OOTP 26 Pittsburgh Pirates Rebuild — 2027–28 Offseason: Reloading for Another Run
- IamCogs
- Jun 28
- 8 min read
Updated: Aug 18
Another whirlwind of an off-season has come and gone with a litany of changes to hopefully get the Pirates over the hump once again. As always there's
Award Winners
American League
MVP: SEA CF Julio Rodriguez (73/74) .284/.354/.539, 37 HR, 107 RBI, 144 wRC+, 7.0 WAR
Cy Young: (2) BOS LHP Garrett Crochet (77/79) 17-5, 2.91 ERA, 210.2 IP, 278 K, 0.94 WHIP, 8.0 WAR
RotY: SEA RF Lazaro Montes (49/53) .291/.365/.508, 21 HR, 81 RBI, 140 wRC+, 2.3 WAR
Reliver of the Year: (4) BAL LHP Josh Hader (53/53) 4-0, 1.57 ERA, 51.2 IP, 91 K, 0.79 WHIP, 1.6 WAR
Gold Gloves: DET P Kodai Senga (2), DET C Jake Rogers (3), TEX 1B Marcus Semien (2), 2B TOR Andres Gimenez (6), TB 3B Junior Caminero (1), KC SS Bobby Witt Jr. (2), KC LF Alecander Canario (2), NYM CF Jose Siri (2), BOS RF Wilyer Abreu (4)
Silver Sluggers: NYY C Austin Wells (1), DET 1B Colt Keith (1), BAL 2B Jackson Holliday (2), BAL 3B Jordan Westburg (1), KC SS Bobby Witt Jr. (2), TEX LF Wyatt Langford (3), SEA CF Julio Rodriguez (5) CLE RF Chase DeLauter (1), NYY DH Aaron Judge (6)
National League
MVP: (5) LAD DH/RHP Shohei Ohtani (80/80) .291/.373/.556, 38 HR, 109 RBI, 148 wRC+, 5.4 WAR | 16-7, 3.64 ERA, 163.1 IP, 159 K, 1.16 WHIP, 2.7 WAR
Cy Young: (3) PIT RHP Paul Skenes (80/80) 18-5, 1.67 ERA, 200.0 IP, 253 K, 0.85 WHIP, 8.6 WAR
RotY: AZ Eduardo Quintero (47/48) .258/.336/.407, 13 HR, 84 RBI, 1109 wRC+, 3.5 WAR
Reliver of the Year: ATL LHP Aaron Bummer (65/65) 9-5, 1.66 ERA, 70.1 IP, 89 K, 0.94 WHIP, 3.1 WAR
Gold Gloves: ATL P Spencer Schwellenbach (1), SF C Patrick Bailey (3), SD 1B Xander Bogaerts (1), CHC 2B Nico Hoerner (4), COL 3B Nolan Arenado (11), PIT SS Bo Bichette (1), LAD LF Steven Kwan (1), LAD CF Harrison Bader (2), SF RF Jung-Hoo Lee (1)
Silver Sluggers: NYM C Francisco Alvarez (1), NYM 1B Juan Soto (7), PIT 2B Termarr Johnson (1), PIT 3B Coby Mayo (1), PIT SS Bo Bichette (2), WAS LF James Woods (1), ATL CF Michael Harris II (3), STL RF Jordan Walker (1), LAD DH Shohei Ohtani (5)
Team Awards
The following Pirates earned hardware for the 2026 season.
Gold Gloves: SS Bo Bichette (1)
Silver Sluggers: 2B Termarr Johnson (1), 3B Coby Mayo (1), SS Bo Bichette (2)
Manager of the Year: (2) ME!!!
Cy Young: (3) RHP Paul Skenes
Roster Moves
Players Leaving
The following players had their arbitration withdrawn:
RHP Carmen Mlodzinski (42/42) [AAA Norfolk]
And the following players were allowed to leave for free agency:
LHP Aroldis Chapman (48/48) [San Francisco Giants]
RHP Jesus Tinoco (44/44) [A+ South Bend]
LHP Tyler Holton (42/42) [Las Vegas Athletics]
RHP Blake Treinen (46/46) [Milwaukee Brewers]
Additions
Arbitration:
LHP Danny Young (47/17) $1,940,000
RHP Dedniel Nunez (46/46) $1,684,140
C Henry Davis (57/57) $11,295,500
RHP Jared Jones (52/52) $11,875,000
LF Jack Suwinski (51/51) $12,287,000
Extensions:
One of my biggest goals this off-season was locking down SP Paul Skenes (80/80) long-term. His expected arbitration numbers were really starting to inflate so in order to cut that off at the pass I signed him to a 5 year, $201M contract. The first two years come in as cheaper than his expected arbitration number and scales from there:
2028: $26,000,000
2029: $32,000,000
2030: $43,000,000
2031: $45,000,000
2032: $55,000,000
Pending Free Agents Re-signed:
RF Jo Adell (51/51) 3 years, $51,800,000 ($17.3AAV)
Players claimed off Waivers:
RHP Eli Saul (45/46) 1 year, $760,000
RHP River Ryan (49/49) 1 year, $760,000
RHP Alec Baker (45/45) 1 year, $760,000
Free Agency
Just 1 player added via free agency:
C Jose Trevino (42/42) 1 year, $1,750,000.
