The Pirates recently had a video chat with free agent starter Kyle Gibson, reports Rob Biertempfel of the Athletic. According to Biertempfel, the Bucs have ongoing interest in the veteran right-hander.
Gibson, 35, just wrapped up his first full season in Philadelphia. He originally landed with the Phillies at the 2021 trade deadline, dealt midway through a three-year free agent deal signed with the Rangers. While he was sitting on a 2.87 ERA through his first 19 starts of the 2021 campaign in Texas, Gibson posted an ERA north of 5.00 through his season and a half in Philly. Through 43 appearances (42 starts), he pitched to a 5.06 ERA across 236 2/3 frames.
That’s not a particularly impressive run prevention mark, but the 2021 All-Star has had more effective underlying numbers. His 20.3% strikeout rate over the past year-plus is a bit below average, although that’s offset by a quality 7% walk percentage. As he has throughout his career, the sinkerballer induced grounders at a quality 48% clip in Philadelphia. That lower-strikeout, high-grounder approach wasn’t necessarily an ideal fit in front of a below-average infield defense. Opposing hitters had a .243 batting average on ground balls against Gibson this past season, slightly above the .235 league mark. He also had one of the league’s lowest left-on-base rates at 67.7%. For his career, Gibson has stranded just under 71% of baserunners he’s allowed. A few more grounders finding gloves and timely outs could lead the 10-year veteran to an ERA closer to the low-4.00’s range, where defense-adjusted estimators like FIP and SIERA have pegged his recent production.
Pittsburgh was one of the league’s better teams at turning grounders into outs this past season. Ke’Bryan Hayes is an elite defensive third basemen, although shortstop Oneil Cruz drew mixed reviews from public metrics for his rookie season. The Bucs have acquired a trio of capable defenders at first base this offseason — free agent signee Carlos Santana, trade acquisition Ji-Man Choi and waiver claim Lewin Díaz — while their second base job still seems largely up for grabs.
The Pirates have a young rotation with potentially multiple vacancies to plug. As things stand, Mitch Keller, JT Brubaker and Roansy Contreras look to have the inside track at rotation spots. Keller and Brubaker, each of whom are entering their first seasons of arbitration eligibility, could find themselves in trade rumors this winter. Even if they return, the final two spots are up in the air. Neither Bryse Wilson nor Zach Thompson pitched particularly well in their 20+ starts this past season. Johan Oviedo, who came over from the Cardinals midseason in the José Quintana and Chris Stratton trade, had a solid seven starts to put himself in the mix. The 24-year-old has been inconsistent as a strike-thrower, though, and he was primarily deployed out of the bullpen in St. Louis. Luis Ortiz, Miguel Yajure and Mike Burrows are depth options already on the 40-man roster, and top prospect Quinn Priester could pitch his way into the mix midseason after a strong year at Double-A.
It seems likely the Bucs will add at least one veteran arm, both to eat innings and add some experience for a generally young group of hurlers. Last year, they inked Quintana to a $2MM bounceback deal. He provided them with 20 starts of 3.50 ERA ball before the midseason trade that brought back Oviedo and minor league first baseman Malcom Nuñez. Quintana’s again a free agent, and Biertempfel reports the Pirates are interested in bringing him back to the Steel City. Quintana will certainly land a far better contract this time around — MLBTR predicts him for a two-year, $24MM deal — and it remains to be seen if the Pirates are willing to meet a loftier asking price. Gibson doesn’t figure to be quite so expensive, although he should fairly easily beat the $2MM guarantee Quintana received last offseason.
The additions of Santana and Choi added roughly $11MM in projected spending to the 2023 ledger. Nevertheless, the Bucs still have just over $54MM in estimated commitments, per Roster Resource. Even a modest hike from this year’s approximate $56MM Opening Day payroll should allow them to continue building out the roster with lower-cost veteran additions.
Pittsburgh is certain to bring in at least one experienced catcher, and general manager Ben Cherington has previously expressed an openness to adding in the middle infield. Biertempfel writes the Pirates are similarly willing to supplement the outfield. It’s hard to envision the Bucs making a huge splash in any of those areas, but they figure to explore the lower tiers of various areas of the market to continue shoring up the weakest points on a roster coming off a 62-100 campaign.
I would be down with the Pirates getting Gibson.
Please take him off the board before the Phillies get any ideas.
Not a stupid take at all, plain and simple. It was quite humorous.
Video chat? Now the Pirates are too cheap to meet free agents in person? How low can this franchise go?
It’s better than how they used to contact free agents. “You have a collect call from the Pittsburgh Pirates”
Thanks for the laugh. That was a great take.
Ahem…
…cause no other team does that…
Stupid take, plain and simple. There’s ample things to complain about and you chose this?
