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The Pittsburgh Pirates traded Gold Glove third baseman Ke'Bryan Hayes to the Cincinnati Reds at the trade deadline. In the process, they were able to offload the remainder of the extension he signed in 2022. He was set to earn $7 million in 2026, but now the Pirates have freed up that portion of the payroll.
With the offseason right around the corner, the Pirates have an opportunity to re-invest that wisely. They need some bats, especially in the outfield, and could use that $7 million to get some. Jim Bowden of The Athletic recently released his top 50 free agents with salary projections, and some are very well within the Pirates' price range after trading Hayes.
The Pirates should re-invest the money they saved by trading Ke'Bryan Hayes in one of these top 50 free agents.
Miguel Andújar
Miguel Andújar had a short stint with the Pirates in 2022 and 2023. He did show some promise in the latter year, with a 105 wRC+ in a small 90-plate-appearance sample size. The oft-injured former New York Yankee was let go by the Pirates that offseason and made his way to the Athletics, a move the Pirates may regret. After producing at a roughly league-average rate with the A's in 2024, Andújar had his best year since his 2018 rookie campaign in 2025.
Anduújar took 341 plate appearances with the A's and Cincinnati Reds, slashing .318/.352/.470 with a .354 wOBA and 125 wRC+. He went yard ten times with a respectable .153 isolated slugging percentage. Andújar has never been a frequent walker, and he posted a 5% BB% this year. However, he has consistently put up a low K%. This season, he had a 14.4% K% and a whiff rate of just 17.8%.
Andújar split his time between third base and the outfield corners this season. His defense at the hot corner has never graded out well, and 2025 was no exception. He had -6 defensive runs saved and -4 outs above average at third base in just 237.2 innings. His outfield defense wasn't great, but it was playable, with only -1 DRS and -3 OAA, albeit in a similar amount of playing time (239 innings).
However, Andújar's defense isn't the only negative worth noting. He was below the 30th percentile of both xwOBA (.307) and xSLG% (.394), and had just an 88 MPH exit velocity and a 4.7% barrel rate. The injury bug continued to plague him in 2025 as well, as he missed nearly all of June and the first week and a half of July. Plus, he did most of his damage against left-handed pitching, with a 171 wRC+ vs. southpaws and a 108 mark vs RHP.
Still, Andújar ranked as Bowden's 47th-best free agent. Bowden projects him signing for one year at $5.5 million. He even compares his projected contract to 2025 Pirates outfielderand Gold Glove finalist Tommy Pham. Andújar should be well within the Pirates' price range and, even with his red flags, would be an upgrade to their current left field situation.
Mike Yastrzemski
Mike Yastrzemski has been a consistently solid batter, year in and year out. He consistently hovers around +2.0 fWAR, with a wRC+ somewhere around 105 and 110. 2025 was no different for the veteran outfielder, even as he weathered a trade to a new team at the deadline. Now he hits free agency and is one of the best options for the Pirates, based on how they shop.
Yastrzemski turned in a .233/.333/.403 triple-slash with a .314 wOBA and 106 wRC+ over 558 plate appearances with the San Francisco Giants and Kansas City Royals. He hit 17 home runs, with a .170 ISO. This marks the sixth year in a row Yaz has hit 15+ homers with an ISO of at least .170 (excluding 2020). He also put up the highest walk rate of his career at 12.9% (again, not including 2020), with a career-low strikeout rate of just 19.4%. His previous career low was nearly a quarter of his ABs, at 24.6% in 2021.
Yastrzemski doesn't come with the same significant concerns Andújar does. He had a solid .336 xwOBA this year and a .429 xSLG%. He also posted a 90.4 MPH exit velocity and 8.5% barrel rate, both of which were about league average. Yastrzemski was also above the 80th percentile of both whiff and chase rate, at 19% and 22%, respectively. He is also a strong-side platoon bat, which is the opposite of Andújar. His defense graded out as just about average, with +5 DRS, but -3 OAA. He was in the 73rd percentile of arm strength, ran efficient routes, and got good jumps on fly balls.
Plus, he'd have park factors on his side with the Pirates, and showed us exactly what he might play like in an optimal environment last year. According to Baseball Savant, Oracle Park is the third-worst park in baseball for left-handed hitters, with a 96 park factor (100 is average). The Royals' Kauffman Stadium had a 100 park factor for LHB, just like PNC Park does. Yastrzemski's OPS went from .685 with the Giants to .839 with the Royals.
The only major knock on Yastrzemski is his age. 2026 will be his age-35 season, but that didn't stop the Pirates from signing Tommy Pham last year. Bowden ranked Yastrzemski just below Andújar at No. 48, and projected him to earn a one-year contract worth $6 million. Despite the Pirates' need for a left fielder, Bowden didn't list the Pirates as one of the best suitors for Yaz. One could argue he's one of the top free agents the Pirates should be after.
Ryan O'Hearn
The top free agent that may semi-realistically be in the Pirates' price range after saving money by trading Hayes is first baseman/left fielder Ryan O'Hearn. O'Hearn went from one of baseball's worst batters in 2019-2022 to one of the game's most underrated, starting with the Baltimore Orioles in 2023. O'Hearn split the 2025 campaign with the O's and the San Diego Padres, and had one of his best years at the dish yet.
O'Hearn turned in a .281/.366/.437 slashline, with a .349 wOBA and 127 wRC+. His BA, OBP, wOBA, and wRC+ were all career-bests, outside of his 44-game/170-PA showing in 2018. O'Hearn went yard 17 times with an ISO clocking in at .156.