Trades
A lot of wheeling and dealing in the offseason to figure out the budget constraints.
Friday, Nov. 5th 2027: Traded 33 y/o RHP Mel Ramos (49/49) (retaining 5%) and 27 y/o 1B Kyle Manzardo (56/57) traded to the New York Yankees for RHP Will Warren (52/52).
Mel's contract had become a huge issue, due to make $33,600,000 in 2028, which would be over $7,000,000 more than Paul Skenes was due to make. To sweeten the deal as the Yankees didn't want to take all that salary on without return, we also sent over Manzardo, who never lived up to offensive expectations while in Pittsburgh. Manzardo will probably thrive in New York with the right field porch.
Will Warren gets a fresh start in Pittsburgh, he appeared in 45 games with the Yankees, going 14-15 with a 4.44 ERA, and a 1.28 WHIP. He had struck out 217 batters and walked 71.
Friday, Nov. 5th 2027: Traded 36 y/o LF Mike Tauchman (44/44) and 24 y/o LHP Anthony Solometo (41/41) to the Philadelphia Phillies for 24 y/o minor league LHP Ian May (35/38).
This was essentially a salary dump trying to find the best return. Tauchman played will but was due $7,300,000 in 2028, and Solometo really never panned out and would have not cracked into a crowded rotation.
Ian May will end up being a career minor league unless huge leaps are made.
Thursday, Nov. 18th 2027: Traded 34 y/o LF Dairon Blanco (51/51) to the Arizona Diamondbacks for 21 y/o minor league CF Slade Caldwell (41/49).
Dairon had exceptional speed but did not bring much offensive upside and was due $4,800,000. Grabbing a 21 y/o CF with potential MLB upside was a net plus addition.
Rule 5 Draft
One player was added via Rule 5:
Round 1, Pick 30: RHP Abner Uribe (47/47) from the Washington Nationals.
Uribe has excellent stuff but has control issues with a 7.9 BB/9 in 2027. Hoping to shore up his control issues and make him our closer with his fantastic stuff.
International Amateurs
The following players were signed to deals as International Amateurs:
16 y/o SS Jose Gallardo (21/57) from Mexico was signed with a $1,000,000 bonus.
16 y/o LHP Jesus Gomez (22/54) from the Dominican Republic was signed with a $500,000 bonus.
16 y/o CF Juan Garza (20/58) from the Dominican Republic was signed with a $500,000 bonus.
16 y/o 3B Jerry Rico (22/54) from Venezuela was signed with a $230,000 bonus.
17 y/o RHP Willie Perez (24/63) from the Dominican Republic was signed with a $550,000 bonus.
16 y/o RHP Willie Gomez (28/70) from Venezuela was signed with a $2,500,000 bonus.
MLB News
Notable MLB Trades
The Chicago White Sox traded 1B Colson Montgomery (48/55) and two additional prospects to the Arizona Diamondbacks for RHP Brandon Pfaadt (57/57)
1B Yordan Alvarez (66/66) was traded from the Houston Astros to the Baltimore Orioles for four prospects, including 16 y/o CF Manuel Lopez (22/80), the 78th ranked prospect in the MLB.
The Cleveland Guardians agreed to send RHP Emmanuel Clase (62/62) and $5,180,000 in cash to the Los Angeles Dodgers for minor league LF Samuel Munoz (41/51).
The Atlanta Braves acquired 27 y/o Riley Greene (62/64) from the Detroit Tigers for three prospects including 23 y/o CF Nick Dumesnil (35/50).
LHP Shane McClanahan (62/62) of the Tampa Bay Rays was delt to the Los Angeles Angels for a prospect package of four players.
2027 Hall of Fame
Three players enter the 2027 Hall of Fame class:
1B Albert Pujols with 97.8% of the vote.
1x Rookie of the Year, 3x MVP, 2x Gold Glove, 6x Silver Slugger, 11x All-Star, 2x World Series Champion.
C Yadier Molina with 79.3% of the vote.
9x Gold Glove, 1x Silver Slugger, 10x All-Star, 2x World Series Champion.
2B Robinson Cano with 77.1% of the vote.
2x Gold Glove, 5x Silver Slugger, 8x All-Star, 1x World Series Champion.
