4 players with options the Pittsburgh Pirates should monitor

Jorge Polanco

Jorge Polanco was a staple in the Minnesota Twins' infield from 2016 through 2023. But last offseason, the Twins felt it was time to move on from the veteran switch-hitter and traded him to the Seattle Mariners. However, his first year in Seattle was not great. He batted just .213/.296/.355 with a .287 wOBA and 92 wRC+. Polanco struck out 29.2% of the time and only hit 16 home runs, sporting a .141 isolated slugging percentage in 469 plate appearances. One of the few positives is that he still managed to draw walks at a respectable 9.8% rate.

Polanco's season wasn't good, but there are some decent numbers under the hood that could indicate a rebound next year. He had some drastic home/away splits. At T-Mobile Park, he had just a .606 OPS, .269 wOBA, and 86 wRC+. When playing on the road, he had a much better .698 OPS, .304 wOBA, and 98 wRC+. Those numbers may still not be great, but there's a pretty drastic difference.  Polanco also had a sizeable difference between his wOBA and xwOBA of .311 on the season. Add in the injury that nagged him and was recently addressed surgically, and the picture becomes clearer.

This makes sense, given the Mariners' home park is by far the most pitcher-friendly park in baseball. According to Baseball Savant, Tropicana Field has the second lowest park factor of 96. T-Mobile has a park factor of just 91, with the lower the number indicating how pitcher-friendly the environment is. It is also the only park with no offensive factors that favor hitters. Meanwhile, Target Field, the Minnesota Twins' home park, is considered the sixth most hitter-friendly park in baseball.

It's not as if Polanco doesn't have a good track record of hitting. either. From 2021 to 2023, he batted .255/.333/.462 with a .342 wOBA and 120 wRC+ with the Minnesota Twins. He only struck out 21% of the time with a 10.1% walk rate, and hit for a decent amount of pop. His isolated slugging percentage was above .200 at .207.

Defensively, Polanco has never graded out as a great glove up the middle, and 2024 was no different. He had -1 defensive run saved and -10 outs above average at the keystone. He has a ton of experience at shortstop as well as the hot corner. 

The Mariners currently hold a $12 million club option with a $750K buyout. Polanco could definitely benefit from a new ballpark. PNC Park is similar to Target Field in terms of park factor. Polanco could help ease the workload for Isiah Kiner-Falefa and Nick Gonzales up the middle next year. Plus, with Ke'Bryan Hayes recovering from a herniated disc, Polanco could help mitigate some of his strain at the hot corner. 

Phil Maton

The Tampa Bay Rays picked up Phil Maton after he posted a 3.00 ERA fueled by a 27% strikeout rate, a 9.1% walk rate, and 0.82 HR/9 with the Houston Astros in 2023. Maton induced a ton of weak contact with the Astros, with batted balls against him averaging out to an 84.5 MPH exit velocity and 7.2% barrel rate. The Rays were hoping to get more production like that, but things ended up not going as planned.

The veteran reliever posted just a 4.58 ERA, 5.63 FIP, and 1.33 WHIP while in Tampa. His strikeout rate dropped significantly to just 19.7%, while his walk rate rose to 11.8%. Maton became much more home run prone with a 1.58 HR/9 rate. He also induced far less soft contact, with an 87.1 MPH exit velocity and 9.1% barrel rate. 

The Rays decided to move on from Maton, sending him packing to the New York Mets for cash, but this ended up being a great pickup for the Metropolitans. Maton pitched to a 2.51 ERA, 2.57 FIP, and 0.84 WHIP. His strikeout rate returned to his 2023 level, coming in at 26.5%, but his walk rate significantly improved to 5.3%. His strikeout rate isn't the only number that returned closer to his 2023 form, as his exit velocity dropped to 85.1 MPH, and his barrel rate fell to 4.1%. This, in turn, helped him lower his HR/9 to 0.31.

So far in the postseason, Maton has not pitched well for the Mets. He has only logged 2.2 innings, but has allowed four earned runs. Two of the seven hits he has allowed have left the park, and he has struck out a trio of batters to combat just one walk. It is a small sample size that likely will not greatly impact the Mets' decision, but is worth noting nonetheless.

The Mets now hold a $7.75 million team option over Maton. If he pitched like he did with the Mets for the entire year, he'd almost assuredly return for the second season of his contract. But he didn't, and he struggled before getting traded. $7.75 million isn't an inexpensive option, considering the season Maton is coming off of. If he does hit the open market, he is a reliever who could help bolster the Pirates' bullpen.

Andrew Chafin

If the Mets' decision over Maton is up in the air because of how strong his ending to the season was, then Chafin's team option is up in the air because of how poorly he ended 2024. Chafin signed with the Detroit Tigers last offseason after splitting 2023 with the Arizona Diamondbacks and Milwaukee Brewers, and he was a quality left-handed bullpen arm for the Tigs to start the year. 

He owned a 3.16 ERA, 2.55 FIP, and 1.38 WHIP heading into the trade deadline. Chafin struck out over 30% of his opponents with a 30.9% K%, and only allowed home runs at an 0.49-per-9 rate. His 9.9% walk rate wasn't great, but overall, he had a strong season up to this particular breaking point. Considering he only allowed a 6.3% barrel rate but a .355 batting average on balls in play, Chafin had the potential to be even better.

But the second half of the season did not go as planned. Chafin was traded to the Texas Rangers, but fell apart down the stretch. He pitched 19.1 more innings, working to the tune of a 4.19 ERA, 5.33 FIP, and 1.66 WHIP. His strikeout rate fell to 23.8%, while his HR/9 rose to 1.40. Far more worrisome was his walk rate jumping through the roof. He dished out a free pass to a whopping 17.9% of opponents while in a Rangers uniform.

One of the few positives is that he continued to induce weak contact. Chafin induced an average exit velocity of 86.1 MPH with a 6.1% barrel rate. His BABIP returned to a much more sustainable .304 rate, but aside from that, Chafin's time with the Rangers this year did not go very well.

Now, the Rangers face a similar dilemma to the Mets' Maton issue. Do they pick up Chafin's option (which is worth $6.5 million) and bet on his good half season, or do they buy him out for $500K? Pirates fans should definitely keep an eye on this one. The Bucs only have one left-handed reliever on the 40-man roster (Joey Wentz). Chafin would be an intriguing lefty for the team to pursue if the Rangers end up buying him out.