The Pittsburgh Pirates have yet to make a significant move in free agency in spite of making a bold promise at the beginning of the offseason that they would be very active.
They did make an offer to Kyle Schwarber, but it wasn’t nearly enough as the NL MVP runner-up re-signed with the Philadelphia Phillies. They were also reportedly in on Josh Naylor, who ultimately inked a deal to remain with the Seattle Mariners.
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So, what now?
Well, the Pirates could also explore some less expensive options on the open market, and ESPN’s Jorge Castillo has revealed that they are interested in All-Star utility man Willi Castro.
Castro split 2025 between the Minnesota Twins and Chicago Cubs, slashing .226/.313/.366 with 11 home runs and 33 RBI over 454 plate appearances.
Clearly, it was a down year for the 28-year-old, who made an All-Star appearance the season prior when he slashed .247/.331/.385 with 12 homers and 60 RBI.
The question is, did Castro really deserve to make the All-Star team in 2024? His .717 OPS was obviously unimpressive, and while he played a variety of positions, he wasn’t particularly adept at any of them defensively.
Willi Castro. Credit:Â Dale Zanine-Imagn Images.
Castro broke in to the big leagues with the Detroit Tigers in 2019 and spent his first four seasons with the Tigers before joining the Twins.
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The Puerto Rican native owns a lifetime .697 OPS across 705 games, so he would not exactly be an exciting addition for Pittsburgh.
It should also be noted that Castro slashed a brutal .170/.245/.240 in 34 games with the Cubs after being acquired by Chicago at the trade deadline in 2025.
Yes, Castro is a switch hitter and you can plug him all over the diamond, but he would not move the needle for an anemic Pirates club at all.
Pittsburgh almost certainly won’t be able to sign any big-name free agents, so it would probably be better off pursuing trades to fill its biggest needs this winter.
The Pirates have made just three playoff appearances since 1993, and all of them came between 2013 and 2015. Since then, they have posted just one winning campaign, which came in 2018 when they won 82 games.
We’ll see if Pittsburgh is actually able to swing any impactful moves in the coming weeks.