Throughout the late stages of the offseason, the Pirates have reportedly been exploring the trade market for rotation help, with the Marlins (specifically, right-hander Edward Cabrera) being the team most frequently suggested as a potential trade partner. However, while the Bucs talked with the Fish and surely several other clubs about deals to bolster the rotation, Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports that talks have “lost steam” and that GM Ben Cherington now says he’s increasingly focused on the arms in house.
“If there are things we can do to make the team better, we’re gonna stay on that,” Cherington tells Mackey. “No guarantee those things happen. We’re mostly focused on the guys who are here.”
The Pirates have three slam-dunk members of their Opening Day rotation: Mitch Keller, Martin Perez and Marco Gonzales. Keller, who recently signed a five-year contract extension, will get the Opening Day nod. There are still a pair of open rotation jobs, however, and Cherington suggested there are six or seven options vying for those two opportunities.
The names currently competing include a mix of young prospects, rebound candidates coming off a down 2023 showing, and veterans hoping to win a spot. While the Pirates have already informed 2023 No. 1 overall draft pick Paul Skenes that he won’t make the Opening Day roster, fellow top prospect Jared Jones (No. 74 on Baseball America’s top 100 list) is firmly in the mix. Jones may not have the same ceiling as Skenes, but Skenes pitched just 6 2/3 innings last year following the draft. Jones, on the other hand, logged a combined 3.85 ERA, 27.6% strikeout rate and 9.4% walk rate in 126 1/3 frames between Double-A and Triple-A in ’23. He’s pitched 4 2/3 shutout innings in camp.
Jones, 22, was specifically called out by manager Derek Shelton as a candidate for a spot in the Opening Day rotation (X link via Alex Stumpf of MLB.com). He’d need to be added to the 40-man roster, which could potentially work against him. That’s not true of Roansy Contreras, Quinn Priester, Luis Ortiz, Bailey Falter and Kyle Nicolas, each of whom is on the 40-man roster. (Lefty Jackson Wolf is as well, but the Pirates already optioned him to Double-A in their first wave of spring cuts).
Contreras and Falter have the most experience of the bunch. Both are looking to rebound from ugly 2023 showings. Contreras looked like a potential rotation staple as recently as 2022, when he pitched 95 innings of 3.79 ERA ball with passable, if unspectacular, strikeout and walk rates (21.1%, 9.6%). However, he lost more than a mile off his heater in ’23 and took a step back in virtually every rate category of note. He’s still only 24 years old and is just two years removed from being a top-100 prospect himself, so there’s ample time for him to figure things out. He’s out of minor league options, meaning he’ll make the roster one way or another — be it in the rotation or in the bullpen. Pirates fans will want to check out Mackey’s piece in full, as it more fully details some of the gains Contreras has shown thus far in camp.
Falter was acquired at the 2022 trade deadline in a swap sending utilityman Rodolfo Castro to the Phillies. The 26-year-old was never as touted a prospect as Contreras was, but the two followed relatively similar arcs otherwise: brief MLB debut in 2021, solid back-of-the-rotation results in 2022, poor showing in 2023. Falter tossed 84 innings with a 3.86 ERA as the Phillies’ fifth starter in ’22, fanning 21.2% of his opponents against an exceptional 4.9% walk rate. Like Contreras, he saw his strikeout, walk, swinging-strike and home run rates all back up in 2023 as he finished out the season with a 5.36 ERA in 80 2/3 frames. Also like Contreras, he’s out of minor league options and will need to make the roster or else be traded or exposed to waivers.
Priester, Ortiz and Nicolas all have minor league options remaining and have all made their big league debuts (in quite brief fashion, for Nicolas). They all ranked within the organization’s top 15 prospects at Baseball America as recently as 2023. Priester and Ortiz both drew top-100 fanfare prior to their debuts. None of the three has established himself on the roster, however. Priester has the best minor league numbers of the group but has been hit harder than Ortiz in the big leagues. Ortiz throws the hardest but has displayed shakier command than Priester. Nicolas still hasn’t had much success above Double-A, so he seems likely ticketed for Triple-A Indianapolis to begin the year, particularly since he’s already been hit hard in camp.
