Pirates’ miss on Kazuma Okamoto creates opportunity to pursue postseason hero

As far as the Pittsburgh Pirates have come this offseason, they still have a ways to go if they want to truly make some noise in a crowded NL Central in 2026. The biggest remaining issue, though not the only hole that needs to be patched, is third base.

Ben Cherington acknowledged as much, stating that the club still needs help on the left side of the infield, while also looking for another starter, a boost in the bullpen, and perhaps even another outfielder.

Ambitious, but necessary, though the question becomes how much money does Pittsburgh have left to spend, and how can it spread its resources in order to fill these gaps? Third base would seem to be the key to everything, but the solutions are dwindling.

Eugenio Suarez would be ideal, at least in the short term, but his salary demands might leave the Pirates unable to address any other issues this winter. The free-agent market after him has a step down in Yoan Moncada, and then the options begin to fall off a cliff.

Trades can be tough, too, as potential options like Alec Bohm depend on the Philadelphia Phillies being able to land Bo Bichette. By the time that is settled, Pittsburgh might find that the asking price for Bohm is too high and their free-agent alternatives have signed elsewhere.

The guys on Bucco Territory came up with an out-of-the-box solution, and it's one that the Pirates can credit losing out on Kazuma Okamoto for providing.

Losing out on Kazuma Okamoto to the Blue Jays might have gifted the Pirates the perfect third base trade target in Addison Barger

When the Blue Jays signed Okamoto, they began nudging Addison Barger out of the lineup. Okamoto, like Barger, can play both third base and in the outfield corners, making it questionable how the pieces all align.

Toronto also has defensive stalwarts like Andres Gimenez and Ernie Clement, who they'd like to give infield reps to. The Jays are also making strong efforts to retain Bo Bichette, and signing the superstar could be the final shove to kick Barger out of the lineup for good.

Rather than let Barger wither away on the bench, it would be prudent to swap the 26-year-old for prospects to revitalize their system and give them future trade chips and/or strengthen their talent pipeline moving forward.

For Pittsburgh, Barger would be a great addition. A former top prospect, the former sixth-round pick has just 204 big league games under his belt and is under team control through 2030. His left-handed swing is powerful, with 93rd percentile bat speed, a spectacular 51% hard hit rate in 2025, and a 91.7 miles per hour average exit velocity that ranked in the 86th percentile last season.

He's got some swing and miss to his game that needs to be monitored, but given his tools, he still hasn't reached his full potential after a 21-homer, .756 OPS campaign. Even so, that's a solid baseline level of production. He also showed out in his first taste of postseason action, launching three homers and slashing .367/.441/.583 during Toronto's run to the World Series.

Most importantly, Barger is still in his pre-arb years, meaning that if the Pirates can swing a trade, they can ensure that they have enough money left over to add a starter, a bullpen arm, and potentially another bench bat and still stay within budget.

Losing Okamoto hurt, but if it results in getting Barger, a player young enough to grow with the rest of the Pirates' core, it may have been a blessing in disguise.