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Pittsburgh Pirates: First Base Addressed, Now What?
The Pittsburgh Pirates seem to be trying to improve their lineup for the 2023 season. What position should they upgrade next?
Entering the 2022-2023 offseason, fans of the Pittsburgh Pirates were hoping that the team would address the first base position. It was the weakest spot in the lineup for the team and has been for a while now. The Bucs actually ranked 30th overall for WAR at the first base position.
Well, the Pittsburgh Pirates Front Office has been aggressive in improving the lineup so far this offseason. Ben Cherington has already swung a couple of deals to improve the first base position. First, he acquired Ji-Man Choi from the Rays. Next, Cherington claimed Lewin Diaz from the Marlins. Then of course the latest move was signing veteran Carlos Santana.
So first base has clearly been addressed. What position do the Pittsburgh Pirates need to improve next? One could argue that the team should be looking to upgrade their bullpen, as that was a big area of weakness in 2022. Of course, the starting rotation could always use help along with the right field position.
However, the biggest need currently is the catching position. The Pittsburgh Pirates do not have a single catcher on their 40-man roster currently from the 2022 season. The only two catchers on the 40-man are top prospect Endy Rodriguez and waiver claim Ali Sánchez.
It is highly unlikely that the Pittsburgh Pirates would let Rodriguez start the year in the Big Leagues. We saw the Front Office hold off on promoting Oneil Cruz for Super-2 reasons. No reason to think the Front Office would change at this point.
According to FanGraphs, the Pittsburgh Pirates catchers ranked 21st in terms of WAR. So while the position was not nearly as bad as the first base position, it still left a lot to be desired. If Roberto Perez stays healthy who knows what the position would have looked like over the full season? Instead, the Bucs once again did patchwork at the position.
Hopefully, that is not the for the 2023 season. The Bucs have a bright future behind the plate with Endy Rodriguez, Henry Davis, and maybe even Blake Sabol. However, none of those options will be on the Opening Day Roster for reasons outlined earlier.
So the team definitely will be looking to bring in another backstop to start the 2023 season along with Ali Sánchez. The early thought is to bring back Roberto Perez. Other notable options on the free agent market are Omar Narváez, Christian Vasquez, Tucker Barnhart, Austin Hedges, and Gary Sanchez.