Seriously?? You’re digging pretty deep to find another Pirates are cheap narrative. Video calls are the norm for the second tier free agents unlike a Judge meeting where the team is limited due to the size of the contract. Gibson’s price appeals to most teams. The Pirates are well known to be frugal….BIG surprise.
To anyone reading this: you’ve reached the humor-free zone
The Pirates are so cheap comments are like the 2.0 of “yo mama jokes.”
Ever consider this was Gibson’s idea and not that of the Pirates, bucsfan0004?
I dunno y’all I found that funny.
I’m a fan and I laughed.
Better get 2 starters then because they need a lefty.
Bob Nutting says that you need to calm down with this two free agents talk.
Gibson is not a bad pitcher and if BC thinks that he is the best that they can do and he is at a reasonable one year price then I would say sign him.BC did not get much for Anderson but he did for Quintana and I do not think it wise to invest in a two year contract for him.
In recent years, they’ve managed to revive the careers of pitchers in their early to mid 30’s, so I’d welcome this addition to their rotation
Tyler Anderson and Jose Quintana are prime examples of those who’s careers have been revived under this management
Nice that they can revive careers of aging guys, teaching them to get through 4 or 5 innings, but have a difficult time in developing young pitchers in their system. Taillon, Glasnow, Kuhl, Brault, Kingham, Holmes….probably double the amount they’ve turned around
Look, it’s never going to change
These fringe signings and subsequent sell offs mid year will continue to be the norm
I can hope for the best. That these older guys find redemption. That the kids mature into stars. That the team is competitive. But in the back of my mind is the simple fact that the owner is a carpetbagger who continues to fleece fans
it just could be that a few of those pitchers were always mediocre and no amount of coaching would change that perception.
They never really gave Glasnow an opportunity before trading him, Keller improved during the 2nd half last season, Brubaker is an inning eater who gives up way too many homers and is 27 I think. He’s probably not going to get any better than what he is.
Tailion is the only legitimate pitcher in that group who needed both a change of scenery and an injury free season to blossom
All that said, you do make a valid point, Dude, but this has been a problem with this management for years and not just recently
Position players and pitchers, coming up through the organization, leaving through trades then reaching their potential elsewhere
Keller made strides and out of them all, Oviedo looked most promising to me. I think the jury is out on Contreras but preliminarily, he’s an upgrade
But as far as Brubaker, Thompson and Wilson are concerned, their collective propensity to pitch dead red at the most inopportune times is disturbing
Their love of throwing off speed pitches that hang in Main Street is another quality we saw all year
It’s a strange era, though. Starters only have to go 5 innings to be looked upon as “consistent”. That said, much of the qualities discussed here extend to their middle relievers and closers
Not sure if anyone coming up through the minors is any departure from all of this, of course. It’s just kind of funny that the Pirates will sign a veteran who at the very least, knows where to throw the ball and when, and fans want to fall all over themselves about their pitching. All it is comes down to contrasts between the younger guys and the vet himself
Anderson and Quintana were crafty, nothing more. Put them on contending teams and ask them to go 4-5 innings and it’s no surprise they find success. This guy will likely be the same
But he’s not the cure for the Pirates pitching ills. Maybe someday, they’ll assemble a true staff.
Anderson won 15 games for the Dodgers this season recording his lowest ERA in his career while recording his 3rd highest strikeouts in 178 innings pitched
Maybe it’s the environment where winning is expected why pitchers leaving Pittsburgh revive their careers
pitchers usually come to pittsburgh to revive their careers on a show me contract. When they do okay they get traded. Pirates been doing that for quite a while.
Joew-The Pirates and Ray Searage reclaimed five pitchers as I recall-Morton,Nova,Liriano,Burnett,and Volquez.The first three were traded in salary dumps,the fourth retired,and the last got a better offer and won a WS.Searage did a fine job with all,but not so well with young pitchers.
The only chance that the Pirates or any small market team has is to develop their own players.
Anderson and Quintana were rentals and both performed very well and were a feather in BC’s cap.They got young players in return as they were not a competitive team.
The proof of BC’s stewardship is whether or not the young players that he has garnered will form a competitive team for the playoffs and how soon that would occur.
I would only disagree about Morton, @MendozaLine. He was pretty average here—had his ups and downs—and really became a true pitcher in Houston. I was amazed to see his velocity up and the break in his spin pitches so astounding.
I’ll give Searage his due. He did wonders for the guys you named and really, Grilli and Melancon, too
But as stated, he didn’t have the same success with the younger pitchers
Tired- You are right about Morton,inconsistent here,although he was fairly young when they got him from the Braves.He was hurt too often too,and they unloaded his $9M contract on the Phillies who had him for all of three starts until,you guessed it,he got hurt for the year.
You are right about Grilli and Melancon too.
