Pittsburgh Pirates Rebuild - 2025 Post Season / Off Season
- IamCogs
- 6 days ago
- 6 min read
The 2025 Post Season has come and gone, the Pirates played host the the New York Mets. The teams traded blow out wins, with the Mets winning game 1, 7-2 and the Pirates winning game 2, 12-2. It all came down to a game 3, the Mets jumped out a 4-1 lead and held that lead until the 8th, where the Pirates struck for 2 runs.
Cue the bottom of the 9th, the Pirate get 2 runners on 2nd and 3rd with two outs. With LHP A. J. Minter pitching, Pirates legend Andrew McCutchen was called upon to pinch hit, with the chance to send the Pirates to the Divisional Series with a base hit. And on a 2 strike pitch... Cutch comes up empty. And the Pirates are sent to the offseason.
The rest of the post season played out like this:
With the Rangers winning their 2nd World Series in 3 seasons. We also were treated to another Yankees and Red Sox post season classic. While the Cubs made short work of the Cardinals, then ran into the NL West buzzsaw Dodgers.
Joc Pederson was named World Series MVP, belting 4 HR and knocking in 11.
Award Winners
American League
MVP: Aaron Judge .242/.373/.528 44 HR 4.7 WAR
Cy Young: Garrett Crochet 14-6 2.77 ERA 192.0 IP 5.8 WAR
Rookie of the Year: Roman Anthony .266/.339/.524 34 HR 4.0 WAR
Reliver of the Year: Edwin Uceta 4-5 31 SV 0.53 ERA 2.1 WAR
Gold Gloves: P Ronel Blanco, C Jake Rogers, 1B Colt Keith, 2B Andres Gimenez (4), 3B Alex Bregman (2), SS Anthony Volpe (2), RF Victor Robles, CF Daulton Varsho (2), RF Wilyer Abreu (2)
Silver Sluggers: C Adley Rutschman (2), 1B Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (3), 2B Jazz Chisholm Jr., 3B J. Ramirez (6), SS C. Seager (4), LF W. Langford, CF J. Rodriguez (3), RF A. Judge (5), DH R. Devers (3)
National League
MVP: Shohei Ohtani .277/.354/.566 40 HR 5.7 WAR
Cy Young: Paul Skenes 17-7 2.65 ERA 214.1 IP 7.3 WAR
Rookie of the Year: Roki Sasaki 15-3 2.85 ERA 154.2 IP 4.6 WAR
Reliver of the Year: Blake Treinen 5-1 1 SV 1.22 ERA 1.7 ERA
Gold Gloves: P Chris Sale (2), C Jose Trevino (2), 1B Nathaniel Lowe (2), 2B N. Hoerner (2), 3B K. Hayes (2), SS F. Lindor (3), LF B. Nimmo, CF Pete Crow-Armstrong, RF K. Tucker (2)
Silver Sluggers: C Will Smith, 1B Bryce Harper (5), 2B K. Marte (2), 3B M. Machado (3), SS Francisco Lindor (5), LF I. Happ, CF M. Harris II, RF F. Tatis Jr. (3), DH K. Schwarber (2)
Paul Skenes winning the Cy Young in his 2nd season was well deserved, he carried the staff and was consistently elite throughout the 2025 season.
And finally the Hall of Fame class has just 1 inductee this year, CF Carlos Beltran, who earned 75.5% of the vote.
Roster Moves
Players Leaving
The following players had their arbitration withdrawn:
SP Johan Oviedo (Giants Minor League System)
RP David Bednar (Boston Red Sox)
RP Justin Lawrence (Blue Jays Minor League System)
And the following players were allowed to leave for free agency:
RP Ryan Borucki (Cubs Minor League System)
SS Isiah Kiner-Falefa (Miami Marlins)
DH Andrew McCutchen (Houston Astros)
CL Chris Martin (Arizona Diamondbacks)
Additions
Arbitration:
CF Oneil Cruz (54/54) 4,851,000
LF Jack Suwinski (53/53) 3,497,600
SP Bailey Falter (43/43) 3,000,000
RP Colin Holderman (46/46) 1,700,000
RP Dennis Santana (45/45) 1,700,000
Pending Free Agents Re-signed:
RP Caleb Ferguson (47/47) 3 year, 3M AAV.
RP Will Smith (37/37) 3 year, 2M AAV.
RP Tim Mayza (39/39) 2 year, 1.6M AAV.
Free Agency
We were very aggressive in free agency. With plans to move Oneil Cruz to CF, we were needing a SS to fill the hole created with that. Jack Brannigan still needs some time to develop into a full time starter so we targeted former Blue Jay SS Bo Bichette early and aggressively, inking him to 6 year, 183,000,000 deal. (30.5 AAV). Bichette spent his last 7 seasons in Toronto, slashing .284/.325/.457 while hitting 109 HR and driving in 409 runners. The two time All-Star will provide stability at Short Stop for the next 6 years.
