Pirates botch corresponding move after finally activating Spencer Horwitz

The Pirates added four new bats in the offseason via either signing or trade, but only two made it onto the Opening Day roster, and both have been desperately underwhelming. Tommy Pham is batting under .200, and Adam Frazier is hardly doing better. Enmanuel Valdez was set to start the season in Triple-A but was called up on the second day of the season after the last new face, Spencer Horwitz, went onto the 10-day IL.

On Saturday, Don Kelly announced that Horwitz would finally be making his Pirates debut after completing a rehab assignment in Triple-A, and utilityman Matt Gorski would be going back to Indianapolis. Horwitz's arrival is good news for a lineup that needs any kind of spark, but the Pirates could be making a mistake in cutting Gorski instead Pham.

Gorski's been only marginally better than Pham at the plate, but Pham has already caused issues, to say the least, for the Pirates' already struggling public image, and his OPS is the lowest it's ever been (and almost 150 points lower than Gorski's).

Pirates finally activate offseason acquisition Spencer Horwitz, but at the expense of Matt Gorski

It seems pretty obvious why the Pirates would rather option Gorski than cut Pham: the money. Pham's making $4.025 million this year to Gorski's league minimum, and eating money is probably right near the bottom of Bob Nutting's list of things he'd ever want to do, even if it's at the expense of his team's offense. Gorski's the bigger threat on the base paths and offers more defensive versatility, but Nutting couldn't possibly let $4.025 million go down the drain.

It's some consolation that Horwitz will also offer some defensive versatility if the Pirates need to move him around, and he wielded the best bat of any of the Pirates' offseason additions last season with the Blue Jays. He batted .265 with a .790 OPS in Toronto in 97 games. Valdez, Gorski, Endy Rodriguez, and Jared Triolo have put up a stunningly awful .192 average and .599 OPS combined at first base so far this season, which Horwitz will hopefully be able to pick up a little now that he's back.

One guy isn't going to fix the myriad of problems that plague this offense, but there's at least more reason to be optimistic about Horwitz than any of the other players the Pirates have shuffled around this season.