5 recent Pirates players Pittsburgh fans wish they could have back for 2025

February is right around the corner, and soon enough, pitchers and catchers will head to Bradenton to report for the start of spring training. The Pirates are still a few players away from being realistically considered contenders in the NL Central, and GM Ben Cherington promised at last weekend's PiratesFest that the roster would see improvements between now and the start of camp.

There has been a stated commitment to winning from various levels of team management, but for that to come to fruition, the Pirates must add to their major league roster. There are multiple players who were in Pittsburgh not that long ago who would have been excellent fits for the 2025 Pirates, many of whom were there for the taking this winter.

While the door is still open to add to the team before spring, the Pirates would have been well-suited to reunite with—or to have never dumped in the first place—these players who were let go by the current regime:

5 recent Pittsburgh Pirates who'd work well on current roster

Starling Marte

The Pirates brought back Andrew McCutchen for a third consecutive season in hopes of rekindling some of the magic from the team's postseason runs of the mid-2010s. They may be wise to do so with one of his former outfield mates.

Marte was an underrated star during his eight-year tenure with the Pirates from 2012-2019. By WAR, he was the ninth-best outfielder across MLB over that time. He slashed .287/.341/.452, averaged 4.4 WAR during his six full seasons, made an All-Star team, and won a pair of Gold Gloves.

Trading Marte was Cherington's first big move after taking over as GM. That swap netted the Bucs Liover Peguero, who has seen some MLB action and may factor into the team's future plans at shortstop; Brennan Malone, a former first-rounder whose career appears to have stalled due to arm injuries; and international bonus pool space.

After brief stops in Arizona, Miami, and Oakland, Marte signed a four-year, $78 million contract with the Mets before the 2022 season. While his speed and defense have seen a sharp decline in recent years, he's still a more-than-capable hitter—he posted a modest 104 wRC+ in 2024, but underperformed considerably relative to his expected batting average (.287, 94th percentile) and slugging percentage (.425).

Marte is entering the final year of his Mets contract and is owed $20.75 million. The Mets have flirted with the idea of offloading that contract, and they would certainly need to eat a decent portion of that money to facilitate a deal with the Pirates. But the Bucs badly need another outfielder, and a player with Marte's talent, postseason experience, and familiarity with Pittsburgh would be a very welcome addition.

Clay Holmes

Holmes was a ninth-round pick by the Pirates in 2011 and spent parts of four unspectacular seasons in Pittsburgh, pitching to a 5.57 ERA and a 1.64 WHIP in 91 appearances. He was dealt to the Yankees at the 2021 trade deadline, and the fact that they were able to get anything for him seemed like a fleece job at the time.

The deal did end up being quite lopsided, but not in the way the Pirates expected. Holmes went on to post a 2.69 ERA with the Yankees while saving 74 games and making a pair of All-Star teams. He cut his four-seamer and curveball from his arsenal, relying heavily on a hard sinker and a slider-sweeper combo that enabled him to induce tons of groundballs while still missing bats at a high level.

Meanwhile, the Pirates' return in the trade, utilitymen Hoy Park and Diego Castillo, combined for -1.0 WAR in 163 games with the Bucs. After being acquired by the Pirates at the 2021 trade deadline, both were out of the organization before the calendar flipped to 2023.

Despite a strong 2024 season for Holmes, wherein he pitched 63 innings of 3.14 ERA ball and saved a career-high 30 games, he ceded closing duties to Luke Weaver during the Yankees' run to the World Series. In December, he signed a three-year, $38 million deal with the Mets, who plan on utilizing him in their starting rotation. He was never connected to the Pirates during the course of his free agency, but a pitcher of his caliber would be a massive help to Pittsburgh's young and volatile bullpen.

Carlos Santana

Santana was already an accomplished MLB veteran before ever donning a Pirates jersey. He played in 1,784 regular season games, accumulated 32.8 WAR, and hit 278 home runs before signing a one-year deal with the Pirates ahead of the 2023 season.

First base has been a black hole in Pittsburgh for the better part of the last three decades or so. While Santana only spent half a season with the Bucs and didn't produce the same level of power as he had earlier in his career, he remains one of the better first basemen the Pirates have had in recent years. He posted a .732 OPS with 12 home runs and his standard excellent walk rate while playing elite defense before being dealt to the Brewers at the deadline for infielder Jhonny Severino.

There was interest both from Santana and from Pirates fans in a reunion for 2024, but the team instead opted to sign Rowdy Tellez before Christmas, while Santana remained a free agent until February, when he signed with the Twins for $1.5 million less than he had gotten from Pittsburgh the year before. Santana proceeded to post another above-average offensive season while taking home his first career Gold Glove Award at age 38.

Like Holmes, Santana is no longer on the market, as he signed for a third stint in Cleveland (this time for a much higher $12 million price tag) after they sent Josh Naylor to Arizona. The Pirates traded for Spencer Horwitz to cover first base, but he's still unproven and likely requires a platoon partner. A reunion with Santana, who was universally adored in Pittsburgh, would have given the team a capable option to spell Horwitz and designated hitter Andrew McCutchen.

Edwin Uceta

The Pittsburgh Pirates career of Edwin Uceta was so brief that he never appeared in a game at any level of the organization. Still, Pirates fans familiar with the right-hander probably wish he was a member of the club's bullpen in 2025.

Uceta was a Pirate for less than a week in April 2023. He was claimed off waivers and optioned to Triple-A, only to be designated for assignment again two days later when his 40-man roster spot was needed for catcher Tyler Heineman. He appeared in just one MLB game with the Mets in 2023 and ended that season with a career 5.80 ERA across 40.1 innings.

The reliever then signed a minor-league deal with the Rays and, like many pitchers before him, Tampa Bay turned him into a star. After joining their bullpen in May, Uceta pitched to a 1.51 ERA, 1.70 FIP, and 0.82 WHIP in 41.2 innings. His expected batting average (.184), barrel rate (3.2%), strikeout rate (35.8%), and walk rate (5.0%) were all elite marks.

Uceta's breakout, due largely to an improved fastball and one of MLB's best changeups, earned him the No. 6 spot on MLB Network's Top 10 Relief Pitchers Right Now list. Having another lockdown, high-leverage arm like that in the bullpen would go a long way toward making the Pirates a more formidable contender.

Aroldis Chapman

Last offseason, the Pirates did opt to add another proven arm to the back of the bullpen alongside David Bednar and Colin Holderman. After the front office's efforts to add an impact starting pitcher failed to come to fruition, the Pirates changed course and inked Chapman to a one-year deal worth $10.5 million.

Although his season got off to a pretty rocky start—through the end of May, Chapman had a 4.66 ERA and walked 23 batters in 19.1 innings—he got it together and wound up looking like the Aroldis Chapman of old down the stretch. From June on, his ERA dropped to 3.40, but with a minuscule 1.73 FIP, while posting a 37.0% strikeout rate and a much-improved 9.2% walk rate.

Formerly one of the most dominant closers in the history of the sport, Chapman was meant to serve as David Bednar's setup man, but after his brutal struggles, Chapman took over the ninth inning role and led the National League in saves in September. While the Pirates' season was all but over by then, Chapman proved to still be a valuable asset.

A reunion with Chapman would have made a ton of sense given the uncertainty surrounding Bednar and Holderman, as well as the general lack of left-handed pitchers on the roster, but he signed with the Red Sox in December for a $250,000 increase from his 2024 salary. Pittsburgh signed Caleb Ferguson to add another southpaw to the mix, but the bullpen is still sorely missing another leverage arm. That could have been Chapman.