ROSTER TACTICS: Pittsburgh Pirates DEFY Expectations—Jack Suwinski’s Arbitration Deal EXPLAINED

ROSTER TACTICS: Pittsburgh Pirates DEFY Expectations—Jack Suwinski’s Arbitration Deal EXPLAINED

The non-tender deadline hasn’t officially passed yet, but the Pirates have already made some definitive moves. Jack Sinsky signs, Johan Ramirez signs, Colin Holderman, and Dowy Moretta DFA. We’ll break down what these decisions mean, answer an AMA on the catching floor plan for 2026, and talk about signs that Andrew McCutchen might not return. Let’s go. [Music] You are Locked On Pirates, your daily Pittsburgh Pirates podcast, part of the Locked On podcast network, your team every day. I’m Gary Morgan, uh, former editor at Steel City Pirates. Welcome to Locked On Pirates, the number one podcast network in America. Love, love, love all you everydayers out there. Thank you so much for being here. Thanks for making me your first listen. The uh Everyday Club launches in December. Can’t wait to get into that. More details coming real soon. Today, here’s what we got on the agenda, guys. A lot of stuff. What the Pirates have already done ahead of the non-tender deadline and why Sinsk’s deal is more about roster control than commitment. Maybe. Uh an AMA from my friend Graves. Uh, it’s the catching floor plan for 2026. This is going to be an interesting talk and the signs I’m seeing that make me think Andrew McCutchen might not be back. Why that might be okay under the right terms. Before we get into that though, today’s episode is brought to you by Game Time. Download the Game Time app, create an account, and use code locked on MLB for $20 off your first purchase. All right, uh, segment one. Let’s get into these moves a little bit. So, here’s what’s final so far. This is what we know. Jack Sawinsky has been signed to avoid arbitration. Um, a 1.25 million. He was a Super Two player. We’ll we’ll explain why that might be important a little bit later. Johan Ramirez, a little bit surprising, signed uh to avoid arbitration at 850K. He was expected according to MLB trade rumors anyway. Um, and they’re really the only ones that that even take a swing at it. I mean, spot track you’ll see sometimes, but uh, for the ma the most part, these things are always off a little bit, but that was considerably less. In fact, that’s just about the minimum he could make, you know. And we know they’ve DFA Colin Holderman and Dowy Moretta. And we talked about that those moves on yesterday’s show. Here’s what’s still expected. Now, Dennis Santana will be tendered. Uh I don’t know that they’ll take him to arbitration, but I know that they will keep him. Johan Novie will be either going to arbitration or settling or signing or and Joey Bart, same thing. Feels like that’s all happening. Justin Lawrence feels like if there was going to be a a different decision made on him, they would have made it when they when they started jettisoning other relievers that they chose to like Dowry Moretta. U so I would imagine that gets done too to some degree. I I highly doubt he gets the 1.2 he’s projected to get. And then O’Neal Cruz 3.6 million estimated. I don’t want to talk about all these because I don’t think they’re all that dramatic and I don’t have a problem with any of them being taken to arbitration. And I’m sure that the stories will come out about uh you know, oh the Pirates took O’Neal Cruz to arbitration over, you know, $200,000 or something or half a million and people will be like cheap pirates. Well, you know, hey, he played like a player that I think needs to go to arbitration. So, I don’t even care about the dollar figure difference. I hope he goes. I think he’s a player that needs to hear what an arbiter will say. And I just think maybe that’s a guy that needs to go through that process once. That’s all. I think it might actually change him as a player. So, today I want to focus here on Jack Swinsky first. Um, let’s start with Jack Swinsky. Yeah, super two player. So, Sinsky can reject going to the miners if he’s sent, but he doesn’t have enough service time to keep his termination pay. With a higher base salary, the Pirates have effectively bought an extra option year since it makes it less likely another team could claim Sinsky. A lot of this comes from the great Ethan Hulahan who keeps track of all of these insignificant little rules and and shows how significant they really are if you don’t know them. But he basically is saying here is that the Pirates what they did is basically bought an option year. That’s that’s kind of the easiest way to say it. He doesn’t have an option, but he kind of has an option. They’re paying more than anyone would want to pay should they decide to DFAM him. And if you really think back a little bit, this isn’t awfully different from what they did with Miguel and Duhar a couple years ago. Now, I mean, I’ve said this before, um, the number of home runs Jack has hit in major leagues, 57, is for him a home run roughly 5% of his at bats. A guy like Kyle Schwarber hits one roughly 7.5 of his. If you’re an MLB executive and you can get a guy that cheap, it’s not a big leap to talk yourself into believing there’s value in seeing if it can improve. I mean, again, I’ve pitched moving on, and frankly, that’s still where I am, but this is probably not all that dramatic of a decision. Um, it wouldn’t be much different from taking a swing on an MLB deal for a pitcher, you know? I mean, it’s really not that much money. Ramirez at 850K to avoid arbitration. I I guess. But I mean, Ramirez has pitched for eight different teams. He’s been on