Pirates bring back most obvious non-tender candidate in disappointing move

Just when Pittsburgh Pirates fans dared to imagine — imagine! — a winter where Ben Cherington operated like an MLB general manager instead of a cost-cutting hall monitor, he reached into his bag of predictable tricks and pulled out… a $1.25 million deal for Jack Suwinski.

Congratulations, Pirates fans. We have officially reached mid-November, and the biggest swing of the offseason so far is keeping the guy who struck out more than a weed whacker in tall grass.

Let’s not overthink this. Suwinski is the kind of player who hits the longest home runs you’ll see all year –– but he only hits them about once a month and proceeds to go 0-for-17 with 13 strikeouts immediately after. He can't hit lefties. He can't hit high fastballs. And yet somehow, he still gives the Pirates' front office the eternal "maybe he'll figure it out" glow.

This wasn’t a tough call. This wasn’t a borderline case. This wasn’t a “what if he magically transforms into Kyle Schwarber?” moment. This was a non-tender candidate. Period. Adios. Good luck. Thanks for the occasional moonshot.

Instead, the Pirates decided to pay him $1.25 million, which in Pittsburgh baseball terms is like handing someone the Mega Millions jackpot.

Pirates bringing back Jack Suwinski is a major red flag for offseason strategy

Let’s be honest: keeping Suwinski isn’t about upside. It’s not about analytics. It’s not about “valuing power.” It's about one thing, and one thing only: He's cheap. And the Pirates love cheap.

When your outfield is crying out for stability, competence and — dare we say — actual production, you don’t bring back the guy who made fans Google “What is an automatic strikeout?” for the 12th time last summer. Unless, of course, you’re trying to fill roster spots without spending actual dollars –– which happens to be the Pirates' specialty.

Cherington told fans the Pirates have more payroll flexibility than ever. Ownership reportedly has $30–40 million to spend. And the very first move? Retaining the guy every other team would have shrugged at in free agency. It’s like upgrading your house by repainting the basement closet.

If you’re protecting Suwinski’s roster spot, you’re indirectly saying that you’re not confident you’ll sign or trade for a real outfielder. You're saying that you're okay entering 2026 with the same maddening inconsistency in the lineup and that you'd rather stick with "we know him" instead of "we can do better." And that should terrify Pirates fans more than Suwinski’s two-strike approach.

If this is the template for the rest of the offseason, Pittsburgh fans should buckle up. If the biggest early "splash" is paying Suwinski $1.25 million, then the Pirates are already swimming in the shallow end.