Opinion
Perrotto: Will Pirates Really Pursue Impact Free Agents?

The names being bandied about in early trade and free agent rumors suggest that the Pittsburgh Pirates might spend this winter.
The Pirates have been linked to free agents such as center fielder/first baseman Cody Bellinger, right-hander Michael Wacha and closer Carlos Estevez. They are also said to be interested in trading for Baltimore Orioles first baseman Ryan Mountcastle.
All would be expensive, at least by Pirates’ standards.
Bellinger would likely command a deal larger than left fielder Bryan Reynolds’ franchise-record $108-million contract. Wacha is likely seeking more than $50 million and Estevez at least $30 million. Mountcastle might make as much as $7 million in arbitration.
Those are large numbers for a team near the bottom of the major leagues in payroll since Ben Cherington replaced Neal Huntington as general manager following the 2019 season.
In his season-ending press conference earlier this month, Cherington was coy about his budget this winter. He downplayed the significance of payroll size.
“I don’t know what the payroll’s going to be next year,” Cherington said. “It has increased each year that I’ve been here. I expect that will be the case next year.”
Singing players like Bellinger and Wacha will be costly. Their situations aren’t like Yasmani Grandal’s. where the veteran catcher signed a one-year, $2.5-million contract in February because he had no other suitors.
Maybe the Pirates will sign some impactful free agents, but Cherington indirectly threw cold water on that idea.
“I also know that it’s just not what’s going to drive winning here the most,” Cherington said of the payroll. “That’s mostly because just simply of the structure of the game in a place like Pittsburgh to win. There’s no place exactly like Pittsburgh, but there are other places that are similar, and you look at how those teams win and how we’re going to win here.
“It’s going to be because we are better at getting our players better. It’s going to be because we draft better. It’s going to be because we get more out of international (amateur free agents). It’s going to be because I do a better job finding value in trades and adding wins to the team that way.”
But wouldn’t Bellinger look good in the middle of a lineup that was 24th in the major leagues in runs scored this year? Wouldn’t Wacha and Estevez stabilize a pitching staff that was 21st in MLB in runs allowed in 2024?
They sure would and Cherington has to know that. However, the GM makes it sound as though Bob Nutting isn’t going to open his checkbook very wide again this winter.
“We can use free agency as a tool and we will,” Cherington said. “It’ll be a component, but it’s just not going to be how we drive winning here. It’s just not my primary focus, candidly.
“I don’t know what it’s going to be,” Cherington added, referencing the payroll. “I expect it will be higher. It has been higher each year I’m here. Thinking about it as we go into offseason planning (it is) certainly not even on the radar, honestly. We’re thinking about all kinds of other things.”
Christmas is exactly two months away, yet it seems highly unlikely that a Pirates fan’s most coveted gift will be a customized Cody Bellinger jersey.