Perrotto: Why the ’25 Pirates Won’t Duplicate the ’24 Royals

The most surprising team in the major leagues visited PNC Park last weekend.

The Kansas City Royals took two of three games from the Pittsburgh Pirates as they continued to march toward their first postseason berth since 2015. Amazingly, the Royals are in contention in the penultimate week of the season just a year after finishing with a 56-106 record, the worst in the major leagues.

The Royals’ turnaround should give Pirates fans hope for 2025. The Pirates aren’t good, as their 71-80 record indicates, but they won’t lose 106 games this season.

Yet it is hard to imagine the Pirates duplicating the Royals’ success.

Royals owner John Sherman finally got fed up with losing and authorized general manager J.J. Picollo to spend over $100 million on free agents last winter.

Picollo signed right-handers Seth Lugo and Michael Wacha to bolster their rotation. They have combined for 29 wins this season. Paired with left-hander Cole Ragans and righty Brady Singer, Lugo and Wacha could help the Royals advance deep into the playoffs.

Many of the other signings haven’t panned out, relievers Will Smith and Chris Stratton, outfielder Hunter Renfroe and utility player Adam Frazier have all struggled. However, the Lugo and Wacha signings more than mitigate the disappointment.

The Pirates don’t need to sign two above-average free-agent starters in the upcoming offseason. They should have a strong rotation with right-handers Paul Skenes, Jared Jones, Mitch Keller and Johan Oviedo and left-hander Brady Falter.

What the Pirates need to do, though, is sign a couple of impact hitters.

The Pirates took bargain-basement fliers on players like Yasmani Grandal, Rowdy Tellez and Michael A. Taylor last offseason. They have proven complementary players at this stage of their careers rather than regulars.

General manager Ben Cherington will also find some reliable late-inning relievers following the second-half implosions of David Bednar and Colin Holderman.

That’s not to say the Pirates need to cut ties with either pitcher. Both are talented enough to have bounce-back seasons next year, but the bullpen still needs reinforcements.

The big question is whether Bob Nutting would allow Cherington to spend $100 million on the open market. Of course, that is if Cherington still has a job when the offseason begins.

Cherington gave manager Derek Shelton a vote of confidence last week. Yet neither Nutting nor club president Travis Williams have publicly indicated whether Cherington will be back following a terrible final two months of the 2024 season.

Nutting and Williams rarely avail themselves to the media. So, it’s impossible to tell if Nutting is tired enough of bad baseball to open the checkbook. He seems to have an unlimited capacity to stomach bad baseball.

History says probably not when it comes to the Pirates spending significant money.

And there is also one other difference between the Royals and Pirates. The Royals have one of the best players in the game in 24-year-old shortstop Bobby Witt, Jr., who is just completing the first season of an 11-year, $287,777,777 extension.

Yes, the Pirates have Skenes, but he can only make an impact every fifth day. The Pirates don’t have anyone who can take over a game like Witt, not even Statcast darling Oneil Cruz. There are no position players in the farm system who will reach superstar status – no offense, Termarr Johnson.

So, without a franchise player or a hefty payroll boost, it’s hard to envision the Pirates being the 2025 version of the 2024 Royals.