5 older free agents the Pirates should sign this offseason

Baseball's biggest stars are young guns. But while the sport is a young man's game, plenty of players still remain very effective, even as they enter their mid- or late-30s. The Pittsburgh Pirates should be open to adding any free agent who can make an effective impact this offseason, even if they are getting older.

There are a handful of free agents on the market the Pirates should seriously consider pursuing, but these five fall into the oft-overlooked "age-35 season or older" category approaching the 2025 campaign.

5 older free agents the Pittsburgh Pirates should sign this offseason

Kirby Yates

Kirby Yates was already a late-bloomer, breaking out in his age-31 season in 2018, but he became one of the best relief pitchers in baseball between '18 and '19 with the San Diego Padres. Yates then missed a large chunk of time across the next three years, only managing to toss 11.1 innings from '20-'22.

Yates pitched over 60 innings once again in 2023 with mediocre numbers. Although he had a decent ERA (3.28) and K% (31.5%), he struggled with free passes with a 14.6% walk rate, and allowed a high degree of homers and contact quality, clocking in with a 1.34 HR/9 rate and 10.6% barrel rate. The Texas Rangers still decided to give Yates a shot, which ended up being a huge bargain for the 2023 World Series winners.

Yates owned a 1.17 ERA, 2.50 FIP, and 0.83 WHIP across 61.2 innings in 2024. He improved his K% to 35.9% and his walk rate to 11.8%, but more importantly, he induced a lot better contact. Yates' opponent exit velocity was just 87.5 MPH, among the 81st percentile of hurlers, and his barrel rate was elite at 4.1%, which sat in the 95th percentile.

Now, Yates did benefit from a .211 batting average on balls in play, but nearly every metric says he was still a great pitcher, even with some good batted-ball luck. Yates had a 3.10 xFIP, 2,85 SIERA and was in the 100th percentile of both xERA (1.81), xBA (.145), and xwOBA (.211). It is also the second time he has put up a sub-2.00 ERA in his career.

MLB Trade Rumors estimates Yates will earn a one-year contract worth $14 million. That's similar to what the Pirates handed Aroldis Chapman last year, who is also of similar age. Chapman was in his age-36 campaign this past year, while Yates is heading into his age-38 season. This is the kind of high-leverage arm that would significantly improve the Pirates' bullpen.