The Bucs also have a pair of veterans who could compete for a job. Lefty Josh Fleming is on the 40-man roster after signing a split deal late in the winter. He’s out of options and can’t be sent down, but he’s spent the bulk of his MLB career as a swingman with the Rays and could be headed for a similar spot in Pittsburgh. Righty Chase Anderson is in camp on a non-roster deal. The 36-year-old hasn’t posted a sub-5.00 ERA in the big leagues since being traded by the Brewers following the 2019 season but has shown decently in Triple-A while bouncing around the league since then.
Sign Trevor Bauer and add him to the #1 spot in the rotation.
Trevor is waiting.
While I agree with you, they already shot Bauer’s people down.
Certainly, Ortiz, Priester and Perez have shown positive signs so far this spring. I’d think that’s why Cherington has slowed the immediacy of any trade
Players Union didn’t back him. Owners backed union decision
Waiting for his flight to Japan maybe.
For the 1000th time, Cherington has repeatedly said that he isn’t interested in signing Bauer
It’s like wishing by rubbing the lantern and expecting your wish to come true
Anyone remember when “Owensboro” was “blackpink in the areo”?
Been begging for 2 years. It’s beyond time and for the price he’s only going to do wonders on the fundamentals for that young up and coming staff.
Do it. We saw what happened when the Chiefs signed the SDSU punter. It was a story for like a day or two.
Didn’t they not offer a contract to their current punter making it that much more significant if I’m not mistaken. The fans forgive if you’ve been cleared of wrong doing in the eyes of public law.
Tommy Townsend is a UFA, just hired Drew Rosenhaus (the NFL equivalent of Scott Boras) as his agent and will likely become the highest paid punter of all time (so far at least). Evidently the Chiefs believe Araiza to Townsend isn’t enough of an upgrade to pay him what it would realistically take to keep him. And Araiza has more raw talent than Townsend so if the Chiefs can teach him the the parts of punting that *can* be taught it’s not a downgrade period.
Suwinski for Cabrera?
What losers this team and the Nationals are gonna suck forever with their fraudulent rebuilds a team like the tigers actually knows how to rebuild
Falter and Fleming will probably start in the bullpen, especially with Moreta hurt long-term. Falter will be the swing man that spot starts when needed, and Fleming will be a ground ball specialist.
The Pirates will likely go with two of Priester, Jones, Ortiz, and Contreras. The first three will go to AAA to continue starting if they don’t win a spot, but Contreras would go to the bullpen so the Pirates don’t risk losing him to waivers.
My predication is that Ortiz and Contreras start the season in the rotation and Priester and Jones are optioned to AAA. I think Jones would be the first callup should anyone (including the two vets) falter early in the season, and Priester will be needed throughout the year.
No need to sign someone like Lorenzen or German, or trade for anyone. I think the guys in house will be more than serviceable with a lot more upside than outside acquisitions, especially the four I listed as starting options since they all were top 100 prospects within the last three years.
Won’t see Jones until June. Unless after decades the Pirates changed how they handle no service time prospects.
Normally I’d agree, but I think with Jones and Skenes that May is a possibility. I think they’ll prioritize the extra year of control, but not the money because of how thin the MLB team is in the starting rotation on paper.
However, if the starting pitching is doing well when May hits, then if I’m the Pirates I wait until June for both. But, I genuinely think that gaining the 7th year of control is the only thing they’re overly concerned with.
Agree. Could happen if they are winning and no other options. They gave Reynolds super two. No need to wait until May. They could call them up mid April and gain extra year. The worry is that if they are so amazing they could win ROY. Priester or Ortiz is next man up. If injury happens mid late May the Pirate thing to do would use Fleming Anderson Falter whoever is around and limp into that June date they have in mind. I will put my $ in June but wouldn’t rule out May or even April.
I know it’s only 16 days to gain the extra year of service time, but the odds of the Pirates making a roster move that fast for a starting pitcher is very slim. That’s why I said May. That gives the starting pitchers 5/6 or so starts a piece before deciding one needs replaced. Position players are a little different since they play everyday.