the Pirates, I believe, three different times. He’s got that really good slider. I think they really respected what he did towards the end of the season. I will I will say this because the bullpen did get nicked up and and used up towards the end of the season and they did appreciate what he did. He gave them valuable innings and largely he gave them good innings. With Ramirez, it’s always been, you know, he’s he’s going to be either really good or really bad. And unfortunately, those really bads just are unavoidable and pop up seemingly at the worst time cuz when is there a good time really? I don’t understand taking a guy like that to arbitration. I or or even avoiding it. But 850k is the league minimum. So I guess who cares? It’s like taking a swing on like the lowest level prospect you possibly could. If they if they DFA him, you know, somebody else will pick him up, I’m sure, because it’s so close to league minimum anyway. And even if they don’t, and that’s what you’re stuck with. Gez, I’m not going to cry about that. I don’t know why he was seen as more of um good risk than Dowry Moretta unless I was right when I talked about the Dow Moretta situation and it really did come down to not thinking that pitch was ever going to come all the way back. So, I mean, I’m anxious to see. I hope somebody asks that question. If I get the opportunity, I’ll ask. But I I want to hear what what went into that thinking. I mean that it sets the table for roster mechanics and things that we can talk about now that we kind of know the chess pieces. This was the last major deadline for those sorts of things. Now the additions come and it really starts to turn your eye like we were talking about like the possibility of the Pirates going out and signing JT Rio Muto, right? Well, if you did something like that, you’d want JT Riomilto to be like a shepherd for Henry Davis, you know, because JT’s getting up there. You don’t expect him to be good for all of the three years that you have to sign him. You expect you you kind of expect him to drift into a backup role or a mentorship role, you know, and even a DH role just to finish out his his contract with you. but shephering in the the next generation, Flores Davis, you know. So, I think that was why people were open to that. I mean, if they’re keeping Joey Bart this year, that’s not where their head is. So, you know, even even things you don’t get answers on necessarily start to get answered as these deadlines approach. That’s it’s the only thing I really like about Major League Baseball’s off season. Like to be blunt, I think they should compress the free agent field. I don’t think it should go all the way till spring. I think there should be a definitive stop point. I think it would push the action a little bit and force teams to make decisions a little bit quicker and give guys more time to prepare. You can always open up another free agent period for for guys after spring training’s over if that’s how you want to do it. I just think like there needs to be some kind of consolidation of the pull just to concentrate the action. Like most of the good stuff happens in all the other leagues. As soon as free agency opens, it’s like two weeks, boom, it’s done. Major League Baseball is just drags on and has dead zones and weird milestones like, “Yeah, things are going to happen at the winter meetings.” Okay, we’ll see. Listen, the table is set. We’re going to we’re going to get to this great question by Graves here in segment two and start talking about the catching floor plan. It’s an important thing. NFL season is back and honestly there’s nothing better than being in the stadium surrounded by fans cheering on your team. But let’s be honest, getting tickets can be a real hassle. Between K’s long login screens and prices jumping at checkout, it’s frustrating. That’s why I use Game Time, the app that gives the advantage back to fans. Game time is fast, easy, and backed by Game Time guarantee. You’ll always get 100% authentic tickets delivered on time and at the best price. Plus, all fees are included. So, the price you see is the price you pay. I pulled up game time for last night’s Steeler game. uh just a couple hours before it started. Saw tickets on there for about a buck 50. Good luck getting those in advance, right? Download the Game Time app, create an account, and use code locked on MLB for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply. Again, that’s promo code locked MLB for $20 off. Swipe, tap, ticket, go download game time today. Hey, welcome back to Locked On Pirates. This segment is brought to you by well, you seriously thank you every day. Uh listener question segments are my absolute favorite and thanks to your support and great questions, participation, just viewership and everything. You really just help us keep this network climbing. it’s number one podcast network and it isn’t if you didn’t make it that way. So, uh, great AMA here, uh, from my friend Graves. Basically says, “Give us a floor plan for catching in 2026.” So, she’s starting with the premise that uh, Bart would be gone, and we obviously did not choose to get rid of Bart. So that leaves you with Davis and Endy and Flores on the 40man in 2025. Henry Davis started 74 games. Only once did he do it for seven consecutive days. Most were two days off and then Andy can’t stay healthy. She’s pointing out an awful lot of trueisms here about the limitations of things. Flores has only started one game. So she’s dead on right that they probably did. I think she was at least nudging me to an area of correctness as