Demilio: Better Ways for Pirates to Get Bats Than Trading Keller, Other Starters

The Pittsburgh Pirates already subtracted from their starting pitching depth to add to their lineup for the 2025 season and beyond.

At the Winter Meetings last week, the Pirates traded right-hander Luis Ortiz as part of a three-player package to acquire first baseman Spencer Horwitz from the Cleveland Guardians.

Horwitz, despite having a limited showing at the big-league level, projects to be the starting first baseman and is clearly a player the Pirates are high on given what it took to get him.

While using the impressive arsenal of arms the Pirates have built in regards to their big-league starting pitcher depth makes sense, continuing to do so would be detrimental and counterproductive.

Which is why when Noah Hiles of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported last week that the Pirates are open to dealing Mitch Keller or Jared Jones to add a bat raised some eyebrows.

It was at spring training last year when the Pirates extended Keller, an All-Star in 2023, for five years and $77 million. While the deal is the largest financial commitment the Pirates have ever given to a starting pitcher, the deal is more than reasonable.

Is Keller an ace? No. But an average annual value of $15.4 million is more of a bargain for a middle-of-the-rotation arm by today’s standards.

The Pirates’ payroll is again low. Despite what they might say, there is no reason to have to trim salary from it. In fact, they should be adding to it and capitalize on the window that they have as long as Paul Skenes wears the black and gold.

Keller was once again the horse of the Pirates’ rotation, leading the team in starts (31) and innings pitched (178). He went 11-12 with a 4.25 ERA and struck out 166 batters.

Jones, meanwhile burst onto the scene as a promising rookie despite fading some down the stretch. Still, the 23-year-old went 6-8 with a 4.14 ERA and struck out 132 batters in 121.2 innings. Not too shabby for a first-time big-leaguer.

Trading either would erase what looks to be the key strength of the team. Outside of Keller and Jones, the Pirates have Skenes, Bailey Falter and Johan Oviedo as pitchers with at least fairly-significant big-league experience. Falter had his best season to date but is a backend starter and Oviedo is coming off of Tommy John surgery.

If the Pirates dealt any more of their starters, they’d have to look to acquire another one through free agency or a trade. Given the Pirates’ spending habits over, well, forever, a free agent signing would probably be a cheap, backend starter on a one-year deal.

Instead, the Pirates should explore other ways to land an impact bat, ones that make sense and wouldn’t negatively impact the team this coming season.

The first, and most obvious, though it’s a foreign concept on the North Shore of Pittsburgh, is to spend some money in free agency.

What’s stopping the Pittsburgh Pirates from signing an Anthony Santander or a Teoscar Hernández or another free agent who could significantly improve the team? Well, we know the answer.

But the A’s have shown a small-market team with a reputation as an undesirable landing spot can not only be in the mix, but even land serious free agents. The A’s signed right-handed starter Luis Severino to a three-year, $67 million deal and were reportedly in talks with prized left-hander Max Fried before he signed with the New York Yankees.

The other avenue for the Pittsburgh Pirates to explore is another unfamiliar one, but it’s to gamble. The Pirates have several top prospects they could trade to help the big-league club. It’s something rarely done by Pittsburgh, but with increased pressure to win, should be on the table.

Top prospect Bubba Chandler is untouchable. 2024 first-rounder Konnor Griffin probably is too. But if the Pirates were willing to include someone like Termarr Johnson or another highly-regarded pitcher such as Braxton Ashcraft or Thomas Harrington in a package, the lineup could receive a huge boost without sacrificing from other areas of the team.