Mariners may have handed Pirates perfect Brandon Lowe extension formula

In no uncertain terms, Brandon Lowe is playing the best baseball of his career right now. Through his first 38 games in a Pittsburgh Pirates uniform, he is rocking a career-best 151 wRC+ to go along with a 13.9% walk rate, .546 slugging percentage, and .394 wOBA (all of which are also top marks).

In conjunction with some of his best defensive work in years, the veteran second baseman is sitting at 1.8 fWAR and has already exceeded his 1.7 fWAR output from 2025 in about 25% of the playing time. If he keeps this up, he'll be a virtual lock for his third All-Star Game appearance this summer.

The lone downside to this breakout is that Lowe is only making himself more expensive to retain. Due to hit free agency for the first time in his career after this campaign, Lowe is playing so well that he's now entering "top position player available" discussions.

We know the Pirates proved they'd be willing to open their wallets for the right players this past offseason, and Lowe certainly qualifies as such. If the idea is to get him to stick around for the long haul, it would behoove the front office act quickly and lay the groundwork for an extension now.

Pirates have the blueprint and CBA-related motivation to sign Brandon Lowe to a long-term deal

Shortly after the 2025 World Series ended, Josh Naylor re-signed with the Seattle Mariners on a five-year, $90 million deal that aligned perfectly with market expectations. It was an extremely rare case of a marquee free agent signing in November, one that required incredible foresight on the Mariners' part.

They laid the groundwork for an extension as soon as they landed Naylor at the trade deadline, and his second-half and postseason breakout in Seattle only served to grease the wheels on the negotiating process. Instead of trying to outsmart the market and play things patiently, the Mariners immediately targeted their top guy and made sure to retain him at a reasonable rate.

That's the blueprint the Pirates need to follow with Lowe. They don't have to extend him during the season — most veterans wouldn't agree to do that anyway — but the front office should make sure to have numbers in place by the time the season ends. The Mariners barely gave other teams a chance to negotiate with Naylor before he re-signed; that's the feeling other franchises should have about Lowe this upcoming offseason.

This conversation is especially salient knowing that the current Collective Bargaining Agreement expires on December 1. There will likely be a mad dash to sign players before then, in order to lock in their deals prior to a potential lockout and subsequent freeze on any free-agent signings or trades.

In that early offseason chaos, the Pirates should lock up their franchise second baseman for the foreseeable future.

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