"The Pirates enter this winter on a quest to augment their offense in a way that could allow them to contend while superstar hurler Paul Skenes is still in town. Skenes is backed by a solid group of pitching options, including veteran Mitch Keller as well as young arms like Braxton Ashcraft and Bubba Chandler in the rotation along with closer Dennis Santana in the bullpen."
"That leaves the team in need of help in the lineup, and they appear to be unusually willing to dip into free agency to get it. The team had interest in Josh Naylor before he re-upped with the Mariners and has even shown interest in star slugger Kyle Schwarber. A deal at or approaching $100MM would be virtually unheard of for the Pirates in their team history. Reynolds' $100MM extension is the only nine-figure deal in history, and their next two richest deals (the $70MM range for Mitch Keller and Ke'Bryan Hayes) were both extensions as well."
The Pirates enter the offseason seeking offensive upgrades that could let them compete while Paul Skenes remains under team control. The rotation and bullpen feature Skenes, Mitch Keller, Braxton Ashcraft, Bubba Chandler and closer Dennis Santana, but the lineup produced few above-average hitters; only Spencer Horwitz (119 wRC+) and (101 wRC+) finished above average, with Bryan Reynolds among a small group capable of being regular contributors. Pittsburgh has shown willingness to pursue free agents, courting Josh Naylor and expressing interest in Kyle Schwarber despite modest historical free-agent spending. The team is also targeting lower-cost options like Ryan O'Hearn, Jorge Polanco and Kazuma Okamoto.
Read at MLB Trade Rumors
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