Graves is so kind to do so often, which is I was ignoring the need for a veteran catcher backup. I was thinking Henry Davis and Flores would be plenty and that’s what I’ve been advocating and pushing, but maybe it is important to keep somebody like Bart around. I guess I was just so disappointed by his catching abilities last year that I just felt like they’d be better off going with the kids. But maybe they do need to have somebody who’s been around more. Still like to see it less of a 5050 split, you know. Um, today I I guess I’m fine with keeping Bart, but I really do believe Henry is the starter and I’m hoping to see Flores get worked in. If Joey Bart plays a large role at catcher, he needs to improve defensively. It’s my belief it’ll be hard to hold Flores back. bat looks pretty real to me and I can’t come up with a lot of reason to to think that he’s going to start in AAA. I can’t think that he’s going to need a lot of time if he does. So, I think like here’s the the floor plan I think I would implement. And I I hope I’m taking your definition of floor plan properly, too. Opening day depth chart, I think I’d go Henry Davis is my is my catcher one. Joey Bart, catcher two. Raphael Flores, I I have around and I have him as catcher three and backup first baseman. DH with, you know, I’m using him as much as I can and uh trying to work the bat end until I find a home for him defensively. I guess in the first half, I’m looking for Davis to go like, I don’t know, four games a week. I’d feel pretty comfortable with Bart can get one or two. Flores maybe maybe he gets one weekly or um maybe he you know really starts to just take over DH or maybe he is is getting enough playing time at first base. You know, who knows how it works out there. I I kind of need to see him progress before I start planning too much for him. So maybe I’m more concerned about Davis, but I’d just start working Flores in as his bat dictates. Andy Rodriguez, I I don’t know what you He hasn’t hit major league hitting, minor league hitting in a while. Got to worry about the health first. Whatever it is that is up with him, health is the first thing that needs to be conquered. when somebody says he’s fully healthy and and really able to get after it and do everything and I don’t hear like there’s any limitations like you know I can only take left-handed at bats or you know I I really shouldn’t catch first base is you know I all that stuff are we protecting the arm or we worried about the arm do we think we’ve solved the arm if we have do we think it’s worth moving him to catcher do we think maybe we’ve got enough options there. You know, first base might have kind of gotten plugged up in the in the process of everything else happening. Do you have another plan for Andy Rodriguez? I don’t know. I I mean, I can tell you I think they need somebody in TripleA to catch, too. And while they do have some kids coming up, I I mean, Andy could very well wind up in that situation, I don’t think it’s a guarantee that Andy Rodriguez is a major league player. I really don’t. There was a time that his bat showed a lot of promise, but it’s been a long time now. You know what I mean? It’s been a long time now. Like in the NFL, when when a good quarterback steps away from the game for a year, and I don’t mean a legendary quarterback like Tom Brady or whatever. I mean like when when a regular quarterback who was pretty good walks away for a year or two, it’s not easy to just jump back into the game. You know, you may never come back to where you were. This was a kid that was a rising prospect that we all had really high ceilings for justifiably so. And I’m not telling you to drop faith in him. If you believe in him, that’s fine. Just maybe stop planning on him. And I think the Pirates probably have stopped planning on him. Not to the point where I’m telling you they’re going to cut him. There’s still a lot of potential there. If he’s healthy and you can do anything with that bat, I he’s an athlete. I think you can find places for him to play. I think you can turn him into something that you can put in the field. I mean that. I don’t I’m not totally giving up on the kid. I’m just done counting on him as part of this equation at least. For for Flores, game calling has got to kind of improve a little bit and that just comes with doing it. And I don’t want to send him to Triple A to do that. I, you know, again, I I just don’t believe he’s got a lot left to learn down there. I think the bat could play a pretty big role on this Pirates team. It’s I think it’s it’s one of the better potential thumpers that they could have in that youth movement area, like at least real real soon, unless you want to count Connor Griffin. But I I like his potential and I I really don’t I really don’t want to start him in TripleA unless he shows he really needs to in the spring. You know, like he looks out of sorts doing anything except, you know, maybe they won’t have a choice. But I I think my plan going in would probably be to try to have him be the third catcher slash, you know, like I said, couple other things you could do, but you’re right, game calling would be something that would be tough. That said, he’d be learning from somebody that a lot of these pitchers consider the best one there is on the team in Henry Davis. And I I think they could learn something from him, too. So just watching maybe his work workflow and hopefully his workflow doesn’t infect their bats the way it did his. You know, he didn’t seem like he was able to concentrate on both aspects at the same time. And honestly, if