Pirates Q&A: Odds They Sign Suárez? Will We See Griffin for Opener? How Long Will Skenes Be in Pittsburgh?
Welcome back to another edition of our Pittsburgh Pirates Q&A. Let’s get to your questions.
Are the pirates satisfied with their catching position at this time or is this a possible upgradable position before spring training. – Fred Isler
The options the Pirates currently have at catcher are Joey Bart, Henry Davis, Rafael Flores and Endy Rodríguez (health pending). Considering what they’ve already spent this offseason and some more pressing needs on the roster, my expectation is that will be the group heading into spring training.
Bart didn’t have as good a year as he did in 2024 but finished strong after battling multiple injuries. Davis has received rave reviews from the pitching staff (especially Paul Skenes) and will look to get the bat going. Flores is one of the organization’s top position-player prospects. How much Rodríguez will catch coming off a second elbow surgery is TBD.
But barring any injuries, I think you’ll see a Bart-Davis catching tandem on the Opening Day roster.
Pirates chances of landing [Eugenio] Suarez – @nailersburgh42
I’m not overly optimistic Suárez will land in Pittsburgh unless his market completely fails to develop. At 34 years old, he will hold out to try and sign with a team that looks to have a more sure-fire shot of contending than Pittsburgh.
With that being said, the Pirates should not give up on their pursuit. Adding 49 home runs from a year ago would have the lineup looking significantly better with the other additions of Ryan O’Hearn, Brandon Lowe and Jake Mangum. Adding Suárez would take the Pirates from about a .500 team in my estimation to a legitimate playoff threat.
But as things currently stand, I’d say adding Suárez is somewhat unlikely unless developments change.
How real is the chance of getting Konnor [Griffin] for the opening day and if we do, what does it mean for [Nick Gonzales], [Jared] Triolo, and are we ruling out a chance for Konnor to play 3B? – Jeroboam De Dios Vargas
There’s a chance, but ultimately I feel like Griffin will start the season in Triple-A. It’s pretty much unheard of for the Pirates to have a prospect skip Triple-A altogether and the 2024 first-round pick will be 19 years old on Opening Day.
With a strong spring, he may leave the Pirates with no choice. He very well could have a good showing in spring considering what he’s done in his brief professional career, but it will probably take something extraordinary. If he does begin the year with Indianapolis, I don’t think it will be long before he reaches Pittsburgh.
I did a bigger breakdown on the subject last week, which you can read HERE.
Where will [Konnor Griffin] bat? I would think first or second. – Brian Howard
I think initially Griffin will be in the bottom half of the lineup. No need to put added pressure on him when they top of the lineup looks respectable with some combination of O’Hearn, Lowe, Reynolds, Horwitz and Cruz.
But as he continues to develop and if he continues at his current trajectory, you can slot him into any of the top three spots of the batting order and would have no objection from me. He has the chance to be a true difference maker in all facets of the game.
guesstimate on how many more starts in a Pirate uniform for [Paul] Skenes?…favorite all-time Pirate?…thanks -@waywaylarge
Skenes is under club control through the 2029 season and will be arbitration-eligible for the first time next offseason, though the likelihood of a lockout seems to be increasing by the day. Assuming the Pirates don’t sign him to the unlikeliest extension in MLB history, the best case scenario is that the ’29 season will be his last in Pittsburgh.
Will he make it until then? Doubtful. The real question is if the Pirates will trade him with two years of arbitration eligibility remaining or just one. Skenes is very likely going to set precedents for what he will get in arbitration. I’ll set the over/under at 65.5 more starts for Skenes in a black and gold jersey, which basically means will he have two or three more seasons in Pittsburgh.
As for my favorite Pirate of all time, there’s an easy answer for me. It’s Andrew McCutchen. Growing up in Pittsburgh when I did (I’ll turn 28 in March), the Steelers were winning Super Bowls and the Penguins were hoisting Stanley Cups. Baseball was always my favorite sport so naturally the Pirates were my favorite team in the city whereas most of my friends were bigger fans of the other two pro teams.
But McCutchen made baseball in Pittsburgh cool again and was the captain of the ship that gave me my first winning season at 15 years old and was the MVP of the team that hosted the 2013 Wild Card game — which I attended with my dad and is something I’ll never forget.
Speaking of my dad, who was born in 1964, I used to tell him how lucky he was growing up with Roberto Clemente, Willie Stargell, Al Oliver (his favorite), etc. My first favorite player was Daryle Ward.
No disrespect to a player who hit for the cycle and was the first to hit a homer into the Allegheny River, but yeah, it was pretty cool to have the face of baseball play for my hometown team.
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