Pirates have chance to win David Bednar trade twice, but there's one expensive catch

The evaluation of the David Bednar trade from the Pittsburgh Pirates' perspective has been something of a rollercoaster. At first, it was too early to tell how the prospects the Pirates acquired would fare. Then, once 2026 rolled around, it seemed as if Pittsburgh had already won despite Rafael Flores Jr., Edgleen Perez, and Bryan Sanchez still being big question marks.

That's because during the first two months of the season, Bednar struggled. He had issues finding the strike zone, and from Opening Day through May 31, he posted a 4.50 ERA. It was a performance reminiscent of the one that earned him a demotion to Indianapolis in early 2025, following a disappointing 2024 season.

However, once the calendar turned to June, Bednar caught fire. The beefy right-hander posted a 1.39 ERA from that point forward, throwing 45 1/3 innings and walking just nine batters against 47 strikeouts. He'd total 23 saves over that span.

And that marked a low point for the Pirates. Just as Bednar righted the ship, Dennis Santana fell apart. Gregory Soto would soon unravel, too. Overall, the Pittsburgh bullpen was in a bad way, and with eyes on contending, it seemed like giving up on Bednar in 2025 may have been a mistake.

Then the tide turned again. Rafael Flores Jr. came up and started to heat up, and just kept hitting. With a .264/.331/.527 line and 11 homers in just 47 games, he seems like the solution to the catcher conundrum, given Endy Rodriguez's unfortunate injuries and Henry Davis's all-glove, no-bat approach. At the same time, Bednar was excelling for the Yankees, making this one of the rare win-win trades you'll see.

Now, though, Bednar's a free agent, and the Pirates wrestling him away from the Yankees might seem like the ultimate victory, but that might not actually be the case.

Signing David Bednar in free agency would make the trade a massive win, but it's not the Pirates' best use of resources

Owning a big-market team like the Yankees in a trade is always a win, but there's a point where small-market teams upsetting financial behemoths is actually self-defeating.

The Pirates could use more help in the bullpen, and Bednar is among the best options to hit the free-agent market, so it's easy to see the fit before you even think about his history in Pittsburgh.

Bednar exists in the top tier of free-agent relievers, alongside Adrian Morejon and Garrett Whitlock. Morejon, in particular, can make a case for being a more exciting option since he's younger and left-handed, but it's Bednar who will get paid the most out of this trio, and likely by a decent margin.

The reason is saves. Bednar's a proven closer with 146 saves in his career. The other top options are setup men who, while they might have equally dominant, or in some cases even more impressive, numbers, until they prove that they can do it in the ninth inning, no team is going to give them a deal at the upper echelon of the reliever pay scale.

Being realistic, the Pirates don't need a closer, either. Mason Montgomery looked plenty comfortable in the role. On the off chance he falters, Pittsburgh already has Luke Weaver, who is a prime bounce-back candidate after his struggles down the stretch, and comes with previous closer experience.

The truth is, the type of reliever the Pirates need is more of a seventh-inning guy than a stud closer. On top of that, building a super bullpen is secondary to finding a way to reunite with Brandon Lowe and procuring a veteran left-handed starter to diversify the starting rotation. Spending big on Bednar to prove a point likely takes satisfying those bigger, more important needs off the table. Winning baseball games should take precedence over trade bragging rights, so it's best to let this idea go.

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