Those teams could get away with that design because Searage and the instructor who went to the Marlins were good at improving or adjusting veteran pitchers.
The problem since the middle of 2019 is that they are so bad that they need someone who is good with young pitchers.
I see some results but time will tell if they are going to be good enough.
I’m wondering why Hanrahan left the organization with all of this in mind. I’m taking it he wanted to move up to the big leagues and perhaps felt snubbed. I know he received a great deal of acclaim. Shame
And didn’t the Pirates get a player development guy from Tampa last year? Again, all stellar reports about him
Not sure or aware of either of those situations.
Imagine, looking to add players at this time of year for no other reason than to dump them at the trade deadline
A never-ending cycle in Pittsburgh.
Gibson’s stats should improve at PNC Park if he’s willing to accept a deal with the Bucs. He would bring experience and give the Bucs some innings. This sounds like it could benefit this club. His market value is shown on Sportrac to be similar to Wacha’s. Would love for the Bucs to take a shot at getting him, too.
He can’t leave the Phillies. How would they ever repeat as NL champs without him
Gibson was a notable piece of the Phillies run this year. Take him off the team with no replacement and they don’t make the playoffs.
A medicore pitcher that will lose 15 games with an Era over 5, a perfect fit for the Bucs.
We said that about Tyler Anderson, Jose Quintana, Ivan Nova, JA Happ, Francisco Liriano, Edinson Volquez, and AJ Burnett too. I’ll never question the Pirates ability to revive the career of an over 30 starter.
Need pitchers. Otherwise there is a lot of just hanging around and really long games.
he had it going towards the end of the regular season, pitched some good games
A Pirate type of pitcher.
I hope you are right
Much beloved in the Phillies clubhouse. But Phillies need to aim higher.
I see. You are of course referring to Bartolo Colon. He would be a sold pickup.
Colon is a guaranteed WS victory.
For the Phillies all he did was take the ball EVERY 5th day……Thank you for your 40-50 starts and playoff contribution. Very stable presence, thank you goodsir….
Only wish success, both on the field and in your bank account.
Kyle Gibson was solid during his time with the Phillies, until fading badly in September 2022. I wish him well and thank him for his contribution to the team.
This exactly. He was much needed.
A better version of Jake Odorizzi.
Plus he’s buddies w the Jomboy crew
Gibson would almost certainly cause Pirates to win more games, just as the Choi and Santana acquisitions do. Is it enough to make them a playoff team? Not even close, but if they add someone like Manaea to pair with Gibson, then I can see them being the next Orioles type surprise team.
First off, I hope you’re right. I almost have to preface my comments these days with that note
But to the point, I would love to be a fly on the wall when the Pirates make such moves as opposed to a team with younger talent like Cleveland or Baltimore. I suspect that neither of those teams would opt for two weak hitting first basemen and wonder just what Gibson would provide them, as he ran out of gas in Philly last year
But I’d wonder if the idea is simply to bide time while young guys in the system get more experience and while pitchers develop. When the trade deadline is in sight, they parlay these guys into more prospects
In other words, I’d wonder if such moves are made with the idea of adding veteran pieces to a core of young players at all.
Tired-The advantage of someone like Gibson is many fold.
(1) innings eater who is a decent pitcher
(2)provides safety for the inevitable serious injuries to younger pitchers
(3) can assist in teaching by example for young pitchers
(4)salary will not break the bank
(5) can be traded at the deadline for more young pitchers if he pitches reasonably well
The Pirates are not looking at him for any long term commitment,nor should they.They need to develop their pitchers in house like the Guardians do.
And,by the way,I think that the Orioles were very bad for at least four or five years.
You’re right, of course, and I don’t think he’s be any more of a reclamation project than Quintana and Anderson were
I think teams like the Braves, Guardians and of course, the Dodgers and Astros are models when it comes to not only developing players but filling in the roster around them with guys who’ll make impacts on the field and in the clubhouse
There have been some good discussions on this site about the Orioles. Not sure if the guys who did well in ‘22 were largely the same cast that struggled the past few years. I’m inclined to say no
Tired-The four teams that you named are good examples,although the Guardians specialty is pitchers whereas the others have some of both.Good pitching beats good hitting almost every time and the WS was an example of that this year.Those teams are well run and smart enough to know that reasoning.
Is it the chicken or the egg?Are these teams some of the best and attract the best coaches,while the Pirates get Derek Shelton?Do they spend a lot more money on them than the Pirates do?
How do teams like the Pirates attract them?Everyone wants to play or coach for a winner.
I will say that those teams are now all winners so they can fill those playing positions long term because it can mean making the playoffs and possibly advancing in them whereas the Pirates are looking for fillers at this point.The Guardians as a small market team have a tougher road to hoe.You and I agree that we are looking for clear cut improvement which is not too much to ask for at this point to end our long baseball nightmare.