Hartsock

Notes and observations with a month to go before the start of Major League Baseball’s Spring Training games:

n The Pittsburgh Pirates have been one of MLB’s biggest movers and shakers this offseason, and according to numerous published online reports, general manager Ben Cherington maintains that there is still plenty of work remaining to be done for the Bucs.

Beefing up a moribund offense with the acquisitions of 2025 American League All-Stars Brandon Lowe and Ryan O’Hearn were certainly big steps in the right direction for the Buccos, but the third base position remains an offensive question mark for the Pirates, and Cherington has gone on record as admitting as much.

A big name veteran third baseman recently came off the market when three-time MLB All-Star Alex Bregman signed a five-year, $175 million contract with the Chicago Cubs – one of the Pirates’ top rivals in the National League’s Central Division.

Bregman, a 10-year MLB veteran who has hit 209 career home runs, played nine seasons with the Houston Astros before signing with the Boston Red Sox last year, when he hit 18 home runs and made the American League all-star team.

Another third baseman who would add instant big-time offense to the Pirates at the hot corner would be free agent Eugenio Saurez, who belted 49 home runs and drove in 118 runs last season to help the Seattle Mariners win the American League’s West Division title.

The price tag for Saurez, like it was for Bregman, will no doubt be very steep, and could be outright prohibitive for the Pirates, who have already spent over $48 million on offseason acquisitions O’Hearn (29 million, two years), Lowe ($11.5 million, one year) and reliever Gregory Soto ($7.75 million, one year).

The Miami Marlins are reportedly a team that has a keen interest in Suarez, and the financial resources to sign him in order to fill an offensive void in their lineup at third base. Time will tell.

The free-agent third baseman market drops substantially after Bregman and Suarez, with Yoan Moncada — who hit 12 homers and drove in 54 runs last season for the Los Angeles Angels — arguably the best available.

Third base, like first base, are corner positions where teams look for considerable offense, both in power and in run production. That said, the current player there for the Pirates, Jared Triolo, is a Gold Glove defender who has been up and down with the bat in his three seasons with the Bucs. In 107 games last season, he hit just seven home runs and drove in 24 runs, while batting only .227.

Elsewhere in MLB:

n The Pirates moved right-hand pitcher Johan Oviedo to the Red Sox earlier this offseason and picked up one of the Red Sox’s top young prospects, Jhostynxon Garcia, who the Pirates hoped would provide more offense in the team’s outfield corps. However, Garcia suffered a quadriceps injury while playing baseball in the Venezuelan Winter League this past December — an injury that forced him out of winter ball and will require a physical with the Pirates before Spring Training begins. The Pirates, however, are optimistic that he will be ready to go in February.

n While the Cubs added a big bat in Bregman, they lost one in four-time all-star outfielder Kyle Tucker, who recently signed a four-year, $240 million contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers. Tucker hit 22 homers and drove in 73 in his lone season with the Cubs last year, when he made the NL all-star team after achieving the same recognition in three previous seasons with the American League’s Houston Astros.

n The two-time defending World Champion Dodgers continue to enjoy an embarrassment of riches after adding Tucker to a superstar-studded, awe-inducing lineup that already included reigning two-time National League Most Valuable Player Shohei Ohtani and perennial all-stars Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman. Betts was an American League MVP in 2018 with the Red Sox and Freeman was a 2020 NL MVP with the Dodgers.

n The Dodgers’ payroll has now ballooned to 2.1 billion dollars, and the combined 2026 salaries of Ohtani ($70 million) and Tucker ($60 million) create a $130 million total that exceeds the current entire 2026 payroll of 10 major league teams, including the Pirates. That kind of market inequity is a key factor in MLB heading to a probable lockout in 2027, after the current collective bargaining agreement between the MLB Players Association and team owners expires.

n Along with the Pirates, the heaviest hitters on the transaction wire this offseason have been the defending AL champion Toronto Blue Jays, the Baltimore Orioles, the Boston Red Sox, and the New York Mets.

The free-spending Mets, who were nosed out of the final National League Wild Card playoff spot last fall by the Reds, have two huge names among their offseason signings in shortstop Bo Bichette and second baseman Jorge Polanco.

After finishing in the American League East Division basement last year, the Orioles landed a big fish in plucking power-hitting first baseman and former Mets slugger Pete Alonso from the free-agent market, while the Red Sox — who also missed the playoffs last year — beefed up their pitching rotation by adding left-hander Ranger Suarez and right-hander Sonny Gray. The Blue Jays lost Bichette in free agency, but signed veteran pitcher Dylan Cease to a blockbuster seven-year deal and former Japanese hitting star Kazuma Okamoto to a four-year deal.

n After missing the postseason in each of the past three seasons, it’s become readily apparent that the tradition-rich St. Louis Cardinals are undergoing a considerable facelift this offseason under the direction of their new President of Baseball Operations, Chaim Bloom. Along with starting pitcher Gray, other veterans who the Redbirds have moved this offseason are catcher Willson Contreras (Red Sox) and third baseman Nolan Arenado (Arizona Diamondbacks).

(John Hartsock can be reached at jhartsock@altoonamirror.com)