Jared Jones, Konnor Griffin just added pressure to Pirates’ Brandon Lowe decision

A lot of moving pieces came together to bring forth the Pittsburgh Pirates' offensive resurgence in 2026, but the single most integral part of the turnaround was unquestionably Brandon Lowe. The 32-year-old second baseman had a fantastic year and was truly the straw that stirred the drink.

With a .260/.331/.493 line and 35 homers, Lowe put together a campaign that is very much deserving of a Silver Slugger. Regardless of how the voting turned out, Lowe legitimately authored an All-Star campaign. Now he's about to hit free agency and is about to get paid.

The free-agent class overall is weak this year, and that's particularly true at second base, where the next-best option, New York Yankees' second baseman Jazz Chisholm Jr., is coming off a very mediocre year.

Therefore, losing Lowe would be a huge blow to Pittsburgh. A competent replacement won't come cheap and, more than likely, would still be a downgrade. What the Pirates should do is clear, but whether or not Ben Cherington (with Bob Nutting's blessing) will be willing to go where he needs to go to retain the former Tampa Bay Ray remains to be seen. One thing is for sure, though: they can't claim that they weren't aware of his importance to the team.

Lowe's teammates are all coming back in support of the slugger, basically pleading with the organization to bring him back this winter.

"Yeah, I mean, we don't win 81 games without Brandon Lowe this year. Him, Ryan O'Hearn, I mean those two guys just, they've changed the culture around here. What the Pirates want to see as a winning team, we don't do that without them," Konnor Griffin said of Lowe's importance to the team. "And I'll say that Brandon's been awesome to play the middle with. I've learned a lot, and he's got a lot of really good experience at the highest level, going all the way up to the World Series. I can pick his brain so much on a lot of different things, so it's helped me out a lot."

He's not alone in his feelings. Ryan O'Hearn emphatically stamped his seal of approval on bringing Lowe back as well.

"Are you asking me if I would love to have a guy that hits 30-plus [home runs] and probably 100 RBIs that plays Gold Glove second base and is a, you know, stud in the clubhouse?" O'Hearn responded wryly to a reporter's question about Lowe's future. "Like, yeah, I'd love to have that guy back."

On the pitching side of things, Jared Jones also didn't shy away from throwing his support behind the veteran.

"We've got good bones as a team," Jones said. "Obviously, we want Brandon Lowe back in this clubhouse next year. If we can get that done in the offseason, that's one hell of an offseason already."

Brandon Lowe's impact on the field is obvious, but his impact in the Pirates' clubhouse means even more

There you have three of Pittsburgh's most important players, a rookie, a rising young player, and a seasoned vet, all coming out in support of Lowe. All three mentioned the powerful second baseman's contributions on the field, but all three made it a point to recognize what he does off of it as well.

For Griffin, Lowe has been a mentor. For O'Hearn, he's a peer who helps keep things light even when times are tough. For Jones, he's a leader whom he believes can help take the team to the next level.

That's important. Most of the veterans on this roster, like Bryan Reynolds, Oneil Cruz, and others, haven't played on winning teams before. Lowe has. He's got playoff battle scars. He played in the World Series in 2020 with the Rays, going up against the Los Angeles Dodgers. If Pittsburgh takes the next step in 2027, that experience will be invaluable.

Lowe had an amazing year, and his defensive performance was surprisingly good, too. He was everything the Pirates could have asked for, and then some. For other players, he was critically important. The front office needs to listen closely here, and it needs to pull out all the stops to keep Lowe in town for the foreseeable future.

Add us as a preferred source on Google

Follow