He has progressively gotten better at drawing walks in recent years. In 2023, he had a BB% of just 4.1%, but this year, it rose to 10.7%. O'Hearn also struck out just 20% of the time. Even though O'Hearn has mostly been a strong-side platoon bat vs RHP, he had his best year vs lefties this year. It was the first time he stepped to the plate 100 times against a southpaw, with 109 plate appearances, and he put up a 135 wRC+ in that small sample size.
O'Hearn would likely play a mix of positions with the Pirates, spending most of his time as the Pirates' DH (at least against right-handed pitching). He's played 118 games there over the last three seasons. He'd also likely see more time in the outfield corners. O'Hearn has yet to log 200 innings in the outfield in any season, but that would likely change if the Pirates signed him. His primary position, first base, saw him put up +4 DRS and +6 OAA last season. While he won't usurp Spencer Howitz at first, the Pirates could occasionally give Horwitz a start at second base and use O'Hearn at first base when a right-hander is starting.
O'Hearn is projected to make more than either Andújar or Yastrzemski. Bowden estimates he'll sign a two-year contract worth $24 million, coming out to an AAV of $12 million. Bowden also has the Pirates listed as a potential landing spot for O'Hearn. He is also the highest-ranked player Bowden sees as a fit for the Pirates, coming in as the 24th-best free agent on the board this offseason. Needless to say, O'Hearn would be a serious addition for the Pirates.
Cedric Mullins
While Cedric Mullins has never been able to recapture his 2021 season, a 30/30 year with +6.0 fWAR, he’s proven to be a solid outfielder ever since. 2025 marked his worst season since his 2021 breakout, but he is still a power/speed threat whose defense would likely play up if the Pirates signed him and moved him to an outfield corner.
2025 started off like any other Mullins season. By the deadline, he had slightly above league-average numbers, with a .229/.305/.433 slash, .319 wOBA, and 106 wRC+. He had stolen 14 bases with 15 homers, and sported an ISO just a few ticks over .200 at .204. Mullins had also walked 9.3% of the time, with a strikeout rate of 23.9%. The Orioles then sent Mullins to the New York Mets, and the wheels quickly began to fall off.
In only 143 plate appearances, Mullins hit just .182/.284/.281 with a wRC+ of 66 with the Mets. Mullins only hit two more home runs and put up an ISO below .100 at .099. His walk rate may have increased to 11.2%, and he kept up a similar 24.5% strikeout rate, but overall, he was a well below-average batter. The only positive was that he went eight-for-eight in stolen base attempts with the Mets.
Mullins seems destined for a move to an outfield corner. While he had +4 OAA last season, he also had -14 DRS. Mullins runs great routes on fly balls, with only Byron Buxton, Victor Scott II, and Brenton Doyle ranking above him, per Baseball Savant. However, he was slightly below average on his jump, at 34.1 feet. Mullins’ arm strength was also only in the 47th percentile.
One major red flag some may point out is his very worrying underlying numbers. Mullins had just a .291 xwOBA and .351 xSLG%, both of which were in the tenth percentile or lower among all batters in 2025. He also had a mediocre 88.8 MPH exit velocity and a 6.2% barrel percentage. He put up just a .290 xwOBA from 2022 through 2024, but a wOBA of .312. His exit velocity and barrel rate were also poor, coming in at 88.3 MPH and 5.3% respectively. He has consistently outperformed his expected numbers for four seasons in a row.
While Mullins had reverse splits this past season, he should be yet another strong-side platoon outfielder the Pirates should keep an eye on. Bowden ranks Mullins as the 50th-best free agent on his top 50 list. He also only projects him to make $8 million for one season. That is another contract projection that is right up the Pirates’ alley.
Gleyber Torres
Gleyber Torres would be the boldest player for the Pirates to go after on this list. However, the Pirates could go after the second baseman, considering the money they saved from trading Hayes. If the Pirates signed Torres, they would have one of the best up-the-middle duos in baseball, with Konnor Griffin to Torres’ right.
Torres signed a one-year deal with the Detroit Tigers last offseason, and it ended up being a massive bargain. The veteran infielder slashed .256/.358/.387 with a .331 wOBA and 113 wRC+. Both his 13.5% walk rate and 16.1% strikeout rate were the second-best marks of his career. Torres’ 17.1% chase rate was in the 100th percentile, and marked the first time he sat below 20% in his career. He went yard 16 times in 628 plate appearances, leading to a subpar .132 isolated slugging percentage. Still, there is plenty to suggest Torres could be even better in 2026.
Torres put up an exit velocity of 90 MPH and a barrel rate of 8.2%, the former of which was the second best of his career, and the latter of which was the third best in any of his seasons. Torres’ xSLG% was .473, and fell in the 73rd percentile. The 86-point difference was the third highest in baseball last year. He was also in the 88th percentile of xwOBA at .371, and the 79th percentile of xBA at .278.
The only downside is that Torres’ defense has never been great, and 2025 was no exception. He had -4 DRS and -5 OAA in 1,146.1 innings at the keystone. However, if his defense at second base is truly that bad, the Pirates have plenty of options that could help hide his glove. Jared Triolo could replace him late into games, and Torres could see more time at designated hitter.
Bowden ranked Torres as the 21st-best free agent in this year’s class, and he is only projected to sign for four years at $54 million. That is only $13 million a season. The Pirates already saved $7 million by trading Hayes, and the Pirates have signed players for $5-6 million before during Ben Cherington’s tenure as GM. Familiar examples include Carlos Santana (just over $6 million in 2023) and Austin Hedges ($5 million), as well as the $10.5 million they handed Aroldis Chapman in 2024. Signing Torres would be a serious addition that would give fans a lot of hope, and he should be in the Pirates’ price range, given the $7 million they are saving.