One move Pirates must make to capitalize after underwhelming 2025 Winter Meetings

The Pittsburgh Pirates did one thing right at the Winter Meetings: they finally addressed a glaring, neon-sign, year-long need by adding left-handed bullpen help in Gregory Soto.

Great. Necessary. Round of applause. But here’s the truth that every Pirates fan already knows in their bones: none of that matters if they don’t fix the lineup.

Not a bench bat. Not another “well, if everything breaks right…” dart throw. A real upgrade. A starter. A threat. An actual middle-of-the-order presence who does things like… hit baseballs hard. Consistently. Something last year’s team did not do in any meaningful way.

The 2025 Pittsburgh Pirates finished last in MLB in runs, home runs, and OPS. Dead last. Rock bottom. No team scored fewer runs. No team hit fewer balls over the fence. No team scared pitchers less. You cannot—cannot—run that same group back and expect different results just because Bryan Reynolds and Oneil Cruz might bounce back. Bounce-backs help, but they aren’t a plan.

A plan is adding bats. Plural. And at least one of them has to be a genuine upgrade at either third base or in the outfield, because those positions aren’t just “needs” right now—they’re borderline emergencies.

Pirates must upgrade at least one of outfield or third base to capitalize after underwhelming 2025 Winter Meetings

Once the Pirates traded Ke’Bryan Hayes to the Cincinnati Reds, they didn’t just open a hole—they tore open a crater. No matter how you feel about Hayes’ bat or the long-term trajectory of his career, he was still a Gold Glove cornerstone and a stabilizing infield presence. Now? Third base is a shrug emoji. A placeholder. A “maybe we can patch this with duct tape and a dream” situation.

That cannot continue. Not with a pitching staff finally capable of competing. Not with Paul Skenes already establishing himself as the future of the franchise. Championship-level teams do not treat third base like a clearance rack.

Meanwhile, the outfield has been a weak spot for years. Not months. Not one weird season. Years. The Pirates have been promising outfield help like a politician promises tax cuts—loudly, frequently, and without delivery. If this team rolls into 2026 with the same outfield construction as 2025, fans aren’t being “negative” when they worry. They’re being realistic.

It’s great that Jhostynxon Garcia is in the system now. Huge upside. But the Pirates need an outfielder who can help right now, not someone who projects for 2026 or beyond. Someone who lengthens a lineup that was short-circuiting by May. Someone who forces opposing pitchers to actually think.

Addressing the bullpen was important, but it didn’t move the Pirates closer to contention; it just prevented them from falling further behind. The Soto signing should have been the start of a surge, not the highlight of an underwhelming Winter Meetings.

Because with so many needs—and so many bats still available—there is no excuse for standing still. You cannot tell fans you intend to win more games and then decline to upgrade a lineup that finished 30th in every meaningful offensive category.

If the Pirates don’t add legitimate offensive help — real, everyday help — this offseason will be remembered the same way too many recent ones have been: as another winter where the Pirates did just enough to stay mediocre, but not nearly enough to matter.

Upgrading outfield or third base isn’t optional anymore. It’s the only way for the Pirates to capitalize on the tiny bit of momentum they’ve created. It’s the only way to convince fans that 2026 is something other than déjà vu. And honestly? It’s the only way to avoid wasting yet another year of the Skenes era.