CHANGE the Narrative—Why Pittsburgh Must LAND a SIGNIFICANT Player to Alter MLB’s Perception

CHANGE the Narrative—Why Pittsburgh Must LAND a SIGNIFICANT Player to Alter MLB’s Perception

The Pirates have money to spend, but spending it is hard. Like Julia Roberts and Pretty Woman walking down Rodeo Drive with a lot of cash and nobody taking her seriously until Pittsburgh forces the league to believe in them. They’ll keep hearing no. Today we tackle your burning questions from the Everydayer Club Discord about trades, coaching, and free agent pivots. [Music] You are Locked On Pirates, your daily Pittsburgh Pirates podcast, part of the Locked On podcast network, your team every day. What’s up everybody? I’m Gary Morgan, lifelong Pirates fan, former editor at steelcitypirates.com, and I’ve been covering this team since 2019. This is Locked On Pirates, part of the Locked On Network, now the number one sports podcast network. Shout out to all our everydayers out there. You make this show what it is. If you’re new here, hit the subscribe button so you never miss an episode. Make sure you check out those show notes and get yourself signed up for the Everydayer Club. The Discord is already paying dividends as evidenced by today’s show. First, what we’re going to talk about today is what is the threshold for changing the offseason narrative. Then, we’re going to do Don Kelly’s coaching staff finally helping young players grow at the MLB level. And finally, after that, we’re going to talk about this Kyle Schwarber deal and what it does to change the Pirates free agent strategy, should you suppose they have one. Today’s episode is brought to you by FanDuel. If you want to be right in the middle of the action this season, visit FanDuel and place your NFL live bets all season long. So, let’s start with the big picture question from our everyday club discord because this one really sets the tone for the off season. It is from our friend Graves, uh, one of the very first signes for the, uh, Everydayer Club for Locked on Pirates, and I really appreciate it. And listen, before I get into the questions, let me just say I know that that Discord is going to be quiet for a minute until you guys really start signing up in mass. Uh I think there’s a few of you in there and it was some lively conversation last night even um just between the few who were there. I really cannot wait to watch it grow over the the the coming months. And I think we’ll turn it into a pretty darn cool little community. And I I plan on doing some writing there. So, as as the you guys continue to show up there, the benefits to you, I hope, will just continue to increase. So, Graves question here, the Pirates have been connected to multiple players this off season. It’s inevitably followed with a butt. What do you see as the threshold to change the narrative this off season? and Graves, it’s a it’s a broad question, but uh it’s a powerful question because the truth is this team is going to have to do something uncomfortable. They’re going to have to do something that they haven’t done before. They’re going to have to make a move that nobody saw coming. They’re going to have to spend that extra prospect they didn’t want to give up. They’re going to have to push in that extra stack of chips they didn’t plan to step in. I I think they’re going to have to um this Kyle Schwarber deal that just went through uh with Philadelphia. Uh first, that’s why the show’s late today, too. I had uh some intel this morning that this Schwarber deal was going down one way or another today. Um and and I mean when it was told to me, they made it sound as though there’s a chance that this is going to happen for the Pirates even, but it’s going to happen one way or another. Today is the day where he’s planning to make his decision. So, I held off on the show just in case because I figured if I did an entire show about, you know, the unlikeliness of signing Schwarber and then they went ahead and signed him. Well, I was either going to have to take that down or record a second show today. So, I figured I’d wait. What do they need to do, though? They need to land a guy like Schwarber. They do. Like let’s say that their next uh and we’ll get into some other questions about who they pivot to, but take a take your pick. Let’s say Ryan O’Harn. If if they were to get Ryan O’Harn, I don’t think that that changes the way fans see Pittsburgh. I don’t think that changes the way other players see Pittsburgh. I don’t think that changes the way other teams see Pittsburgh. I see that as a guy who slipped down to the next level of free agents and happened to be in the wheelhouse of where the Pirates were willing to maybe overspend a little bit to get it done. Either that or it’s going to be a process of elimination where all the teams that are interested in guys like this, well, they they kind of run out of interest and then it falls to the Pirates. Waiting for something like that to happen is going to set them up for failure. Frankly, they’ll be right into the familiar territory they’ve always been in. I opened the show with with that light-hearted joke about Julia Roberts, but I I truly see that. I truly see a team right now that has money to spend. They’re hap happily trying to spend the money. They’re out there talking about it. They’re out there offering it. They’re out there on multiple names. They they’ve at least had contact on. Now, what’s funny is every time one