{"id":445804,"date":"2026-01-31T20:00:09","date_gmt":"2026-01-31T20:00:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/445804\/"},"modified":"2026-01-31T20:00:09","modified_gmt":"2026-01-31T20:00:09","slug":"top-free-agent-absolutely-a-possibility-for-pirates","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/445804\/","title":{"rendered":"Top Free Agent ‘Absolutely’ a Possibility for Pirates"},"content":{"rendered":"

PITTSBURGH \u2014 The Pittsburgh Pirates have made a few big moves this offseason, but none over the month of January.<\/p>\n

The three-team trade that landed second baseman Brandon Lowe, outfielder Jake Mangum and left-handed relief pitcher Mason Montgomery from the Tampa Bay Rays took place on Dec. 19 and the trade for outfielder prospect Jhostynxon Garc\u00eda from the Boston Red Sox came on Dec. 4.<\/p>\n

Pittsburgh officially signed free agent slugger Ryan O’Hearn on Jan. 8 on a two-year, $29 million deal, but was originally reported on Dec. 23.<\/p>\n

The Pirates now could use more additions and there is one free agent that fans want more than anyone else.<\/p>\n

Pirates Could Still Land Eugenio Su\u00e1rez<\/p>\n

Jeff Passan of ESPN held a Q&A on the social media platform Threads<\/a> and fielded questions from baseball fans on a variety of topics.<\/p>\n

One fan asked him what is next for the Pirates and their standing on free agent third baseman Eugenio Su\u00e1rez, who the franchise has shown interest in. <\/p>\n

\"Seattle<\/p>\n

Oct 20, 2025; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Seattle Mariners third baseman Eugenio Suarez (28) throws out Toronto Blue Jays right fielder George Springer (4) at first base in the second inning during game seven of the ALCS round for the 2025 MLB playoffs at Rogers Centre. Mandatory Credit: John E. Sokolowski-Imagn Images | John E. Sokolowski-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

Passan said that the Pirates could still make some moves and that they may land Su\u00e1rez, naming Pittsburgh the best fit for him.<\/p>\n

“I don’t think the Pirates are done. And I think Suarez is absolutely a possibility. Not sure there’s a better fit for him, in fact.”<\/p>\n

Will the Pirates Sign Su\u00e1rez?<\/p>\n

The Pirates have show interest in Su\u00e1rez, but no one has really named the team as where they think he will land. <\/p>\n

Pirates beat writers in\u00a0Alex Stumpf<\/a>\u00a0of MLB.com and\u00a0Jason Mackey<\/a>\u00a0of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette both said it’s unlikely that they land Su\u00e1rez after reporting that they have interest in him.<\/p>\n

Money is a big reason for why the Pirates might not sign Su\u00e1rez, with multiple projections ranging from $15-$25 million AAV.<\/p>\n

Spotrac<\/a>\u00a0puts the market value of Su\u00e1rez at two years, $29.9 million, or about $15 million per season. Kiley McDaniel of\u00a0ESPN<\/a>\u00a0has him at two years, $45 million, $22.5 million per season, while Bowden with\u00a0The Athletic<\/a>\u00a0has Su\u00e1rez at three years, $72 million, or $24 million per year.<\/p>\n

The Pirates are already around the $90-$95 million mark for their payroll with their additions of Lowe and O’Hearn. They also have desired making additions in\u00a0left-handed starting pitching<\/a>, another relief pitcher or two, plus\u00a0potentially<\/a>\u00a0another outfielder.<\/p>\n

\"Tampa<\/p>\n

Sep 16, 2025; St. Petersburg, Florida, USA; Tampa Bay Rays second baseman Brandon Lowe (8) hits a 3-run home run during the third inning against the Toronto Blue Jays at George M. Steinbrenner Field. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement Neitzel-Imagn Images | Kim Klement Neitzel-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

Su\u00e1rez would likely also want a team that he sees as closer to competing, such as a return with the Seattle Mariners or signing with the Boston Red Sox, who might not mind meeting his contract demands.<\/p>\n

The Pirates could still land Su\u00e1rez, who has little market for one of the best power hitters in all of baseball.<\/p>\n

If they can meet his contract demands with reason, they could convince Su\u00e1rez that Pittsburgh is the best place for him in 2026.<\/p>\n

Why Su\u00e1rez Makes Sense for the Pirates<\/p>\n

The Pirates would benefit greatly from adding Su\u00e1rez to their lineup, as they ranked last in home runs in 2025 at just 117 total, while also posting the worst slugging percentage (.350) and OPS (.655),<\/p>\n

Only five other players have hit more home runs than Su\u00e1rez since 2018 and only Pirates Hall of Famer Ralph Kiner has hit more home runs in a season in franchise history than Suarez’s total in 2025<\/p>\n

\"Seattle<\/p>\n

Oct 19, 2025; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Seattle Mariners third baseman Eugenio Suarez (28) hits a RBI single in the sixth inning against the Toronto Blue Jays during game six of the ALCS round for the 2025 MLB playoffs at Rogers Centre. Mandatory Credit: Nick Turchiaro-Imagn Images | Nick Turchiaro-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

He has never hit less than 21 home runs in a season in his career, where he played more than 100 games, which is more than any Pirates player had this season, with center fielder\u00a0Oneil Cruz<\/a>\u00a0leading with 20 home runs.<\/p>\n

Season (Games)<\/p>\n

Home Runs <\/p>\n

2016 (159)<\/p>\n

21<\/p>\n

2017 (156)<\/p>\n

26<\/p>\n

2018 (143)<\/p>\n

34<\/p>\n

2019 (159)<\/p>\n

49<\/p>\n

2021 (145)<\/p>\n

31<\/p>\n

2022 (140)<\/p>\n

31<\/p>\n

2023 (162)<\/p>\n

22<\/p>\n

2024 (158)<\/p>\n

30<\/p>\n

2025 (159)<\/p>\n

49<\/p>\n

The Pirates moved on from Ke’Bryan Hayes<\/a>, their long-time third baseman, who is the best defensively at his position in baseball, but one of the worst hitters there as well.<\/p>\n

Su\u00e1rez has struggled defensively at third base, posting his worst defensive season in his career, with -6 defensive runs saved, -6 outs above average and -4 runs prevented in 2025. <\/p>\n

He also struggled at the plate towards the end of 2025, slashing .189\/.255\/.428 for an OPS of .682 with nine home runs in 53 games with the Mariners, after the Arizona Diamondbacks trade him ahead of the deadline.<\/p>\n

The Pirates may not get the very best out of Su\u00e1rez, but if they can get him above .200, healthy as he’s been and a power right-handed bat, that would help them greatly in ending their decade-long postseason drought. <\/p>\n

Make sure to visit Pirates OnSI for the latest news, updates, interviews and insight on the Pittsburgh Pirates!<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"PITTSBURGH \u2014 The Pittsburgh Pirates have made a few big moves this offseason, but none over the month…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":445805,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[435],"tags":[49,48,462,82],"class_list":["post-445804","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mlb","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-mlb","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/445804","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=445804"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/445804\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/445805"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=445804"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=445804"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=445804"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}