I’d lead towards June for both, but if the rotation stinks and Jones and/or Skenes are hot out of the gate, I could see them making a move after a month or so. Too many variables to really guess, though. Hopefully they don’t need them until June. I actually think one or both of Gonzales and Perez will be worse than Contreras and Ortiz.
Figured you knew but put it out there. Many read the comments but don’t comment. I get thumbs up from people I never seen comment so figure many dont even have names created. They can do whatever they want. They can change. But they could have used Cole Taillon sooner but waited until June. Different gm but same owner. And the gm isn’t different. He does things like NH but just better. Bob hired him to carry out his plan. Bob liked NH. He wanted another NH but with better player development. Even sourced the same college.
The players union really didn’t gain much with the draft pick compensation. A few guys who play for the weaker ran teams made opening day roster. But the smart teams out number them. They will make sure there isn’t enough time to win ROY. Or finish 2nd same thing no ROY contention. And if there isn’t a need and player isn’t demanding stats wise to be called up. Someone who would previously been called up in June July will now be held back until September. Get a month of mlb seasoning and still be eligible to contend for ROY next year. And if they don’t excell they don’t make opening day roster next year and have to wait until summer.
Yeah, Huntington did a nice job and I’m surprised he hasn’t got another shot from a rebuilding team. He was very good at building a winner, but terrible at maintaining it.
As soon as the team underachieved in 2016 he doubled down on trading prospects for MLB pieces, all while not developing as well as he should have (when I was he, I mean his development staff). Other than acquiring Cruz for Watson in 2017, he basically traded away all of the prospect depth at the deadlines from 2012-2018. He should have sold off a couple more players for prospects in the ’16-’17 window and I think the team would have been better off and not had to rebuild.
By the time 2019 rolled around the MLB team was average at best and the farm system stunk.
I am guessing Contreras and Priester
I will go Contreras Ortiz. Seniority. Priester could work on more things at AAA for few weeks month.
That was my thinking. Priester is still only 23 years old and there is no need to rush him, go with the older guys since they have just as much (or more) upside.
Lorenzen on a two would have been interesting, but cherrington rushed the market over Marco and perez
A source had told me that talks between the Pirates and Marlins over Cabrera significantly deteiorated a few weeks ago. Apparently the breaking point was that the Marlins wanted both Jared Triolo and Liover Peguero, along with some mix of Jun-Seok Shim, Mitch Jebb, and one or two other names that weren’t specificed, at least to me.
I would still like the Pirates to sign one of the veterans currently on the market. I’d be pefectly fine with rounding the rotation out with Michael Lorenzen or Mike Cleinvger. One positive is that the young guys are looking better in Spring. Quinn Priester, Roansy Contreras, and Luis Ortiz are throwing a lot harder than they were last year. All are up by 1+ MPH. I’m not overly enthuisatic about the current look of the OD rotation, but I’m OK with what they’re cooking. They’ll get a lot of mid-season reinforcements with Paul Skenes, Jared Jones (if he isn’t on the OD roster), with Mike Burrows and JT Brubaker returning sometime around the All-star break in July, assuming they don’t have any setbacks.
You’d think they would be better with all those years of being terrible.
Position wise they are pretty solid except for 1B they keep plugging with third tier free agents. The rotation outside of Keller is a rogues gallery for sure. Imo they need to sign one more starter, but that doesn’t seem likely at this point. Rotation is clearly the biggest weakness for this team and will probably be to blame when they finish 10 games under .500
Only been terrible for 3 years. Probably around 500 this year. Should be playoff contenders the rest of the decade.
Hope so. Great stadium and great sports town! The fans deserve it.
Anything can happen but if you look at the top half of their top 30 it’s mostly high end pitching. That’s the hardest most expensive important thing to get. Sites rank them middle of the pack farm system wise but I have them in top 5. Pirates should be strong the rest of this decade.
