth starter role. Carmen Mlodzinski<\/a> could get another look as a starter but struggled in that role early last season and worked 2-3 inning stints in the second half.\u00a0Jared Jones<\/a> will hopefully be back from elbow surgery by the All-Star Break.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s plenty of talent, but only Skenes and Keller are established sources of innings. Pittsburgh generally signs a fifth starter to a one-year contract worth $8MM or less. That\u2019s often a soft-tossing lefty whom they can get for cheap and rely on PNC Park \u2014 the most difficult for right-handed home run power \u2014 to get decent results.\u00a0Jose Quintana<\/a>,\u00a0Tyler Anderson<\/a>,\u00a0Mart\u00edn P\u00e9rez<\/a>,\u00a0Andrew Heaney<\/a> and trade pickup\u00a0Bailey Falter<\/a> have all fallen in that bucket. Quintana, Anderson, P\u00e9rez and\u00a0Patrick Corbin<\/a> are speculative possibilities this offseason.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Pirates finalized their two-year deal with Ryan O\u2019Hearn on Thursday. That signing paired with the\u00a0Brandon Lowe trade…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":403631,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[558],"tags":[64,63,44457,591,214269,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-403630","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mlb","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-jared-triolo","11":"tag-mlb","12":"tag-nick-gonzales","13":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/403630","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=403630"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/403630\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/403631"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=403630"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=403630"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=403630"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}