Notes and observations about the Pittsburgh Pirates during the middle of Major League Baseball’s Hot Stove offseason:

â-  This offseason has been considered the most crucial in recent history for the Pirates and their general manager Ben Cherington.

The Pirates had been largely inactive on the trade/acquisition circuit last offseason, despite fielding a 2024 team that finished last in the National League in most key offensive categories.

After their morbid offensive struggles continued in 2025 en route to a 71-win, last-place finish in the National League’s Central Division for the second straight season and sixth in the last seven seasons, the Pirates and Cherington were squarely on the hot seat entering this offseason.

The Pirates went into this offseason having not signed a multi-year free agent since veteran pitcher Ivan Nova inked a three-year, $26 million contract back in December 2016.

Their embittered and embattled fan base demanded action by the front office this winter, and so, publicly, did some of the players — notably 2025 NL Cy Young Award-winning pitcher Paul Skenes.

Thus far this offseason, the Pirates and Cherington have responded, bolstering the Bucs’ offense considerably over the past month and exhibiting a commitment to back up the team’s talented and starting pitching staff with some sorely-needed run support.

In fact, it can be stated that the Pirates were arguably Major League Baseball’s busiest organization on the transaction wire between Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Things began with the usual rumbling that the Pirates were linked to a game-changing free agent in Philadelphia Phillies’ slugger Kyle Schwarber, who led the National League in home runs last year with 56.

Rumblings and linking are words that Pirates fans have grown weary of hearing over the past decade, but the Pirates did make a very competitive, eye-opening offer to Schwarber that reportedly covered four years and, depending on various reports, ranged from $120 to $150 million.

The Pirates were beaten to the punch for Schwarber by the Phillies, who met the superstar’s five-year contract request and re-signed him for $150 million.

But the Pirates had entered uncharted waters by offering a blockbuster contract to one player that amounted to a large percentage of the Buccos’ entire 2025 payroll.

After falling short on Schwarber, the Pirates promptly went out and acquired two players — second baseman Brandon Lowe and first baseman Ryan O’Hearn — who were American League All-Stars in 2025 and who will slot into the Pirates’ lineup as big factors in 2026.

Lowe signed a one-year, $11 million contract with the Bucs after belting 31 homers and driving in 83 runs last season for the Tampa Bay Rays. O’Hearn hit 17 homers and drove in 63 runs last season while becoming the Baltimore Orioles’ lone representative in the All-Star Game, before finishing the season with the San Diego Padres.

O’Hearn became the Pirates’ first multi-year signee since Nova, inking a $29 million, two-year contract.

Adding 48 homers and 146 runs batted in to a lineup that finished last in the NL in runs scored (583) and home runs (117) last year is an impressive accomplishment indeed, and one that could help the Pirates to become a playoff contender in 2026.

â-  The Pirates’ urgency this offseason is even more critical when the fact that a Major League Baseball work stoppage is a strong likelihood in 2027, making it even more important for them to strike while the iron is hot in 2026.

â-  The Bucs may have more moves up their sleeves before the start of the 2026 season next March 26. Their catching situation, offensively, is still a question mark, with 2021 top MLB draft pick Henry Davis continuing to struggle at the plate and veteran Joey Bart suffering a drop-off season in 2024. Both Davis and Bart do an outstanding job defensively, though, which, coupled with the Pirates’ now beefed-up batting order, may be enough to justify keeping them both around for a while.

â-  The acquisition of Lowe creates an interesting situation elsewhere in the Pirates’ infield, as one of the team’s best hitters, former highly-touted prospect Nick Gonzales, will likely be moved from second base to shortstop for the start of the 2026 season. But with prized young phenom Konnor Griffin — who was drafted ninth overall by the Pirates in 2024 and earned Minor League Baseball’s Hitting Prospect of the Year award in 2025 — likely to arrive in Pittsburgh early in the 2026 season and take over the shortstop spot at some point, the Pirates will have some interesting choices to make. Gonzales is good enough with the bat to fill the team’s designated hitter spot, and he has also played third base on occasion, but NL Gold Glover Jared Triolo is the incumbent there now.

â-  It was a foregone conclusion that the Pirates would have to deal from an area of team surplus — namely, pitching — to get anything substantial back this offseason. They did so by moving right-hander Mike Burrows in the Lowe trade, a three-team transaction which also involved the Bucs getting outfielder Jake Mangum and sent Burrows to the Houston Astros. The Pirates have also moved talented but injury-prone right-hander Johan Oviedo to Boston in a five-player deal that brought promising young outfield batting prospect Jhostynxon Garcia to Pittsburgh.

â-  Garcia and Mangum will both be outfield candidates, but the Pirates may still be looking for an established, heavier-hitting outfielder to supplement the batting power of veterans Oneil Cruz (20 home runs last year) and Bryan Reynolds (16).

John Hartsock can be reached at jhartsock@altoonamirror.com