People believe they been rebuilding for a decade but they had a winning record in 2018 and didn’t start to rebuild until 2021. 2020 was awful but only 60 games. 2023 was a 500 team. They just collapsed in May and sold at deadline. But a solid fun team to watch. 2 miserable rebuilding years is manageable. One of the easiest rebuilds for fans ever. Probably the easiest. Astros Cubs Orioles took double or longer. Royals Tigers have been at it since 2017 or so. Marlins White Sox didn’t impress. Nats are doing ok but not as good as Pirates. No idea what Colorado is doing. Oakland trades look poor. Future rebuilding teams should copy the Pirates.
the fans have deserved a championship since we paid for the construction of PNC Park with our taxes and the stadium opened in:2001
Take Steven Matz and most of his salary.
For? Not gunna get much…
Each report about things that the Pirates were looking to do or who they were interested in, never happened. PR department on full spin cycle this off season
Not from Pirates PR. They are awful at it. A lot of the news wasn’t even from Pittsburgh.
Mlb1225 your source is either some clown you work with or your over active imagination. If Marlins asked for all that there wouldn’t have been any talks because the conversation would be over.
Buctober is closer to the truth. Marlins wanted too much but not so much that you couldn’t wait them out and come to an agreement once they came to their senses. Garret injury made it so talks never got to that point.
Jared Jones is firmly in the mix with the no service time pitching prospects who are going to the minors.
Keller, Perez, Ortiz, Gonzalez are the top 4 SP for 2024. Skenes and Jones will be here in June… Brubaker in July… so getting Contreras to solidify the 5th spot is crucial but I believe he can regain his velocity and confidence. Priester, Falter etc are possible spot starts and long relief.
Perez and Marco are inning eaters. A slam dunk? That’s hilarious. Stop balking at Bauer and take the risk and reward already if you aren’t flipping assists for Cabrera like you should be.
If Blake Snell really just wants The Bora$ Contract, then Pittsburgh should sign him. He will be worth it and they can certainly afford it.
He always throws 102 pitches through 5 because it’s darned hard to hit a fair ball off the guy. That and he does bounce a few of his ridiculous breaking balls. I think both of those things will lessen as he ages, loses a bit of tilt thus leading to fair (but still-inept) contact. His command should improve leading to more efficient outs.
If he stays healthy, duh.
He is the type who could greatly help lead this staff and team to a new level, he’s that good. Knows what he is doing. Likes the big game. Well respected by those around him.
For him, $$$ plus there are way worse things than being the King of Pittsburgh. He can pretend it’s Seattle if on the correct property.
Pirates don’t do opt outs. He will likely get one if he doesn’t get a 150 million deal. Pirates like team friendly.
The last person we sign is snell. Why pay 30 million for a 2 time cy vs league minimum + incentives on another.
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I wouldn’t mind the Phils sending them Tijaun and some cash.
Eduardo Cabrera’s away splits was 0 – 7 with a 5.96 ERA last year. And there’s trade interest?!
I’d think teams would be falling over themselves with another chance to fleece the Bucs. I guessing Cherington is a little less a sucker than his predecessors. Though, in all seriousness, they have three starters and Skenes is nearly there. They don’t need to make a big splash, they probably won’t be good this year regardless. They should have grabbed a handful of depth options. Someone like Gibson would have fit here.
I’ll defer to DreamGM on this one but it would appear that Cherington rebuilt the farm system from rubble and is happily quite hesitant in giving away any prospect who hasn’t had a thorough look here
I think the idea is to have a home grown team that will contend beginning next year, perhaps.
Not sure they have three bonafide starters yet and yes, Skenes is on the cusp, but the strength of the farm is a large number of stud starting pitchers. They’re going to have some tough decisions ahead
Maybe the idea will be to bring in a power hitting young outfield prospect, something they seem to be lacking
Davis is going to stick to if I think. The bats just too good to keep out of the lineup. He can catch enough, but he still needs a ton of development there. And once ends is healthy I think he’s now the preferred option going forward.
I root for the kid, HEHE. Seems to me they messed with his head last year and I’m still wondering how you draft a kid as overall number 1 and don’t catch him at all during the season
Hope you’re right