Flores is going to not hit, well, I don’t think we need two of those, you know, two of those guys who were supposed to hit and all of a sudden can only field. So we’ll we’ll have to play it by ear with the catcher position. It’s a great question and it I guess in some ways it’s too early to answer even as we sit here with a new answer in in tow like when now we we’re pretty sure they’re going to at least give Bart a shot here and the his dollar figure may not make it completely impossible to envision them just moving on if he didn’t perform too. You know, I don’t think this is a guy that’s getting a lot. So anyway, great question, Graves. Coming up, the part nobody really wants to say out loud, but the signs that we might not see Andrew McCutchen come back and why the timeline kind of matters. I I want I want to talk through it a little bit. I think it’s time for us to stop ducking. The NBA is back and there’s no better place to get in on the action than FanDuel, the official sports betting partner of the NBA. Even if you miss the start of the game or want to ride that hot hand, FanDuel has live bets on everything from who will score next to the fourth quarter big comeback. Plus, you can even combine your live bets into a same game parlay for a shot at a bigger payout. It keeps every game interesting, especially when your team’s making that late push. Right now, FanDuel is giving new customers $300 in bonus bets when your first $5 bet wins. So, head to fanduel.com and sign up and play your game with FanDuel, the official sports betting partner of the NBA. Hey everybody, welcome back to Locked on Parts. Pardon my voice by the way. I’m fresh out off being at a concert last night. So, uh, it’s kind of shot right now. Before we dive in, uh, follow me on socials, uh, for daily pirates takes. You can hit me up on X at Gary Mo20007 or the locked on Pirates handle. Check us out on YouTube, obviously. You can drop in the chat anytime you like. Leave a comment. I love interacting with you there. Sometimes you give me show ideas in there without even asking a question. So honestly, get in there, give me your inner Freud. Go ahead, let your let your mental sewage spill out on me. I can take it. Come up with things to talk about on there. And then, you know, find me anywhere, Instagram, all the locked on handles. Now, here’s what I’m seeing that makes me believe we may not resign Andrew McCutchen. Um, Naylor pursuit to me was really aggressive. That Josh Naylor deal, man, they were so after it that they actually came out of their comfort zone and and offered a a thing that we haven’t seen them even try. We haven’t even seen them attempt it. for somebody that I think was very clearly going to be a DH. He was either going to be a DH or he was going to push someone else to DH, you know, and they’ve got Bart now they’ve they’ve decided to keep. You got Flores you got to try to work in. You got Cruz potentially not being able to field at all. You’ve got Brian Reynolds who would probably be a great DH, a switch hitter that you can just plop right in the middle of the lineup wherever you want to do nothing but hit. You never got to worry about pitcher matchups with him. you take him out of the field where yeah, he’s okay, but maybe you can upgrade a little bit and get yourself an athlete out there who’s got a maybe a little bit stronger arm, a little bit more range, something along those lines. You solve your DH problem for a while with a guy you’ve already got signed for a long time that’s important to you and you want to keep healthy. You know, I it just feels like we haven’t talked about the elephant in the room, right? You everydayers know what I’m talking about. We we’ve we’ve kind of like skated around Andrew McCutchen. I’ve even directly gotten asked the question in AMA and it’s so hard to just directly tell you like, oh, I just I don’t think they should bring him back or I just don’t think it’s this the most important thing right now. I’m just seeing a roster come together and and some of the the best safety nets you might be able to leave yourself in your roster construction is that DH spot. It’s your whoops, I screwed up area. It’s your that guy can’t handle that position. You know, it’s your safety net. They’ve got several guys who could slip into that category and a couple guys who have I think potential to make that a really good position for them like Brian Reynolds. I I think they could utilize the position better. And I I it’s so hard for me. Like I would happily endorse bringing Cut back for the same five million with no guarantee of playing time, number of at bats. And and the thing is I think the team probably would too. The problem is I don’t think Cut is there. Like I don’t begrudge him much like Kershaw did this year. You got to accept what father time has wrought. You know, if you do it gracefully, take your deserved flowers, soak in the remaining moments of greatness that break through when given the opportunity, or you know, maybe rob yourself of the ending you really deserve here, trying to get more opportunity elsewhere. Like I’d never tell a grown man when he should be done. You know what I mean? I won’t. Honestly, I’d prefer he chased the ring versus try to chase the numbers somewhere because the truth is I don’t think the Pirates will be the only team to put realistic expectations on him for opportunity. No club has more incentive to make this work than Pittsburgh. But it’s an interesting story to keep an eye on. If he’s coming back, you’d expect they they have it done well in advance of Pirates Fest. That’s