Pirates Get Grim Ranking Heading Into 2025 Season
On the heels of a second straight 76-86 season, there's a lot of work for the Pittsburgh Pirates to do if they're going to find themselves competing for a playoff spot next season.
MLB.com's rankings of every team and where they currently stand were reflective of just how much work the Pirates have ahead of them if they're going to snap their nine-year streak of missing the postseason.
Mike Petriello ranked the Pirates No. 26 in his power rankings based on wins above replacement (WAR).
"With Paul Skenes, Jared Jones and Mitch Keller anchoring a high-upside rotation –projected as the fifth-best in baseball – there’s a path for the Pirates to make some moves in a relatively wide-open NL Central," Petriello writes. "The only way that’s going to happen, however, is with the addition of external bats, and we do mean bats plural, meaning at least three, for a team that scored the sixth-fewest runs in MLB."
For as good as the Pirates' pitching could be next season with Paul Skenes and Jared Jones in tow, it won't matter much if they can't add proven bats this offseason. Outfielders Bryan Reynolds and Oneil Cruz are the only real known commodities at the plate, while catcher Joey Bart showed promise with the best season of his career in 2024. Pittsburgh will also have to hope that third baseman Ke'Bryan Hayes finds his form from 2023 after struggling mightily at the plate last season.
"Entering 2025, there are maybe only four spots in the lineup that you aren’t actively trying to upgrade – catcher, third base, left field, and center field – and even that is only if you’re willing to let Ke’Bryan Hayes’ elite defense float his inconsistent bat again," Petriello wrote.
If the Pirates are going to take a step forward in 2025, they have to make a splash this offseason, whether it's via trade, signing a pair of free agents or even using both avenues to add offense.
