2 non-Mitch Keller Pirates who could be traded at Winter Meetings (1 who went early)

The Pittsburgh Pirates will, hopefully, be active during this year's MLB Winter Meetings. Last year during the meetings, they acquired first baseman Spencer Horwitz, and hopefully this year they can add at least one bat as effective as Horwitz's was in 2025. But it's going to come at a cost.

Horwitz wasn't cheap, and luckily, it's paid off for the Pirates (at least so far). The Pirates player who has come up the most in rumors is right-hander Mitch Keller, but he shouldn't be the only one receiving trade interest (nor should the Pirates move him in general). We may see one of these Pirates players on the move during this year's Winter Meetings (and one of them departed even earlier than expected).

Expect to hear plenty of rumors regarding these non-Mitch Keller Pirates pitchers at the Winter Meetings.

Mike Burrows

Aside from Keller, Mike Burrows might be the most valuable pitcher the Pirates have who could be traded. A former 11th-round pick by the Pirates in 2018, Burrows' MLB debut was delayed by a Tommy John surgery in early 2023, which kept him out for the first half of 2024. He made his debut during the final week of that season and was given an extended look in the bigs in 2025. Needless to say, he impressed when given that shot.

Burrows primarily pitched out of the rotation, tallying 96 innings and working to a 3.94 ERA, 4.00 FIP, and 1.24 WHIP. The rookie right-hander had both an above-average 24.1% K% and 7.7% BB%. He was slightly home run prone, however, with a 1.22 HR/9 ratio, 89.2 MPH exit velocity, and a 10.8% barrel percentage. Thankfully, Burrows really ended the year on a high note, with his best performances coming after the All-Star break.

His final 50 innings of the season saw him post both an ERA (3.24) and FIP (3.32) under 3.50. He cut his walk rate down to 6% while maintaining a 24.6% strikeout percentage. The best part is Burrows' stuff got a whole lot better. His Stuff+ in the first half of the season was just 92. But during the second half, he upped that to 99. On top of that, he also saw an uptick in Location+ from a below-average 99 to a strong 104 mark.

If the Pirates don't trade Keller, then Burrows isn't fully guaranteed a rotation spot. The first four spots belong to Keller, Paul Skenes, Braxton Ashcraft, and Bubba Chandler. There will be plenty of competition for that spot, between players with MLB experience and top pitching prospects, and moving Burrows could make it a little easier to pick a winner. The Pirates could also likely get something valuable back if they used him as a trade piece.

Johan Oviedo

Now, we saw this one coming - Oviedo was a prime candidate, and it's no wonder the Boston Red Sox cut the line and acquired him for one of their top slugging prospects.

Johan Oviedo was a 2022 trade deadline acquisition by the Pirates. He was shipped from St. Louis in exchange for Jose Quintana. Oviedo quickly established himself as a rotation piece for the Pirates in 2023, as he pitched to a 4.31 ERA, 4.49 FIP, and 1.37 WHIP over 177.2 innings of work. He struck out 22.3% of batters he faced with a 9.5% walk rate. His biggest strength was keeping the ball in the park, with an 0.90 HR/9, 88.5 MPH exit velocity, and 7.6% barrel rate.

Unfortunately, like Burrows, Oviedo underwent his own Tommy John surgery in December 2023. That eliminated him for all of 2024, and while he was projected to return in early 2025, a lat strain set another roadblock for him to overcome. Luckily, after rehabbing, Oviedo returned to an MLB mound at the start of August.

He only pitched 40.1 innings, with mixed results. Let's start with the good: Oviedo had a 3.56 ERA, with a 24.1% K%, 29.9% whiff rate, and a strong 87.6 MPH exit velocity and 6.9% barrel percentage. He also made a mechanical change that helped his Stuff+ go from 92 in 2023 to 102 this past season. The bad news is that his walk rate rose to 13.5% and his HR/9 to 1.34. That led to a 4.92 FIP, with an unimpressive 4.90 xFIP, and 4.73 SIERA. Of course, with a larger sample size, some of these numbers would likely have balanced out. That's what Boston is certainly hoping for, as his surgery moves further and further into the rearview mirror.

Dennis Santana

Pirates closer Dennis Santana received plenty of interest around the trade deadline, but ultimately stayed put. Depending on how the market for relievers plays out at the Winter Meetings, those rumors may resurface, and Santana could be on the move. The Pirates' bullpen is already deep, and Santana could be a player who nets the Bucs a much-needed bat, considering what relievers usually go for in trade.

2025 was an outstanding year for Santana, as he put up a 2.18 ERA, 3.21 FIP, and 0.87 WHIP over 70.1 innings of work. His 22.2% K% was about league average, and he had a strong 6.3% walk rate. Despite his unimpressive 89 MPH exit velocity and 10.5% barrel rate, his HR/9 was only 0.60. Even these numbers undersell Santana. On August 1, he allowed five earned runs and two home runs while inducing just a single out against the Colorado Rockies in Coors Field. Outside of that one outing, Santana put up a 1.54 ERA, 22.4% K%, 6.1% BB%, and a 0.39 HR/9 ratio.

However, there are some red flags worth mentioning. Santana had a 4.17 xFIP, and given his subpar exit velocity and barrel rate, he might be more susceptible to home runs in the future unless he curbs that. Santana struck out far more batters in 2024 with the Pirates, with a K% approaching 30% at 29.1%. He was also far less prone to hard contact in his first cameo with Pittsburgh, sporting a microscopic 1.9% barrel percentage. 

The Pirates recently tendered Santana at an affordable $4.5 million for 2026. The Pirates also added three relievers to their 40-man roster prior to the deadline to protect players from the Rule 5 Draft. If they traded Santana, they would likely add another reliever via free agency and give both Justin Lawrence and Carmen Mlodzinski a heightened role.