The Pirates Just Made Their Most Exciting Offseason Move in Years

The Brandon Lowe trade and an early Pirates offseason recap

I have to give the Pirates credit: It looks like they are making a serious attempt this offseason to contend in 2026.

This is a change from the previous years under General Manager Ben Cherington, when the Pirates took a more passive approach, settling for the remaining scraps at the end of the winter.

Really, it just took one move to indicate they are more serious this time around.

Pirates Acquire Brandon Lowe

Today, the Pirates acquired Brandon Lowe, Mason Montgomery, and Jake Mangum from the Tampa Bay Rays in a three team trade that saw the Pirates send Mike Burrows to the Houston Astros, per The Athletic.

Lowe was one of the best hitters the Pirates could have gotten this offseason. He’s coming off a 31 home run season, and has hit at least 21 homers in four of his last five years. He’s also in a contract year, and could be in line for a final big payday next offseason if he has a good season in 2026. The Pirates will benefit from Lowe’s attempt to showcase himself.

This move was mostly about boosting the offense in 2026, which was a desperate need for the Pirates. The addition of Lowe shouldn’t complete the Pirates’ additions, but it does give one of the worst lineups in 2025 a massive boost. What I like is that Lowe has experience leading a small market offense, so the pressure on him in Pittsburgh will be manageable.

Lowe was joined by left-handed reliever Montgomery and outfielder Mangum.

I’ll admit that my break from regular writing this year has led to a decrease in knowledge of players around the league and even with the Pirates. For example, I had to do some research today to remind myself who Evan Sisk was, and how the Pirates acquired him. I’ve essentially dropped from being one of the foremost experts on the Pirates’ organization to having the knowledge of an average fan, which is a nice perspective change.

In this case, as a fan of the Rays, I recognized the names of Montgomery and Mangum instantly, to the point that I’m still irrationally waiting for an announcement that the Pirates gave up more than just Burrows for this trio.

Montgomery was a top ten prospect for the Rays in previous seasons, and is a left-handed reliever who sits around 98 MPH with an elite fastball, paired with an elite slider. His first full season in the Majors last year saw him put up a 12.3 K/9, fueled by a strong whiff rate and a well-above average ability to get hitters to chase pitches out of the zone. He’s had control issues, but he’s a good reliever with the control problems. If the Pirates can fix the control, they’ve got five years of a guy who could be one of the best lefty relievers in the game, with a chance to potentially return to the rotation.

Mangum was an older rookie last year, debuting in his age 29 season. He had impressive numbers across 428 plate appearances, batting .296/.330/.368 with 27 stolen bases and good outfield defense at all three spots. It’s not high praise, but Mangum would have been a top six hitter for the Pirates last year with those numbers. They have him for five more years, and if he repeats the 2025 results, he’s everything the Pirates were hoping for from Ji-Hwan Bae.

The duo of Montgomery and Mangum gives this trade some long-term potential, while boosting the depth in 2026. Montgomery was the name that stood out to me the most, aside from getting Lowe in the mix.

Burrows has a lot of upside as a starter, with multiple years of control. I’ll get to him in a moment. First, let’s look at how this deal shifts the view of the offseason thus far.

Offseason Recap

The story of the Pirates’ offseason so far has mostly been rumors that they just missed on a few costly free agents.

First, there were rumors that they intended to offer Josh Naylor a contract in the $78 M range, before he signed with Seattle for $90 M. Then, there were rumors they offered Kyle Schwarber four years and $125 M overall, before he signed for 5/$150 with the Phillies.

These offers were framed with hope that the Pirates were actually trying, although those bids were unlikely to get deals done. In order to land a player like Naylor or Schwarber, the Pirates would have needed to exceed the offers those players received. Schwarber likely would have needed a six year deal approaching $180+ M to entice him to leave Philadelphia for Pittsburgh, and Naylor would have needed more than the $90 M Seattle was offering.

I don’t think the Pirates should have gotten credit for their offers to Naylor/Schwarber, as those offers were just enough to claim they were in the market, without realistically having a shot to land either player. The only way to get either player would be for the Pirates to seriously overpay. It felt more like a PR move than realistic offers.

