Jhostynxon Garcia could be great one day, but Pirates still need someone today

Let's get one thing out of the way: Ben Cherington deserves plenty of praise for pulling off a five-player trade with the Boston Red Sox that sent top-100 prospect Jhostynxon Garcia to the Pittsburgh Pirates.

The man they call "The Password" has the ingredients to become a real star someday. He’s 22 years old. He hit 21 homers between Double-A and Triple-A last year. He’s athletic, he’s loud off the bat, and he’s controlled for six seasons. This is the exact type of high-upside swing the Pirates should be taking.

But here’s the uncomfortable truth the front office hopes we don’t yell too loudly: even if he makes the Opening Day roster, Garcia isn’t ready to fix the Pirates’ outfield today. And the Pirates need someone who is.

Garcia might become a middle-of-the-order bat. He might become the next breakout outfield star. He also might need 300–500 major league plate appearances to adjust, refine his approach, and figure out big league pitching. There’s swing-and-miss. There’s rawness. There’s development ahead. And that’s totally fine — when he’s not being asked to be the solution.

But this is the Pirates. This is a team that has spent the last two seasons praying for consistent outfield production from anyone not named Bryan Reynolds. A team that still has a hole in left field. A team that has spent years searching for power, only to finish every season realizing their OPS+ wouldn’t scare a Little League team.

So yes, Garcia is exciting. But Garcia is not the Opening Day answer to the biggest offensive problem on the Pirates' roster.

Jhostynxon Garcia is a future star for the Pirates, but they still need a present one

If the Pirates roll into 2026 with Garcia penciled in as the full-time left fielder and call it a day, that’s not bold — that’s negligent. For a team that claims to be pushing forward, you cannot trade a proven starting pitcher and then replace your outfield issues with a “maybe someday” bat.

The Pirates need someone who can hit in April, not just in 2027. They need a real left-handed bat, actual power that plays in the middle of the lineup, and someone proven enough to raise the floor while looking dynamic enough to raise the ceiling. Garcia can eventually become that third piece of the puzzle, but he’s not ready to carry one.

If Cherington views this trade as the start of a more aggressive offseason, fantastic. This is a fun move, a future-altering move, the kind of gamble this team should make every winter. But if he looks at Garcia and says, “Yep, problem solved,” then the Pirates just got younger… not better.

You don’t fix a bottom-third lineup by adding talent that might help in a year or two. You fix it by pairing Garcia with a real, established, major league-impact outfielder right now –– someone whose presence makes Garcia's development a bonus, not a burden.

So, Pirates fans should like this trade. But they should also demand more. Garcia has star potential, but a future star is not a substitute for a present one.

Garcia could be great one day. But “one day” doesn’t score runs in April. It doesn’t boost Paul Skenes' win total. It doesn’t get the Pirates closer to a Wild Card spot. If the Pirates are serious about winning, they need more, and Garcia can't be the only outfield move they make.

Now let’s see if they follow through — or if they try to sell us “potential” as “progress” one more time.