Jared Jones injury update makes Pirates' 2024 trade deadline efforts feel worse

Although there is still no confirmed decision for Jared Jones' bothersome elbow, recent reports make it feel like Tommy John surgery is coming. If he does get the operation performed, he will not pitch in Pittsburgh again until 2027. Jones was remarkable in his rookie season alongside Paul Skenes, but the Pirates botched the chance to compete in the postseason with that duo after their lousy trade deadline efforts in 2024.

Now that this young pair will not headline a strong Pirates rotation for a season and a half, the big league roster has been dealt a significant blow. It feels tough to even approach the levels of the pre-deadline 2024 roster, when Pittsburgh was right in the hunt of a Wild Card spot, getting as close as a half-game back before falling into a crushing losing streak.

The offense obviously was not good enough, and their idea to fix it was to add Bryan De La Cruz and Isiah Kiner-Falefa. Both dramatically fell off and performed far below expectations, but they were cheap and did not impact the payroll very much, so surely Bob Nutting was still satisfied with his moderate swing.

Along with the offense lagging behind, the bullpen completely collapsed, and the lone addition there was a rental in Jalen Beeks. He was not awful, but the Pirates did not utilize him enough in high-leverage situations. He should have been placed into the setup role over Colin Holderman, but that never happened, leading to a handful of blown games.

Their other moves looked towards the mid-term future, adding to their prospect depth in Nick Yorke and Billy Cook. Both actually seem like solid pickups, but the Pirates refuse to use either of them. Both were more productive than Kiner-Falefa and De La Cruz in their short stints with the big club last year when the season got away from them.

Jared Jones injury update shows how the Pirates failed to utilize their chance in 2024 with atrocious trade deadline.

Now that 2025 feels like a wash and Jones will more than likely be out for 2026, it really does feel like the Pirates missed their chance to contend in 2024. Technically they did try to buy at the deadline, but it was a complete failure, and there were clear better options that were available that could have been acquired instead.

At this point, it feels like nothing can go right for this organization, and every time that they try to get better, they fail. Time and time again, prospects from trades don't turn out as intended, extended players struggle, and free agents cannot even reach the Mendoza Line.

The future for the Pirates appears murky, so it really hurts that the Pirates missed a great opportunity to compete in 2024. Ben Cherington will have another trade deadline to work with this season, and given how the season's been going, he'll likely be selling a handful of players. That is the exact opposite direction of where this team should be going.