Other players getting votes:
LF Ryan Bruan, 67.5% of the vote.
LHP Andy Pettitte, 53.5% of the vote.
LHP David Price 39.2% of the vote.
RF Bobby Abreu 29.9% of the vote.
SS Jimmy Rollins 28.7% of the vote.
2027 Roster
Pitching
Starting Pitchers:
RHP Paul Skenes (80/80)
LHP Reid Detmers (56/57)
RHP Logan Gilbert (54/54)
RHP Jared Jones (52/52)
RHP Will Warren (52/52)
LHP Danny Young (47/47) will tackle closing duties, he currently has the best stuff of the bullpen outside of Abner Uribe, if Uribe can prove he has command we may move to him in a closer spot.
Batting
We're finally starting to see some top prospects and draft picks crack the MLB roster. Some first year players who made the opening day roster:
LF Shalin Polanco (45/48)
SS Jhonny Severino (46/48)
3B Orelvis Martinez (45/47)
In total including pitchers we now have 8 players who started (or was traded to) in our farm system on our MLB opening day roster. Orelvis Martinez and Jack Brannigan will be our bench players while Shalin Polanco and Jhonny Severino will see some time at DH and spot starts.
Lineups
RHP
We keep 2B Termarr Johnson (57/57) who killed them in 2027, slashing .307/.400/.516 with a wRC+ of 155 and a .917 OPS.
SS Bo Bichette (50/50) and 3B Coby Mayo (57/59) both had OPS over .800 against RHP, and make a good 2-3, especially with Mayo's 27 homeruns against RHP in 2027.
RF Jo Adell (51/51) hit 20 homeruns of RHP in 2027 with a .735 OPS, while LF Jack Suwinski (51/51) climbs up the lineup a but in hopes of recapturing that 2026 spark.
CF Kevin Alcantara (50/62) was our steadiest power bat in 2027 leading the team in SLG with a .543, he has a little drop off against RHP (.446) so he gets moved down a little.
DH Shalin Polanco (45/48) will be getting a taste of his first big league action opening day playing DH in the 9 hole.
LHP
Bo Bichette slaughter LHP in 2027, with a .903 OPS, and a .546 SLG, all good for a 150 wRC+, he will be leading off against LHP, he had a few games in lead off in 2027.
C Henry Davis (57/57) also does great work against LHP, with an .888 OPS and a 148 wRC+.
Kevin Alcantara might be one of the best LHP killers in the league, sporting insane numbers against them. In 26 hits he has 10 homeruns, which adds into a 1.092 OPS, a .702 SLG, and a 199 wRC+ against southpaws.
Tyler Locklear had a rough 2027 against LHP, slashing .174/.278/.362 with a .641 OPS, but I think that may be due to limited at bats, he took just 69 of them against LHP all year, and his ratings are actually overall better against LHP then RHP, so we're going to move him up a bit and hope for a response.
Another LHP killer in RF Jo Adell (51/51), who posted a .986 OPS while slugging .629 and owning a 147 wRC+ against lefties.
Termarr Johnson struggles mostly against LHP (80 wRC+ in his career), but had about a league average 2027 against them after a slow start posting a 101 wRC+.
Same story with LF Jack Suwinkski (51/51) After hitting 13 homeruns, while posting a .878 OPS and a 145 wRC+ against LHP in 2026, he dropped to .563 OPS and 55 wRC+. His career has him at .684 OPS and 90 wRC+, telling us to expect a return to the mean a bit.
Finally DH Jhonny Severino will get the at bats at DH, looking to take advantage of the RHP on leftie bat platooning.
Position ranks compared to the rest of the MLB:
2026 Farm System
The Pirates enter the 2028 with the 13th best farm system in the MLB, with 3 top 100 prospects. Here are the organizations top 10 prospects:
A 19 y/o C Hector Gasca (35/61)
AAA 24 y/o LHP Jamie Arnold (42/48)
R 19 y/o C Art Gonsalez (24/45)
A 23 y/o Christian Lim (33/51)
R 19 y/o Trevor Bolton (24/52)
AAA 25 y/o LHP Magdiel Cotto (43/46)
AAA 21 y/o RHP Brett Crossland (40/59)
R 18 y/o Steve Stainbrook (29/47)
A 21 y/o Edward Florentino (36/44)
MLB 23 y/o Jhonny Severino (46/48)
This recaps the 2027 off-season, bringing us to the 2028 regular season. Opening the season with a two game set against the Arizona Diamondbacks, a rematch of the NLCS. They will then kick off their first road trip, heading the the west coast to take on the San Diego Padres and the Seattle Mariners.
A lot of new faces in the Pirates lineup that are hoping to make an impact, we will check back in after 41 days as see how they fare!
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