January 18th. And when they started this year toyear thing with Cut, I understood why I did. I, you know, he didn’t know how long he wanted to play. They didn’t know how long they trusted him to play. You know, there’s that whole multi-year thing with with the Pittsburgh Pirates that even affected Cutch. I understood it and he was okay with it. But with each successive re-upping, you could feel things building to this point. I do truly believe he wants to be part of winning something. And here again, so bad. And I get it. And I’m okay with it so long as like he understands it’s okay if this time he’s not expected to lead the team in anything but wisdom. You know, I I’m fine with this team paying $5 million to have him on the bench to pinch hit to DH occasionally. I would love it if they would open that up to allowing him to play right field a game or two or even a few innings here and there even, you know, just to work him in after a pinch hit, you know, like let him let him work a little bit, but like, you know, and you’ll be you’ll be careful with him. He doesn’t have to get ready every single day. that sort of role, if he’s willing to accept it, I think is there. I think if he’s really looking to to have more of a role, I mean, he was pretty upset when, you know, Brian Reynolds had to take the DH role due to that partial oblique problem that he was or I think it was shoulder problem that he was having. And I know he wasn’t upset at Brian Reynolds or anything, but I think I need him to kind of accept a role where that’s exactly what he expects to happen to his playing time. Do you get what I mean? Because what are we going to do here, Cut? I mean, like, which one of you do you think we should really sit? And to be fair, there were times this year that maybe they would have been better off sitting Brian Reynolds to let him recover further. I don’t know. Either way, I I think that the writing has to be on the wall here, right? I don’t want this to end badly. I really don’t. And I I I it it just feels like it’s barreling towards it unless has a change of heart or mind. You know, I would think that he he would have to kind of accept a reduced role and be okay with it. And if he is, man, I think he’s a great addition. I want him on the team. Wouldn’t you rather have even if he played akin to what Alexander Canario got this year, wouldn’t you be okay as a Pirates fan with that being played by Andrew McCutchen? I would. I would. Why wouldn’t you? That’s That’s a great role for him. I hope both sides can come together and feel that that is the way to to to move forward. And I and I specifically think it’s something that they should talk through. This isn’t something that where you sign them for one thing. I because I guess the part of this maybe that I didn’t speak to is why I think it’s important that you you don’t just sign them for 5 million like, “Hey, you’re the DH, man.” I because if you if you lie to the guy, well then you I think you’re going to get you’re going to get Andrew’s version of attitude, which is basically like listen, look back in your Pirates history critically and think about how Andrew McCutchen reacted when Starling Marte was given center field and then he got pinged for peeds. Andrew took center field back and made a big deal that he wasn’t giving it back, right? Even though that was still the right decision. They should have done that. You know what I mean? It was it was definitely a better center field situation. We’ve we’ve seen that before. And I again, that’s the kind of competitor that I want and that’s why he is the player he is. I don’t think he took last year well, losing at bats to Brian Reynolds for a while there or, you know, and I think he may even have been pushing to play in the field a little bit more. I I don’t know. If you’re going to sign him back, be more open to letting him do that then. And if if he’s not getting that aspect from you, then okay, then maybe you’re just not going to come together. Let’s do a quick recap and then let’s land the plan here. Today we unpack the non-tender moves and why Sinsk’s deal is a hedge, not a headline. Uh built a practical 2026 catching floor plan that respects Henry’s workload and act accelerates Flores a little bit. And uh we read the tea leaves on Cut with Pirates Fest timeline on the way. Every day, you’re the heartbeat of the show. Thank you guys for making me your first listen as often as you can. I know this one was late since I went to that concert that I mentioned earlier about destroying my voice. So, thank you for bearing with me. And uh we’re serious about Pirates baseball because well, somebody has to

Pittsburgh Pirates shake up their roster ahead of the non-tender deadline, re-signing Jack Suwinski and Johan Ramirez while designating Colin Holderman and Dauri Moreta for assignment. Is Suwinski’s new deal really a show of confidence, or just savvy roster control? Gary Morgan breaks down the front office’s strategy, explains arbitration decisions for key players like Oneil Cruz and Joey Bart, and explores why the Pirates might be prepping for even bigger changes in 2026.

Catch exclusive insights on the future of Pirates’ catching, with Henry Davis and rising prospect Rafael Flores vying for roles amidst uncertainty surrounding Endy Rodriguez. Plus, could the end be near for Andrew McCutcheon’s return to Pittsburgh? Gary Morgan reveals subtle signs pointing to a changing of the guard and discusses why holding the DH spot open may be crucial for the Pirates’ long-term plans.

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