of these deals closes, I end up getting reached out to and told that the whole thing was fake. They never put an offer in. And I’ve heard it, but I’m also hearing the other thing, too. So, I mean, it it tells me there’s a real split camp going on in in the locker room, or not the locker room, but the the front office at least. There are some people pushing one narrative, there are some people pushing another. There so seems to be an overarching effort to make sure everyone, including the fans, knows that they’re in on a ton of different guys. And they are. Any reporter worth their salt would tell you that the Pirates are talking to just about every major free agent or team that has somebody available that you can think of. They’re in all these races, but you got to win one. And I’m starting to think like they may have to do what the A’s did, you know, give give a guy way too much money. The problem is much like the A’s, well now they’ve got a guy that’s sulking because he doesn’t want to be there and he’s stuck for a couple years and they can’t move him because he’s performed so badly there. Well, I I think the Pirates could wind up in that same situation. This has all the overtones of like a Derek Bell situation. you know, you you finally go out and spend some money and you bring in a guy and well, he performs like a guy that didn’t have any other options, even if you considered it a big win when you landed him. Don’t want to be in that situation. You want to be out there with your buying power, using your buying power. Okay? If you finally get yourself to the point in life where you can go into a car dealer and you can look at cars and you can say, “I want that car.” And you don’t sit there biting your nails wondering if you’re going to get approved. And you don’t sit there worrying about whether you’ve got the money to pay for the plate and title. And you don’t sit there worrying about whether you’ve got insurance lined up. and the salesperson walks back into the office and talks to his boss and comes out and tells you like, “Yeah, we’re not going to be able to make this happen today.” You have a lot of buying power. You might say like, “What are you talking about? What bank did you check cuz I should get one from everybody?” You might do that. Or you might just look at him and say, “Well, screw you. I can go down the street and get a car then. I’ll go to the next one.” and you walk right over and walk in with the same swagger because you know you’ve got what it takes to get this deal done, right? Well, okay. Let’s say there’s only one dealer and they’ve got five cars. Five cars that you want. You can go ahead and get cars. You want to get a Chevy Volt, you can. But you really want that Silverado. You want that big that’s what you came shopping for. Just because you can get something else doesn’t mean you want to. You certainly don’t buy three of them just so you can have the privilege of paying the same amount. The problem the pirates have right now is that they’ve got very specific needs. They’re out there trying to fish for bigger fish than they typically do. The league doesn’t trust them and rightly so because the Pirates have made their own bed and I don’t think they’ve really been given the opportunity to even attempt to overpay yet. You know, if I understand the Schwarber situation correctly, he had right of first refusal that he was giving to Philly. I think that’s what we saw play out here. But the Pirates don’t have roster room to go out and just spend 40 million on lesser players. If it takes five players to get to that 40 million spend, I think you’re gonna have a hard time at least directly saying this team is better than it was last year because I think at the very least you’d be bringing in some players that are marginally better than what you had or you at least think there’s room to the ceiling on some of the guys that you already had that it’s negligible. I think that’s the kind of conversations that we would start having if we saw the Pirates have to step back a couple levels and start getting guys like that. You get below this second level of of free agency, we’re right back where we were. You’re right back into the Tommy fams and pirates are going to have to change their mind on some things and they’re going to have to push. I I think like Kyle Schwarber going back to Philadelphia makes guys like JT Riomuto a little bit more hard to get because the Phillies having made that decision they’re going to want to keep as much of that team together as they can and the catching market is just not that exciting. Rioto is the big dude and he is falling off the table realistically skill-wise. I still want him. It’s a bat. Beggars can’t be choosy. And I think it’s a guy that you could overpay slightly. Like give him 14 15 million for three years. Whatever you have to do to make it happen. You bring in a real leader. He can really play a good position. He should have good benefits on Henry Davis. And I think what it says to the league is like, “Hey, we’re willing to sign a big player. This is the best available catcher and the Pirates got him. And by the way, we don’t even know he’s our starter. That’s how dedicated we are to winning. Come here. We’re serious. Now, you want to change the narrative, you got to change the narrative. If whatever they do has us fans saying, “Same old Pirates.” Guess what it’s saying to the rest of the league. If you really want to change the narrative, change the damn narrative. You got to go out and do it. It isn’t going to happen from a conglomeration of little signings here and there. That’s my advice. When we come back, let’s jump right back into a few more AMAs. I got some good questions lined up today. NFL Sundays move fast. One big play and suddenly everything feels different. That’s what makes live betting with FanDuel so exciting. You’re not just watching the game, you’re reacting to it in real time. With FanDuel, you can place bets as the action unfolds. Every drive, every momentum swing, every highlight moment. 