Pirates make under-the-radar trade with Guardians to bolster beleaguered bullpen

Followers of the Pittsburgh Pirates are well aware of the struggles that the team's bullpen went through in 2024. The Pirates' relief corps ranked just 27th in all of baseball with a 4.49 ERA, thanks in large part to also having one of the worst walk rates in the league. Even the normally reliable bookend David Bednar faltered in spectacular fashion last season.

Unfortunately, the Pirates can't spend their bullpen problems away. Their ownership is arguably the cheapest in MLB, and while reliable relievers are typically not objectively expensive, they don't cost peanuts, which is Pittsburgh's preferred form of currency.

However, it does seem like the Pirates did find a reliever in their price range while all of the non-tender chaos was going on, as they snuck in a trade with the Guardians for Peter Strzelecki in exchange for cash considerations.

Pirates strike trade with Guardians for reliever Peter Strzelecki

Obviously the actual amount of cash sent to Cleveland for Strzelecki matters, but those details are not available. We can make some assumptions based on Strzelecki's profile and the Pirates' spending habits, though, and it seems pretty likely he didn't break the bank.

Strzelecki isn't an uninteresting bullpen arm for next season. While the Guardian's DFA'd Strzelecki a few days ago, he was pretty decent in limited action with a 2.31 ERA in 10 appearances in the big leagues to go along with...less encouraging numbers in Triple-A (5.79 ERA in 44 appearances). While not a high leverage guy, the Pirates could do a lot worse than Strzelecki in middle relief situations.

With that move, the Pirates' 2025 bullpen is starting to take shape. Adding Strzelecki isn't a bad start per se, as he at least has some track record of competence in the big leagues, but Pittsburgh has a lot more work to do to get their relief corps back on track.

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