3 former Pittsburgh Pirates without a job heading into spring training

It's a great time to be a baseball fan, as players are starting to report to spring training and the vibes are immaculate. However, there are still many players out there who remain unsigned.

Some are very notable names, like Alex Bregman and Nick Pivetta, but among them are a handful of former Pittsburgh Pirates players looking for a team for the 2025 season. Here are three of the most notable former Bucs who remain unsigned with spring training games around the corner.

3 notable former Pirates still unsigned with spring training around the corner

Yasmani Grandal

The Pirates signed Yasmani Grandal to a one-year contract last offseason. The 2024 campaign was a very mixed bag for the former All-Star backstop. Heading into July 4, Grandal was batting a putrid .171/.203/.256 with a .202 wOBA and 23 wRC+. For reference, Austin Hedges batted .180/.237/.230 with a .212 wOBA and 25 wRC+ for the Pirates in '23. Grandal, meanwhile, walked in only 4% of his 124 plate appearances with just two home runs and a .085 isolated slugging percentage. His 17.7% K% was the only mark in the first half of his season that wasn't atrocious. 

But something clicked for Grandal in the second half of the campaign. Through his final 119 plate appearances, he put up an outstanding .296/.401/.571 slashline (.972 OPS), .419 wOBA, and 169 wRC+. Grandal went from hitting like Austin Hedges to prime Mike Piazza, who had a .985 OPS, .416 wOBA, and 165 wRC+ in 1996. Grandal went yard seven times with a .276 isolated slugging percentage. Meanwhile, his walk rate skyrocketed to 16%, although his K% took a slight step back to 20.2%.

Grandal's second half was an astounding 180 from his first half. His defense was also a mixed bag. He had zero defensive runs saved and +8.5 framing runs, but posted the worst pop time and the ninth-worst average throw speed among all catchers in 2024. Grandal surprisingly graded out positively in both blocks above average and blocking runs, at +2 and +1, respectively. Still, Pirates fans using the eye test will attest he definitely made some huge mental blunders while behind the dish, including missing easy throws to home or throwing the ball back to Jared Jones slow enough to let a runner steal home.

Overall, Grandal was a solid part-time backstop for the Pirates in 2024. He had .704 OPS and 95 wRC+, both of which were better than the league-average catcher in 2024. The switch-hitter had +1.4 fWAR despite playing in just 72 games and receiving 243 plate appearances. Surprisingly, he hasn't gotten much attention this winter. The Pirates have reportedly kicked the tires on the catching market, but haven't made any notable additions to their depth chart behind the dish. There are definitely teams that could use a part-time/second-string backstop, and he may even find regular playing time on a team like the Miami Marlins or his former organization, the Chicago White Sox.