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And I’d also add to that, um, you guys can jump on the AMA thread that I built for you in that Discord. I think it’s a great place for us to leave questions as a running list of things that we’re interested in. You guys can really give me that feedback quick. And the other thing I want to say about the Everyday Air Club, um, some of you are looking for more detailed explanations of of what it is exactly the the very good description when you click on that link in the Supercast link that’s in the show notes. It’s the best place to do it, the easiest way to figure out what it is. And more than anything, I just want people that don’t sign up for it to understand that it it’s not going to change your show experience. If you don’t sign up for it, you’re not going to lose anything. These shows are still going to be here for everybody. Uh I may do exclusive things for the Everyday Club once we get the numbers up a little bit more meaningfully, but it’s not going to be anything that you completely miss out on. Right? it will circle back to information and whatnot. They’ll just get it first, as they should. Um, let’s see. It was a criticism in the Derek Shelton era that young players would come up from the miners and not get better. Do you think the new Don Kelly coaching staff offers young players the ability to expand on their craft once they get to the show? Uh, first, the staff isn’t complete. So, it’s really hard for me to 100% tell you well-rounded anyway what they have. I like their new bench coach. I like their new third base coach, but I know Don Kelly wants more guys, and I’m not 100% sure what their roles are because he hasn’t been specific about it. In other words, I don’t know if he’s going to hire a specific coach to just coach the fielders or maybe if he’ll hire somebody specifically for the outfielders or if they’re going to replace Mendy Lopez. I don’t even know that. They haven’t been open about it. What we do know is Don Kelly has said he wants to hire two more roughly. If that’s the case, I’d have to imagine you’re probably talking about another assistant that works with the outfielders and the infielders. I can’t imagine you’re leaving all that on the shoulders of whoever was here. And they certainly need to improve in that area. I think routes to balls in the outfield were a problem for just about everyone not named Tommy Fam. So, I really would like to see them put more effort into it. Do I think that they have a better mechanism to get from the minor leagues to the major leagues? Yes. But I thought they were kind of laying that track already last year and they did. Problem is most of what calls up is is pitching and the pitching hasn’t been a problem for a minute. And the pitchers, well, they look mentally ready when they get here, don’t they? even if they have bad performances, they they look mentally ready. They tend to bounce right back in their next outing. They tend to have a lot of confidence in their pitches. Like that hasn’t been a problem. And they’ve changed it. I have a lot of faith in in Murphy. I think he’s going to be a good pitching coach, but the pitching had been coming straight from Triple A and working. So, they’ve made a change there, and it could be dicey. I don’t know. I don’t know if that’s going to be smart or not. I think so. My gut says yes. And I like his skill set. And I also don’t think that there’s much that can be really changed about that process because what makes a guy ready to make the jump is everything that came before it. And they’ve gone through that experience for the most part. As far as pitchers go, hitters, can we just be really honest and blunt? They haven’t had a lot of them. They haven’t had a lot of them that you’d think would pan out. I mean, Henry Davis is one, but he hit when he first came up and then it all fell off the table. And and the more I talk to people, the more I think there’s a real problem with Henry Davis in paying so much attention to game prep and working with the pitching staff and defensive skills and increasing that and managing the staff and managing this situation and mapping out attack plans for certain players and in a series and even when he wasn’t catching working to do the same thing to prepare Joey Bart. Yes, that’s true. Henry Davis was actually working to help prepare Joey Bart when he started. So, he really took on a big-time role and and that very well could be part of what Don Kelly wants to hire is somebody to help do that stuff because Henry’s got to start focusing on offense again. I’m not sure that you can say he’s had a hard time making it the transition as much as his transition has just been up and down and he’s having a hard time focusing on the whole game. He’s focused on one side at a time because even with when he had a little success here with