Pirates have good fallback plan to improve outfield depth with former Giants veteran

Let’s be honest: Pittsburgh Pirates fans aren’t dreaming of "fallback plans" in the outfield. They’re dreaming of star power, real thump, and a lineup that doesn’t need Paul Skenes to throw a shutout every fifth day just to escape with a win.

But sometimes, reality taps you on the shoulder and says, “Hey, depth matters too.” And in that world — the world where Bryan Reynolds and Oneil Cruz had career-worst seasons, where Jhostynxon Garcia is still a lottery ticket, and where the Pirates can’t be trusted to land the big fish — Mike Yastrzemski is exactly the kind of move that actually makes sense.

No, he’s not the savior. He’s not the superstar bat fans have been begging for since Andrew McCutchen 1.0. But he is the rare thing the Pirates front office historically ignores: a proven, high-floor, steady, professional hitter who makes your lineup better on Day 1. And right now? That matters.

Reynolds and Cruz were brutal in 2025. As Alex Stumpf of MLB.com pointed out, if you throw out the chaos-ball 2020 season, both just had their worst years as pros. And while bounce-backs are absolutely possible, a playoff-hopeful franchise (theoretically, that’s what Pittsburgh wants to be) can’t build its outfield on hope alone.

Enter Yastrzemski and his excellent strike-zone control, consistent hard contact and professional at-bats that this team sorely lacks. The Pirates' lineup has been a swing-happy rollercoaster for years, and Yastrzemski is the kind of stabilizer you add if you want to stop living and dying on the “maybe the kids break out” plan.

Trading for Jhostynxon Garcia was a great step in the right direction, but he isn’t the answer today. If you slot in Yastrzemski instead? You can bring Garcia along when he’s ready, not when the Pirates’ lack of spending forces him into a role he’s not prepared for.

Imagine an outfield where Garcia is allowed to be a midseason reinforcement instead of an emergency patch. That’s how good teams handle prospects — not by forcing them into the lineup before they hit their stride.

Mike Yastrzemski is both affordable and realistic for Pirates' payroll

The Pirates also don’t need one outfielder — they need two. Even if a bigger swing happens later — a Jarren Duran trade, Ketel Marte shifting positions, a Steven Kwan shock deal, whatever fantasy we’re cooking up today — the roster still needs one more solid, reliable outfield bat.

Yastrzemski is that guy. He's a complementary piece –– not the headline, but the punctuation mark. And despite their sudden interest in spending, the Pirates are not outbidding anyone for an elite outfield bat. So Yastrzemski, a respected and attainable veteran, would be an addition that fits both logic and Bob Nutting's penny-pinching tendencies.

Yastrzemski is the rare Pirate addition who raises the team’s baseline. He doesn’t fix everything — but he prevents the lineup from bottoming out when the kids slump or the stars go cold. So, yes, it's okay for the Pirates to have a safety net. Fans will groan at the idea of a “fallback plan,” but the truth is that good teams have fallback plans. Bad teams pretend upside is enough.

Yastrzemski isn’t Plan A, or even Plan B, but he’s the kind of Plan C that competitive teams quietly use to round out a roster — and the kind the Pirates have historically ignored until the season is halfway over and they’re playing waiver-wire roulette.

If the Pirates add Yastrzemski after adding a legit impact bat? That’s how you build an outfield that can survive 162 games, not just Opening Day hype. And if 2026 is supposed to be the year the Pirates finally “try,” this is the type of grown-up baseball move that would prove it.