If we’re to believe the internal expectations of the Pirates that have become public over the last few weeks, the team is about to set sail on a new course this offseason that we haven’t seen since… ever. 

The Pirates’ offseason plan appears to focus on improving their offense from dead last to something a bit more respectable. The attempt is rooted in what the team says is their goal to make the playoffs in 2026. 

For that to become reality, it won’t be adding three hitters from free agency or trades that will shift this franchise from the worst run-producing team to something better, rather it will take the remaining internal position players to improve. 

Below illustrates just how much worse the Pirates hitters by position were than the 2025 National League playoff teams:

Catcher: -1.73 fWAR, -8 home runs, -21 RBIs, and -26 runs
First base: -1.67, -9, -17, and -9
Second base: -1.72, -5, -27, and -22
Shortstop: -3.1, -13, -25, and -33
Third base: -0.75, -12, -24, and -13
Left field: -2.57, -7, -10, and -24
Center field: -2.22, +4, -3, and -8
Right field: -2.18, -10, -20, and -21
Designated hitter: -2.33, -15, -21, and -25

If you add it up, the team is 18.27 fWAR behind the NL’s best teams. 

The Pirates could sign Eugenio Suarez (3.7 fWAR over last three years) for third base, Austin Hays (1.37) and JJ Bleday (1.17) for left field platoon, and Adolis Garcia (1.77) for right field to net a possible 7.6 improvement compared to last season. 

The Pirates will need to gain their biggest improvements with players already on the team.

Bryan Reynolds produced 1.1 fWAR last year, meanwhile his career high was 6.3 in 2021 and his seven-year average is 2.64. If Reynolds shifted to DH full-time and just hit to his career average, he would produce 2.64 more value than what the team got last year from Andrew McCutchen and others. 

Oneil Cruz did not have a good season, batting .200 with 1.6 fWAR. While Cruz has produced 2.2 fWAR average in three semi-full seasons, he’s more than capable of matching the 5.4 fWAR the Cubs received from Pete Crow-Armstrong last season after batting .247 with 31 home runs, 37 doubles and four triples. It could be put up or shut up time for Cruz as a threat at the plate. 

Spencer Horwitz produced 1.7 fWAR in 108 games coming off wrist surgery. If the Pirates could get 125 games from him, he’s likely to be in the 2 fWAR range. The big improvement is finding a better platoon partner when they face left-handed pitching. Can they convince someone to come to Pittsburgh to platoon with Horwitz at first and Reynolds at DH or will they need to acquire such a player through trade? 

Nick Gonzales took a step back last season at the plate, dropping from 1.3 fWAR and slugging .398 in 2024 to 0.9 fWAR and slugging .362 last season. FanGraphs projects him to slug .400 with a 1.9 fWAR next season. The team still has hope for Termarr Johnson working his way up through the system, likely starting the season in Class AAA Indianapolis after playing all of last season at Class AA Altoona. The safe bet between those two and Nick Yorke is seeing a better cumulative 1.3 fWAR in 2026. 

The team could surprise with a fourth outside bat by going after Mariners infielder Jorge Polanco, who slugged .495 with 26 home runs and 2.6 fWAR last season. The team has to decide on whether they pay for the free agent worth between 2 to 2.6 fWAR or do they hope the combination of internal options could bring about the same 2 fWAR value. 

Catcher might be the one position that could sink further because the floor for Henry Davis, Joey Bart and Endy Rodriguez doesn’t appear to be set after rather disappointing seasons for each. 

Davis will get every opportunity being that he’s a former number one overall draft pick by Ben Cherington and having displayed outstanding catching and leadership skills with the pitchers on the team, namely Paul Skenes, Bubba Chandler and Jared Jones. 

Last season, the team’s catchers were worth 1 fWAR and the projections for Davis (0.9) and Bart (1.0) represent the bare minimum improvement but so much more is needed from Davis considering the power potential if he can make the proper swing adjustments this offseason. The wild cards could be Rodriguez and Rafael Flores, both of whom could produce better as a platoon. But elbow issues have plagued Rodriguez and Flores’ defensive skills remain a big question mark. 

To this point, with free agent acquisitions and internal improvements, the best case scenario would have the team around 15.8 fWAR with one big question remaining: Who plays shortstop? 

The Pirates are at least entertaining the idea that Konnor Griffin will be given every opportunity in late February and March to earn the opening day job at shortstop. The 2026 ZiPS projections for Griffin to play a full season would be worth 3.6 WAR. If Griffin doesn’t earn the job at the start of the season, he could be there by the All-Star break. 

In that scenario, Jared Triolo would be keeping the position warm for Griffin, but at a discount rate with 1.7 fWAR over a full season of plate appearances. There is a big free agent possibility in Bo Bichette, who could maintain the position until Griffin is ready and then shift to third base or second base, but the team likely has little money left to spend after addressing their other positions. 

As you can see, it is more than doable to increase the offensive production without having to sign a superstar free agent at every position. It is also highly unlikely for lightning to strike 10 times in the same spot, though we did witness the 2013 Pirates pull off similar surprises led by Russell Martin.Â