the bat, he came up and hit like what eight home runs like pretty quick. Henry’s got a lot of work to do this year and he’s got a lot of work that he could do that could help this team’s rep on this stuff. Nick Gonzalez is the other guy. Yeah, you expect a lot out of him. Injuries, injuries, injuries, injuries, injuries over and over again with Nick Gonzalez. Do I like where the bat’s headed? Yeah. But you’re right. And it’s and even if he gets it this year, it’s too late to be running around pretending that the development system won, right? It took a long time for Nick to get here. It took a long time for Nick to latch on. And I don’t think that you’re going to be able to say that. I really don’t. Now, we get Connor Griffin up here and he succeeds right away. Let’s just pretend that that happens. Let’s jump that hurdle. Are you going to give them credit for him or are you going to are you going to do what you did with Paul SK most likely and just say, “Hey, great player. Let’s see you develop some of these other guys.” See, because that’s what happens a lot when we talk about these development things is we want to do everything we can to take credit away. We don’t want to give it. Right? When you get a guy like Mike Burroughs to come up through your system, get injured big time, come back and look stronger than he did, mature, build on what he had at the at this level, fight through the odds of making this rotation to begin with, and kind of become a pitcher. I I think that’s a development win. You get a guy like Hunter Stratton a couple years ago finally make it up to the league and get a chance. That’s a development win. I’m a good hitter. But Jared Triolo making it to the league and being a solid glove and winning gold gloves or being nominated twice and winning once. Some people would consider that a developmental win. You get what I mean? It I think a lot of the time we we talk about not having a a a a good development system because guys don’t make it and we’re blaming what I think is really poor player acquisition more responsible at least than development. I think all teams fail at development with certain players. Some teams get more guys that are drafted like third, fourth, fifth round and turn them into something. That’s where the Pirates deficiency is. And until I start seeing guys that actually fit that bill get here and get their chance and fail, it’s kind of hard for me to say that they’re failing at it. Because again, I’m talking all player acquisition. Do I blame them for Alexander Canario not paying out? No. No, I don’t. Do I blame them for Jack not paying off? Well, he did great when he first came up. He got bad. So, like that’s not development as much as like they couldn’t help this kid keep the wheels on, you know? I I don’t know, man. A lot of this stuff is just nomenclature to me. Do I think that Don Kelly can coach the the players? I think he has the ability to use his talent a little bit smarter than Derrick Shelton. I think his record showed last year that he could take the same pieces that Derrick Shelton had and turn them into something. I think they played a lot better under him. I I think a lot of people did. I think some players didn’t. O’Neal Cruz for sure played worse under Don Kelly than he did under Derek Shelton at any point. Is that a coincidence? Probably. It certainly isn’t development. O’Neal Cruz is collecting arbitration, folks. That I mean development’s pretty much done. Now it’s about can he finally fix a couple of the problems that nobody else could. That’s really what’s next. We have to take another break here. When we come back, we’re going to do some more AMAs. I got a ton of really good ones in, and I just want to make sure that some of you were rewarded for uh being the first to jump on that Discord. Hey, the World Cup is coming back to North America for the first time since 1994. And with 48 teams for the first time ever, it’s going to be massive. And let’s be honest, getting tickets is usually the hardest part. It’s why the Game Time app is clutch. Finally, giving fans a real advantage when it comes to snagging seats. With Game Time, you can track price drops in real time, get alerts when g when great seats open, and buy tickets the moment they hit the app. It puts the power back in your hands and makes going to the World Cup realistic instead of impossible. You pull up the app and the layout makes it so simple to scroll through the matchups and compare seat views. Pick a game, tap a section, and have your tickets locked in within minutes. No confusion, no hunting for fine print. 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We’ll talk about that more, but for now, let’s just focus on what the Pirates need to do. Here’s a good question to get us started. I’ve seen the Pirates link to Willie Castro. Does he really upgrade this team? And then he answers it. So, I’ll give you his answer first. Honestly, no. He’s a utility guy. does the same things as Triolo, Gonzalez, and York, but with worse defense than Triolo and less offensive upside than the Knicks. Okay, I mean, I guess that’s fair. Uh, he goes on to say, “It’s the same failed strategy as signing Fam or Frasier types, safe moves that don’t move the needle. The Pirates need a differencemaking bat, not another redundancy.” Well, I would agree. Uh, I actually like Willie Castro, though. Um, I think you’re underelling him as a professional. I think he’s a pretty good