Pirates fill bullpen void in free agency with former All-Star but questions remain

After missing out on Kyle Schwarber in free agency at the Winter Meetings, the Pittsburgh Pirates were forced to pivot and prioritize signing a left-handed reliever. They have now landed a two-time All-Star.

The Pirates have agreed to a one-year, $7.75 million deal with left-hander Gregory Soto, according to Jorge Castillo of ESPN. That's right — a real, living, breathing late-inning arm who throws 100 and doesn’t require an introduction to the casual fan base.

After trading Tyler Samaniego and watching last year’s bullpen wobble anytime a lefty slugger stepped to the plate, the Pirates' void was glaring. They only have two other left-handed pitchers on their 40-man roster –– Hunter Barco, a starter, and Evan Sisk, a “squint hard and maybe you see it” depth piece.

Soto — even with his 4.18 ERA over 70 appearances with the Baltimore Orioles and New York Mets in 2025 — brings something this team flat-out lacked: stuff, fear factor, and someone who has actually pitched meaningful innings in his life.

While Dennis Santana will likely retain his role as the Pirates' closer in 2026, Soto brings valuable depth and late-inning experience against left-handed batters. This is the kind of bullpen signing contenders make. Whether the Pirates want to pretend to be contenders is a different question entirely — but the move itself is the right one.

Pirates address bullpen void with Gregory Soto signing, but let's not pretend this fixes everything

For once, the Pirates didn’t rummage through the bargain bin. They went out and bought a real arm. But let’s slow down before we start planning a Gregory Soto hype parade down Federal Street.

 If Soto is the big bullpen splash, who’s protecting him? Are the Pirates actually building a legitimate relief corps around him, or are they slapping duct tape around one quality addition and calling it a day? Soto alone doesn’t fix the left-handed depth problem, doesn’t stabilize the middle innings, and certainly doesn’t erase the rotation innings the Pirates lost when they traded Johan Oviedo to the Boston Red Sox last week.

Soto makes the Pirates better today. That’s the part we can all agree on. He fills a need they couldn’t ignore, brings late-inning intimidation the bullpen desperately lacked, and actually costs real money — which, in Pittsburgh, might be the most shocking development of all.

But if the Pirates think Soto plus wishful thinking equals a playoff bullpen, they’re kidding themselves. The offseason isn’t judged by who you sign — it’s judged by whether you build a roster around those moves that can compete from April through September.

For Pittsburgh, this is a real, tangible step toward acting like a team with ambitions beyond “hope it all works out.” Now we wait to see whether this is the start of a larger plan… or just the Pirates plugging one hole while several others keep leaking.