Pirates' former trade deadline target just gave them another reason to revisit free agency plans

While the Pittsburgh Pirates sit at home plotting how they can snap their 11-year postseason drought, they may find that some of the players still competing under the bright October lights can be the missing links between running out of gas in the playoff chase and not only making it to the dance, but making noise once they get there.

In particular, there's one player who should catch Ben Cherington's eye. Cleveland Guardians starter Foster Griffin took the ball in a Game 1 victory, and though he wasn't flawless, he competed and helped lead his team to a win. Pittsburgh was thought of as a potential landing spot for Griffin, who was traded from the Washington Nationals to the Guardians at the trade deadline.

Cherington let him slip away as fixing the bullpen took center stage in early August. The Pirates are set for a do-over, though. Griffin is a free agent this winter, and the team can make another run at him. This time, they should make sure they don't miss.

Foster Griffin is an ideal free-agent target who solves key Pirates' needs

Let's start with the obvious fit. The Pirates need to add depth to their starting rotation, and they would be wise to add a soft-tossing lefty to balance out the sea of power-pitching right-handers that otherwise make up Pittsburgh's rotation.

Griffin checks both boxes. The 31-year-old southpaw was an All-Star in 2026, ironically making the squad as a replacement for Braxton Ashcraft. Regardless of how he was included, he deserved the honor, making 31 starts this year and tossing 172 2/3 innings while posting a 3.60 ERA.

Griffin also fits the "soft-tossing" part to a T. Averaging just 91.5 miles per hour on his fastball, he's not going to break any radar guns. Instead, he relies on a kitchen-sink approach that includes a cutter, slider, sinker, changeup, curveball, and splitter.

He's also not just a pitch-to-contact pitcher, posting a decent 21.9% strikeout rate while also walking just 6.2% of batters faced. Basically, Griffin would be more than just a fifth-starter type and would raise the ceiling of the rotation as well as the floor.

On top of all of that, Griffin is the sort of right-guy-at-the-right-time acquisition that Pittsburgh must make. His story as a guy who was never really an extremely highly regarded prospect, quickly succumbed to a torn UCL shortly after finally getting a shot at the big leagues, was forced to go to Japan to revitalize his career after a total of just eight total major league innings pitched, and has come out the outside as an All-Star is valuable for a young, developing team.

The experience he's gaining now in the postseason with the Guardians is important for a ball club that needs to learn how to win.

Starting pitchign isn't the Pirates' only need this offseason, and it might not be the biggest one, either. With that said, the more Griffin can impress in the playoffs, the more it'll feel like adding him this winter is a necessity.

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