baseball player. I kind of like what he adds depthwise. I don’t want like Nick York or Nick Gonzalez or, you know, sitting on my bench really. I mean, I I think those guys need to play. And if Willie Castro comes in here, I’m okay with him sitting on the bench. And I’m okay with plugandplay using him around the diamond and using him in pinch hitting situations. And I just think that he’s a a a decent all-around ball player. And I don’t think that this team’s got a ton of those. You know, I you’re you’re not wrong about like he’s probably gonna net the same thing as like Nick Gonzalez is and Nick York or at least he could, but I don’t think that that’s entirely a bad thing, you know, to get it maybe a little more consistently. I just I’ve liked Willie Castro for a few years. I think he would be a really nice depth piece on this team and I can understand the frustration and like this isn’t the type of true but like it really shouldn’t preclude you from signing anyone else. And again, this is a team that I just feel Dave has got to get the ball rolling and it may very well have to be a middling guy like this. I’m not saying like he’s he’s not first, this isn’t a $5 million guy. This isn’t going to be somebody that costs the same as as Adam Frasier or Tommy Fam. This guy’s going to get paid a little bit. Probably eight to 10 somewhere in there, maybe even a little more. Right on it on the surface, that should tell you that they’re a different player, different class of player. He’s definitely better than Adam Frasier. Um, I would say there’s a good chance right this second he’s better than Nick Gonzalez. I mean, I like I like the idea of bringing in Willie Castro and I would think like, yeah, 8 to 10’s not going to impress anybody, but it’s enough to show people, hey, like this is a role player here. We’re not even talking a starter and look what we spent. Come on, let’s get serious now when we talk to you. I just think things like that. Next question is now Schwarber returning to the Phillies for the same annual amount but one extra year. So where do the Pirates pivot? And then he goes on to list a whole bunch of guys that they could pivot to like Suarez, Blanco, Rhino Hearn, Murakami. Yeah, it’s all true. First, I don’t think they have to pivot. I really don’t. To pivot would mean that they were so all in on Schwarber that they were sitting on their hands waiting for that to happen. They they weren’t. Uh, in fact, I can’t even 100% confirm that they put in a formal offer. I literally have one source saying they didn’t and two sources saying they did. So, I mean, I if I had to guess, I’d go with the two, but I probably pretty much trust the one better, if you know what I mean. So, I I think the chances are they didn’t put in a formal offer for him and there would be no pivot because the Pirates are legitimately in on everything. They’ve put their feelers out to all the agents. They’ve put their feelers out to all the teams. They’ve proposed things to teams aggressively as far as trades go for guys that were not made publicly available. So, I I mean, I know that they’re in on this stuff. Is it going to get done? I don’t know. I I think they they have to sign somebody that cost more than$ 15 million. To circle all the way back to that very first question Graves asked to change the narrative. I think it’s got to be somebody that cost more than 15 million and I’d say more than a season, but I don’t think that’s Willie Castro. It could be Suarez. It could be Palano. It could be O’Harn. It could be Okamoto. I think the Murakami thing has kind of sailed. I don’t even hear the Pirates all that interested in him to be blunt. I think they’re much more interested in Okamoto. Catel Marte thing is out there, but he’s got a five team no trade clause. He’s vocally said already he does not plan on waving it for the Pirates. And you know, there’s a good chance he gets moved because after April, his no trade clause goes from limited with these five teams that he’s selected to full, which means after April, it’s completely up to Catel Marte where he goes, when he goes, if he goes. And if you’re Arizona and getting rid of his contract is something you really want to do, well, they got incentive to make it happen before spring training’s over, don’t they? So, I I mean, I could see them pushing it. And we’ve seen no trade clauses waved before. If I’m the Pirates, that’s the guy I’m going as all in for as I as I can. And I’m willing to give up top prospects for him. I am. I’m willing to give up Seth Hernandez. I’m willing to give up Termar. I’m willing to give up pretty much anybody not named Bubba from the prospect Bubba or Griffin from the prospect depths. Yeah, I mean I I it would be painful, but I’d do it because Kel Marte is a few years of a solid player and you get him. You do change the narrative. And why would he wave it? Well, he could wave it because, you know, he cares about Arizona and it’s what Arizona wants. We’ve seen teams talk guys into being team players to that level before. Hey, help us out one more time, man. You understand? Maybe he does, maybe he doesn’t, but that’s a guy I would try my hardest for because I think that resets the narrative. And I would absolutely try to send Nick Gonzalez back in that deal. He’s already hitting arbitration. Get him out the way. Let Arizona have somebody they can recoup the loss and plug them right in if they feel like it. Even if as they’re waiting for