Pirates To Sign Andrew Heaney

The Pirates are reportedly in agreement with Andrew Heaney on a one-year deal that’ll guarantee $5.25MM. The deal, which is pending a physical, also includes performance bonuses for the Icon Sports Management client. Pittsburgh’s 40-man roster is at capacity, so they’ll need to make a corresponding move when the signing is finalized.

It’s a relatively low-cost addition to the back of the rotation. Heaney has been a capable fourth or fifth starter in Texas over the last two seasons. He turned in a 4.15 ERA across 147 1/3 innings two seasons ago. Last year, he pitched to a 4.28 mark while ranking second on the team with 160 innings. Heaney took the ball 66 times for the Rangers and allowed 4.22 earned runs per nine over 307 1/3 frames.

The 33-year-old southpaw had a solid if unspectacular strikeout and walk profile. Heaney has fanned around 23-24% of opposing hitters in each of the past two seasons. After running a career-high 9.4% walk rate in ’23, he cut the free passes to a personal-low 5.9% clip last year. His 12% swinging strike rate was a little better than average.

Heaney has long had the ability to miss bats. Last season’s 22.9% strikeout rate, while slightly above the 22% league average for starting pitchers, was Heaney’s lowest mark in a decade. He has never really been a flamethrower. Heaney’s fastball sat in the 92-93 MPH range during his best seasons. It was down slightly to 91.5 MPH on average last year. The pitch has always had good life that allows it to play above its velocity as a swing-and-miss offering.

Despite the impressive strikeout rates, Heaney owns a 4.45 ERA in more than 1000 career innings. As a fly-ball pitcher without huge velocity, he’s quite susceptible to home runs. Heaney has allowed 1.54 homers per nine innings in his career, while he surrendered 1.29 longballs per nine last year. The Pirates hope that their park can mitigate some of that. According to Statcast’s park factors, only Oracle Park and the Oakland Coliseum have played less favorably for home runs over the past three seasons than PNC Park. Pittsburgh’s home field has been the toughest venue for right-handed power hitters, in particular, so there aren’t many more sensible landing spots for a fly-ball lefty pitcher.

Pittsburgh has a loaded top three in their rotation: Paul Skenes, Jared Jones and Mitch Keller. Heaney projects as the fourth starter. Bailey Falter, who has a similar profile as a soft-tossing lefty, is the favorite for the fifth spot. The Bucs thinned their rotation depth when they included Luis Ortiz in the return for first baseman Spencer Horwitz. Depth options on the 40-man roster include Braxton Ashcraft, Mike Burrows and Johan Oviedo (the latter of whom will return after missing the ’24 season rehabbing Tommy John surgery). Prospects Bubba Chandler and Tom Harrington have reached Triple-A and should make their debuts at some point in 2025.

This is Pittsburgh’s sixth major league free agent pickup of the offseason. They’ve all been one-year commitments worth fewer than $6MM. They brought back Andrew McCutchen on another $5MM guarantee and added Tommy Pham ($4MM), Caleb Ferguson ($3MM), Adam Frazier ($1.5MM) and Tim Mayza ($1.15MM). Pittsburgh’s player payroll now sits around $88MM, as calculated by RosterResource. That’s essentially where they ended last season. Cot’s Baseball Contracts projects the Pirates for the fifth-lowest payroll in MLB.

Heaney was one of the few remaining free agent starters who was sure to find a big league deal. Jose Quintana and Kyle Gibson are the best unsigned options for teams looking to deepen their rotation.

Robert Murray of FanSided first reported the Pirates and Heaney were nearing a deal. Jon Heyman of The New York Post confirmed the agreement. Alden González of ESPN had it as a one-year deal at $5MM with incentives. Andrew Destin of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported the guarantee was $5.25MM. Image courtesy of Imagn.