Absurd rumor about future Pirates rotation trades utterly terrifies fans

The Pittsburgh Pirates made their first big splash off the offseason Tuesday at the MLB Winter Meetings when they acquired first baseman Spencer Horwitz from the Cleveland Guardians in exchange for MLB starter Luis Ortiz and pitching prospects Michael Kennedy and Josh Hartle.

It was a positive sign that Ben Cherington was actually ready to start dealing some of the pitching depth that he has spent the past five years stockpiling in order to help improve the Major League roster's offense. But now, fans are starting to worry that he may go too far.

Per a report from Noah Hiles of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, the Pirates have been "vocal about their willingness to trade pitching for offense" at the Winter Meetings. (Good!)

Hiles also reported that Ortiz was "not the only member of last year’s starting rotation available to be dealt." (OK ... we're listening.)

He continued to report the Pirates were open to the idea of trading Mitch Keller. (Maybe ... Depends on the return, but it would give them some financial flexibility to make more moves.)

Finally, Hiles reported that a league source told him that Jared Jones was also “very available.” (Oh no.)

The Pirates inked Keller to a five-year, $77 million contract extension last spring, the largest such extension in franchise history for a pitcher. Keller had a solid showing in 2024, going 11-12 with a 4.25 ERA over 31 starts. It wasn't quite up to par with his All-Star 2023 season, but his overall consistency remains an asset.

According to Hiles' sources, the Pirates' ideal return in a trade for Keller would be "a young, quality major league bat." A strong return, combined with the financial relief that it would offer, could make a Keller trade palatable. But Jones is an entirely different story.

Pirates Rumors: Rumblings about potential Jared Jones trade utterly terrifies fans

The 23-year-old Jones was widely regarded as one of the league's elite young arms and could theoretically command a more substantial return in a trade due to his potential, his league-minimum contract and the fact that he still has multiple years of team control. But he has also been considered a key cog in Pittsburgh's future rotation plans alongside the likes of National League Rookie of the Year Paul Skenes and top prospect Bubba Chandler.

Hiles did note that he caught wind of Jones' availability Tuesday evening, not long before the Ortiz deal was made, "meaning his trade status could have changed with another young right-hander no longer in the picture."

Let's hope so.

Thankfully, when he was asked about the possibility of more trades involving the major league pitching staff, Cherington gave a thoughtful response that indicates that he's in the right frame of mind.

“I mean, obviously, at some point, you got to be careful," Cherington said (via Hiles). "We want to maintain that as a strength and you go too far, you start to dig into it too much and all the sudden, you can get yourself in trouble. So we'll need to be thoughtful and careful about it."

Cherington went on to say that he is still interested in adding to the major league roster and that he foresees more opportunities to do so. He made it clear, however, that he isn't in any rush and that the Pirates' offseason moves will likely continue to play out over the next few months.

That's fine ... as long as those moves don't include Jones.

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