Three Off-Season Goals for the Pittsburgh Pirates

Trade Adam Frazier

This needs to be priority number one. Adam Fraizer needs to be traded. There is just too much middle infield depth on this team to let Frazier eat up playing time. This year, Frazier batted just .230/.297/.364 though 230 plate appearances with a 81 wRC+.

But Frazier had another Frazier type season, struggling in the first half, only to end on a hot streak. Through his first 111 plate appearances of the year, Frazier hit just .198/.234/.330 with a .245 wOBA and 50 wRC+. But in his final 123 plate appearances yielded a .271/.361/.402 line, .338 wOBA and 112 wRC+. In the second half of 2020, Frazier also saw his walk rate spike to an outstanding 10.6% rate and an identical 10.6% strikeout rate.

Whoever the Pirates trade Frazier to, it’s not going to be for his bat. It’s going to be for his defense. At second base this year, Frazier had +4 DRS, 0.5 range runs above average and a 1.9 UZR. The big number I want to point out is Frazier finished second in infield outs above average at +6. He’s also useful in the outfield as well having +2 DRS, 0.9 range runs above average and 1.7 UZR in left field. Frazier also has experience in center and right field as well, making him a solid utility option.

The Pirates need to find a way to give Cole Tucker regular playtime next year at a middle infield position. I get he wasn’t all that great in 2020, but he’s still young and the Pirates need to, at the very least, give him a shot at proving himself. The same goes for Kevin Newman.

Depth, Lots Of It

Adding depth to the roster needs to be another priority for the Pittsburgh Pirates. Aside from the middle infield, the Pirates lack a decent amount of outfield depth and pitching depth that is MLB ready.

Last off-season, the Pirates signed seven minor league deals. Mostly, they were position players, and the only two pitchers they signed were Derek Holland and Robbie Erlin. Now granted, you shouldn’t expect them to make any big deals when it comes to free agency this winter. But right now, the Pirates need to be looking for cheap veterans they can sign to minor league deals that have some potential upside.

Guys like Brock Holt, Billy Hamilton, Jake Lamb, Steven Souza Jr., Joe Panik, or Adeiny Hechavarria would be good low cost utility men that may or may not turn into something notable. On the pitching side of things, Jeff Samardzjia, Tommy Milone, Alex Wood, Chris Devenski, Jared Hughes, Luis Avalian, Ross Detwiler, and Andrew Chafin might also turn into solid minor league signings.

Aside from making a handful of minor legue deal signings, this team needs a durable starting pitcher. They need an innings eater, and signing someone like Mike Minor or Julio Teheran on a cheap, one year ‘rebuild your value’ kind of deal would be great.

Sell High On Pitchers

The Pittsburgh Pirates are going to need depth because it’s time they sell high on some of their core pieces from 2020. One player that ended 2020 on a high note was Joe Musgrove. After a rough start to the year that included an injury that kept him out nearly all of August, Musgrove returned to put up very solid numbers in September.

Through his final 25 innings of the year, the right hander had a 2.16 ERA, 1.39 FIP and 1.95 xFIP. He walked just five of the 98 batters he faced, and struck out 38 of them, resulting in an outstanding 7.6 K/BB ratio. This, combined with his solid work in the last two seasons, and control through the 2022 season, Musgrove could prove to be a valuable asset in the trade market.

Recently, relief pitchers, even ones that aren’t elite, are going for a lot on the trade market, and the Pittsburgh Pirates might want to capitalize right now with Richard Rodriguez. Rich Rod had a nice bounce back campaign, pitching to the tune of a 2.70 ERA, 2.83 FIP and an outstanding 0.86 WHIP through 23.1 innings of work. After his HR/9 was approaching 2 per game in 2019, that has since lowered to a solid 1.16 per 9 rate. He also saw his strikeout rate raise to a career high 36.6% rate and walk rate drop to a career low 5.4% rate. His ERA estimators pinned him as excellent as well with a 2.83 xFIP and 2.40 SIERA.

The one issue Rodriguez faced was batted ball numbers. Opponents had a 91.8 MPH exit velocity and 51% hard hit rate, both in the bottom 3% of MLB pitchers in 2020. Still, his xERA which takes into account batted ball numbers was at a solid 3.28 and his xBA was strong .218 mark. He is controlled through the next three seasons.

Now I don’t want them to trade both Musgrove and Rodriguez just to trade them. There is no major rush if Ben Cherington doesn’t get offered what he wants. This goes for Frazier as well since he has two years of control left. But both Rodriguez and Musgrove are coming off strong seasons. Unless they can work out an extension with Musgrove, he probably isn’t going to be around the next time the Pirates are in contention, so I think the best course of action is to capitalize while their trade values are high.