Other Free Agents signed include:
Needing some Bullpen help we signed RP Pierce Johnson (45/45) 2 year, 1.8M AAV.
And RP Kirby Yates (47/47) 1 year, 2M AAV.
OF Alex Verdugo (46/46) gives us depth in the outfield at left and right field. 1 year, 2.6M AAV.
International free agent right hander SP Mel Ramos (56/56) from Mexico for 4 years, 31,700,000 AAV.
Rule 5 Draft
The Pirates added 1 player to the roster via Rule 5. RP Dedniel Nunez (49/49) from the New York Mets, inflicting a slight amount of payback for the Wild Card elimination. He however suffered an offseason injury and is expected to miss the first 3 months of the season.
International Amateurs
LF Willie Cruz (22/57)
3B Glen Bullock (22/56)
C Jonathan Rivera (22/48)
RF Roberto Moreco (21/49)
3B Rick Garcia (21/66)
SP Manny Santos (21/40)
SP Hugo Ramirez (20/45)
Trades
Finally, as the Pirates continue to attempt to improve their starting pitching. We pulled the trigger on a huge trade. Nabbing SP Logan Gilbert (62/62) from the Mariners. The Pirates in return sent SP Mitch Keller (48/48), 2B Liover Peguero (44/47), and minor leaguers 1B Nick Cimillo (41/43), CF Paulino Santana (26/47), CF Konnor Griffin (35/66), and RHP Luis Rodriguez (23/29). Giving the Pirates a lethal 1-2 SP pitch at the top of the rotation.
Notable MLB Trades
SP Kris Bubic (52/52) to the Dbacks for 4 prospects.
SP Shota Imanaga (48/48) to the Rangers for 3B Josh Smith (46/46) and a prospect.
LF Steve Kwan (47/47) to the Padres for SP Stephen Kolek (47/47) and a prospect.
C Tyler Stephenson (56/56) to the Cubs for SP Cade Horton (45/55) and 3 other prospects.
2026 Roster
Pitching
Starting Pitchers:
RHP Paul Skenes (80/80)
RHP Logan Gilbert (62/62)
RHP Mel Ramos (56/56)
LHP Bailey Falter (43/43)
RHP Jared Jones (51/58)
Caleb Ferguson will handle closing duties until Dedniel Nunez returns from injury.
Batting
Notable first year players to make the roster are backup C Endy Rodriguez (43/47) and bench infielder Jack Brannigan (42/45).
Henry Davis (50/51) took steps in the offseason to reach his potential, and Kyle Manzardo (54/60) continues to develop into high end 1B with upside power. Jack Suwinski (53/53) made huge strides to be the everyday LF, and 2B Nick Gonzales (48/49) made huge progress in his gap power during the off-season, pushing it into elite territory.
Lineups
Spots 1-3 will look to remain consistent, as Reynolds and Bichette's steady ability to reach will set up Oneil, who lead the 2025 squad in HR and RBI.
Kyle Manzardo in the clean up against Righties as he hits nearly .150 points higher against righties than against lefties.
Henry Davis takes over clean up against lefties, as he punished lefties in 2025.
Suwinski in the 5 hole, his L/R splits were fairly even and he showed decent power in 2025, smacking 22 HR's and 30 2B's.
Bottom of the line up I approached as a "secondary" top of the line up. Nick Gonzales had a .320 OBP and smacked 31 2B in 2025, so he has the power to drive in anyone ahead of him, with the ability to reach fairly consistently.
Josh Palacios also fills this role well vs. righties getting on at a .350 clip.
Eguy Rosario rounds out the 9, one of the three Pirates who went 20/20/20 in 2025. Giving us power at the bottom of the lineup to drive those "secondary" top of the lineup guys in.
Position ranks compared to the rest of the MLB:
2026 Farm System
The Pirates enter the 2026 season with the 8th best system in the league, fielding 5 top ten prospects.
22 y/o P Jamie Arnold (37/62)
19 y/o P C. J. Gray (23/50)
17y/o C Julio Medosa (22/52)
20 y/o P Ronaldys Jimenez (28/46)
19 y/o LF Edward Florentino (29/53)
And
19 y/o P Levi Sterling (32/56)
23 y/o P Magdiel Cotto (40/44)
21 y/o 2B Termarr Johnson (45/54)
19 y/o P Reinold Navarro (25/43)
21 y/o SS Jhonny Severino (36/45)
Round out the rest of the top 10 in the system.
This brings us all to the 2026 regular season, the Pirates will start the season on the road, taking on the Tampa Bay Rays. Followed by a home stand for 3 against the Guardians and 3 games against NL rival Cubs. I'm very excited to see how 2026 turns out, we will see you all in 40 games!
Comments