their rookies to get their sea legs under them. I I I think they have to make a move here. But I don’t think it’s a pivot. I think it’s just a continuation of what they’ve been doing. You got to keep working for it. You got to keep working on it. You got to keep being in it. You can’t just put out an offer and then step back and wait for the for for the league to do what the league does. Put out an offer, push it push it up the next day if you don’t get an immediate answer. Like, show them how serious you are. You haven’t answered me in two days. Here’s an extra mill. Does that get you talking? Here’s an extra 2 mil. Does that get you talking? That’s what I think the pirates need to do. Be aggressive. Be prepared to overpay. And if you’re not going to spend more than 15 million, just do what you always do because it’s not going to be effective. Nobody’s going to let you into this dance just because you look pretty today. Everybody remembers that you were on ampic to get there. You understand? Pirates aren’t to be trusted until they’ve earned the trust. It’s the chicken or the egg. Some player needs to give them a chance or some team needs to let them win a trade. if the Pirates are truly to dive into this off season the way that I think their wallet says they want to. There’s a lot of you out there that are assuming that this is all smoke and mirrors and the Pirates are trying to just put bids out there so that they can have their name seen so that when they come to Pirates Fest they can just go, “Whoops, we tried.” I You’re free to believe whatever you like. That is not what I am seeing. I’m seeing a team that legitimately wants to spend money and a team that thus far has not found anybody willing to take it. Again, they made their own bed. This isn’t me crying for them. This isn’t anything like that. Pirates need to tell their story. They need to explain their story and they need to make whoever they’re trying to sell understand that they are but a small part of what they’re trying to do here and what they’re trying to get done. And then they need to unleash that guy on the league to to evangelize for it. They need to send Paul Skins out there. Hey, come help me. That’s what they need to do. Be as aggressive as you. I’d have Paul Skins at the winter meetings right now wandering around with Libby Dunn saying, “Hey, anybody want to play here? I need help. Get get it out there.” That we we keep saying like to just talk isn’t good enough. Well, it’s got to start somewhere. And talking is all anybody’s letting them do. Talk is what you have right now. Of course, they have to close the deal for us to not laugh at them. But let’s be real. If they signed Schwarber and traded for Marte, some of you that follow this show might be happy, but the general public is still going to call him cheap and they’re still going to think they didn’t try and they’re still going to say they didn’t surround Paul skins with enough. And they’re still going to say the Pirates suck. And they’re still going to say that Paul’s going to be a Yankee next week. None of that’s going to change. So just root for your damn team to step up and do something. It’s got to be uncomfortable. If it isn’t uncomfortable, they didn’t try. That’s it for today. Tomorrow, who knows what we’ll talk about. The winter meetings are still going on. The Pirates are on the clock tonight for finding out where their draft position is. That’s going to be exciting, isn’t it? I can’t wait to get into that. We’re going to be talking all about it tomorrow. It they are I I should just tell you right now, just so you know. Um they’re right now third. Their odds for first overall are 16.81%. Odds for a top six selection 88.5. and they have four picks in the top 51. It’s going to be a big draft for the Pirates. They should be willing to part with young talent knowing they’ve got this in their back pocket to recoup it almost immediately. Be aggressive, Pirates. Now’s the time. We’re serious about Pirates baseball, cuz somebody has to be. Let’s go, Bucks.

Pittsburgh Pirates face a critical offseason, battling skepticism as they attempt to shake their reputation and become serious contenders in MLB. Can a marquee signing finally transform the franchise’s narrative? Gary Morgan explores why spending big in Pittsburgh isn’t as simple as opening the checkbook, drawing parallels to Kyle Schwarber’s decision to return to Philadelphia and what it means for Pirates’ free agent strategy.

Key topics include the club’s struggles to land impact bats, the potential pivot to options like J.T. Realmuto and Ketel Marte, and how Don Kelly’s revamped coaching staff might accelerate player development. Insightful commentary examines the challenges of changing league perception, potential trade scenarios, and why pushing past comfort zones remains essential for Pirates’ long-term success. Will Pittsburgh’s front office finally make the splash required to convince both fans and top talent that winning is the new reality at PNC Park?

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Pittsburgh Pirates, Pirates offseason, MLB free agency, Kyle Schwarber, J.T. Realmuto, Willie Castro, Ryan O’Hearn, Tommy Pham, Adam Frazier, Nick York, Nick Gonzalez, Connor Griffin, Paul Skenes, Bubba Chandler, Hunter Stratton, Mike Burrows, O’Neill Cruz, Termarr Johnson, Arizona Diamondbacks, Ketel Marte, Okamoto, Murakami, Pirates trade rumors, Pirates news, MLB rumors, Baseball analysis