Pirates Improve Offense, Bullpen In Proposed Trade
Improving the offense and bullpen are the clear-cut biggest needs for the Pittsburgh Pirates this offseason.
Given the team's spending habits or lack thereof, the odds Pittsburgh addresses both needs in free agency feels slim at best. The Pirates had the second-lowest payroll in baseball last season, with the Athletics being the only franchise to spend less.
A trade for players with affordable salaries could be on the ledger, though, and ESPN's David Schoenfield had the Pirates going that route by trading utility player Nick Yorke and catcher Joey Bart for right-handed hitting first baseman Yandy Díaz and right-handed reliever Pete Fairbanks.
"The Pirates would upgrade a position at which they ranked 24th in the majors in OPS, and add a potential closer in lieu of David Bednar, who's coming off a bad season," Schoenfield writes. "The Rays get two low-salaried players, addressing their problems at catcher (the Pirates have Endy Rodriguez returning), with Yorke sliding in at either second base (with Brandon Lowe moving to first) or the outfield. Feels like a win-win. Well, assuming the Pirates are willing to take on Diaz's salary."
Díaz and Fairbanks will make a combined $13.7 million next season. Pittsburgh would be hard-pressed to find a better way to improve the offense and bullpen at a better price.
Díaz's bat would be a more than welcome addition to any team, let alone the Pirates who ranked in the bottom 10 in nearly every hitting stat last season. Díaz, 33, batted.281/.341/.414 with 14 home runs and 65 RBIs. A year prior, he finished in the top 10 in MVP voting after hitting .330/.410/.522 with 22 home runs and 78 RBIs and winning the batting title in the American League. He also made the AL All-Star Team and won the Silver Slugger in 2023.
Fairbanks, 30, would slide into the back end of a Pirates bullpen that finished 27th in ERA and blew the second-most leads in the ninth inning. He went 3-3 with a 3.57 ERA, struck out 44 batters over 45.1 innings pitched and tallied 23 saves. In 2023, Fairbanks set a career-high with 25 saves, went 2-4 with a 2.58 ERA and struck out 68 batters in 45.1 innings pitched.
Yorke only made a brief appearance in the big leagues after being acquired from the Boston Red Sox at the trade deadline, playing in 11 games across four different positions and hitting .216/286/.378 with two home runs and five RBIs. Trading Bart could be tough for the Pirates to stomach, though, as he was one of their more consistent hitters last season. Bart had a career season in 2024, posting a 2.2 WAR and batting .265/.337/.462 with 13 home runs and 45 RBIs.
Trading Bart would display the utmost confidence in former top prospect Endy Rodríguez, who missed most of last season recovering from elbow surgery on a torn UCL and appeared in just 10 games in the minor leagues. Trading a young player with Yorke's versatility also wouldn't be an easy decision.
The Pirates can't afford to head into the 2025 season without adding proven hitters and relievers. Díaz and Fairbanks could provide that, but Pittsburgh trading a young player and one of its better young hitters is a steep price it'd have to be comfortable paying.