The Pirates also missed out on Jorge Polanco, who signed for 2 years at $20 M per year. This is a player they could have landed easier than Schwarber or Naylor, but I don’t fault them for missing this move. I don’t think Polanco is worth $40 M across two years, as he’d been inconsistent.

With the addition of Lowe, the Pirates got a better option than Polanco at nearly a fourth of the overall guaranteed cost.

Another way to look at it: Polanco would have cost $20 M in 2026. The Pirates have added Lowe and free agent left-handed relief pitcher Gregory Soto for $19.25 M combined. I would rather have Lowe/Soto if you’re spending $20 M. Lowe gives more of a guarantee of production over Polanco, and Soto upgrades the bullpen.

When Soto was signed, I didn’t really like the move. It’s not that Soto isn’t a good pitcher, but a team with budget restrictions and offensive needs adding a lefty reliever didn’t seem like a priority. That move is now viewed in a different light after the Lowe trade.

Aside from the Lowe/Soto vs Polanco financial comparison, the additions of Soto and Montgomery give the Pirates a dangerous lefty relief combo. Soto has been consistent the last few years, with a FIP routinely in the 3.60 range, and a 10.4 K/9 last year. Just like Montgomery, Soto works in the 97-98 MPH range with his fastball.

The third lefty reliever in the mix is Evan Sisk, who the Pirates acquired last year at the trade deadline for Bailey Falter. Sisk had a 3.08 FIP and a 12.7 K/9 in 17.2 innings between the Pirates and Royals in his age 28 season. He doesn’t have an upper-90s fastball like the other two, but he gets a lot of swing and miss from a five-pitch mix.

Pitching has been at a premium this offseason, and the Pirates have managed to lock down two lefty relievers with upper-90s fastballs and advanced strikeout potential. That plays extremely well at PNC Park. Adding Sisk as a third option in Triple-A gives the bullpen good depth, behind a starting rotation that remains strong.

Trading From Strength to Address a Weakness

There was another move the Pirates made earlier this offseason that dealt from their pitching strength. They traded RHP Johan Oviedo to the Boston Red Sox in a deal that brought back top 100 outfield prospect Jhostynxon Garcia, aka “The Password”.

Garcia made his MLB debut with the Red Sox last year at the age of 22, and hit .271/.334/.498 with 18 homers in 351 plate appearances in Triple-A. He could be a candidate to open the 2026 season in Pittsburgh’s outfield, although the addition of Mangum in the Lowe trade lessens that urgency.

Starting pitching has been at a premium this offseason. It’s also a strength for the Pirates. So far, they’ve done a great job of dealing from that strength to address some team needs:

• Garcia gives them long-term position player upside.

• Lowe gives them a short-term power bat that they desperately needed.

• Montgomery boosts the lefty relief depth, and Lowe’s affordable salary allowed them to add Soto for the combined cost of a comparable free agent.

• Mangum boosts the outfield depth with the potential to be an average starter.

You could even go back to the trade deadline when they flipped Falter for Sisk and lower-level first base prospect Callan Moss. The Pirates have been dealing from their pitching depth, and they’ve done a good job to boost the team needs.

Burrows and Oviedo are both great pitchers with long-term value. They’re also two of the riskier pitchers in the rotation.

Oviedo was returning from Tommy John this past season, and enters his age 28 season next year, with two years of control remaining. Burrows reached the Majors in his first full-season back from Tommy John, at the age of 25. He has six years remaining, and showed a lot of promise in his debut, which is probably why the Pirates landed three MLB-ready players for him alone.

The Pirates are still left with one of the best young rotations in the majors. They’re led by the best pitcher in the game in Paul Skenes. They have Bubba Chandler, who is the best pitching prospect in the game. Braxton Ashcraft gives another elite arm who could be a sleeper top of the rotation option in the long-term. Mitch Keller is one of the more reliable innings eaters in the Majors, which is a stability needed for such a young group.

Beyond those four, the depth has been depleted after the Oviedo/Burrows trades. The Pirates still have Hunter Barco and Thomas Harrington in Triple-A, plus Carmen Mlodzinski as a depth option out of the bullpen. Out of that trio, I like the potential of Barco the most.

This is still a rotation that could be one of the best in the league. What’s encouraging is that the Pirates have had success finding inexpensive veteran options under Cherington. If they added a value starter by the end of the offseason, the depth of Barco/Harrington/Mlodzinski would look fine.

Remaining Needs and Reducing Prospect Dependence

I don’t know if the Pirates have more moves up their sleeve. I’m far from being in the reporting mix these days.

What I can say is they still have needs on offense. Lowe is a great addition, but the Pirates had the second worse offense in the game last year. They weren’t Brandon Lowe away from even an average group.

I’ve seen Eugenio Suarez mentioned as a possibility for the team. He seems like he would be a great fit for their needs. A third baseman with ridiculous power, Suarez could easily add 30+ home runs and passable defense at the hot corner. The risk would be his cost in his age 35-36 seasons. The numbers I’ve seen projected have Suarez getting around 3/$45 M total for his age 34-36 seasons. He’d be a huge upgrade to the Pirates’ offense in 2026, but might be a financial risk in 2027 or 2028.

Adding Suarez and Lowe would drastically change the outlook for this offense. For one, that combo would add at least 50 home runs to the mix.

What I really like about the addition of Lowe (and why I think they need one more veteran like Suarez) is that it reduces the dependence on the prospects and young players.

The Pirates have one of the best hitting prospects in the game in Konnor Griffin. He hit .337/.418/.542 in a brief look at Double-A during his age 19 season. There has been talk that Griffin could arrive in Pittsburgh next year, during his age 20 season. His offensive potential — highlighted by 21 homers and 65 stolen bases in his first full minor league season — gives the Pirates a long-term position player to dream upon. I dare say he could be the offensive equivalent to Skenes.

Adding “Password” Garcia to the mix gives the Pirates another top 100 prospect who could help the offense next year.

The addition of Lowe reduces the need for the Pirates to rely on unproven players, which would reduce the pressure on Griffin and Garcia to carry the team right away. This lower pressure situation would increase the chances of those prospects having success in Pittsburgh. Adding someone like Suarez would only improve the path for the young prospects.

You only need to look at Oneil Cruz as an example of this trend. Cruz was one of the top prospects in the game before his debut in 2022. He’s also been looked upon as the potential savior of the offense in each of the last three seasons since his debut. That’s a lot of pressure to put on a young player.

If the Pirates added another hitter to Lowe, it would reduce the pressure on Cruz to be the only impact bat in the lineup. The same benefit could be extended to Henry Davis having less of a need to be one of few power options. If those two improve with less pressure to carry the offense, the trickle down effect helps Griffin/Garcia when they eventually join the ranks.

It’s fine to get excited about the potential of Griffin or the addition of Garcia. It’s a different level of hope when you’re looking at those young players to boost an average offense, versus being young saviors to one of the worst offenses in the league. The excitement shifts from desperate reliance to more realistic expectations that these two could be part of a true contending offense.

Adding someone like Suarez could have a domino effect that would reduce the pressure on Cruz and Davis, which would then reduce the pressure on the next wave of young prospects led by Griffin and Garcia.

When’s the Last Time You Heard It Like This?

I can’t remember a Pirates offseason where there was reason to be optimistic.

It definitely hasn’t happened during any of the Cherington years. The most active offseason was 2021, when they blew up the roster in a rebuild.

I wouldn’t want to compare this to the 2012-13 offseason, when the Pirates added Russell Martin, Francisco Liriano, and Mark Melancon. The Lowe trade alone doesn’t match the scale of that offseason. However, this move is on par with any of those moves. There have been very few offseason moves since that time which have given Pirates fans a reason for excitement so early in the winter.

At the very least, it’s good to see that the Pirates are actually serious about contending in 2026, and not just running cheap PR ploys.

They need one more bat to justify real excitement for 2026. For now, this is the most exciting offseason move the Pirates have made in a long time.

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Until the next time I go live…

-Tim Williams