Pirates must acquire recently DFA'd outfielder from NL Central rival to boost offense

Prior to signing with the Cubs, Justin Turner was a target for the Pirates this offseason that made a lot of sense. Now that he is signed, Pittsburgh now has the opportunity to make an even better addition to the roster (and will have Turner to thank for the opportunity). The player that Chicago designated for assignment to make room for the veteran bat could be a clear fit in Pittsburgh.

The odd man out is Alexander Canario, a 24-year-old outfielder who has some similar traits to Oneil Cruz. Positionally, adding another outfielder to the mix makes a ton of sense, especially since there is a lot of uncertainty about the battle for the fourth spot between Jack Suwinski and Joshua Palacios. Adding Turner would have strictly been as a designated hitter and first base wild card, behind Andrew McCutchen and Spencer Horwitz.

Since Canario was designated for assignment, for other teams to target him, he either needs to be claimed off waivers or acquired via trade. The Pirates have the eighth pick in the waiver wire, so to have a chance at him, they would need to make a trade with Chicago.

Pirates could use some outfield depth, and Cubs recent DFA in Alexander Canario makes a perfect trade match.

Last season in Triple-A, Canario belted 18 home runs and 13 doubles to generate a slugging percentage of .514. That paired with an on-base percentage of .336 to create an OPS of .850. He also added a wRC+ of 116, a poor strikeout rate of 30.4%, and drove in 47 runs.

Those numbers are passable, as long as he puts the ball in play. His whiff rate was very high at 37.5%, which led to his bad strikeout clip. When he makes contact, he hits it at a solid average exit velocity of 89.2 mph, along with an above-average hard hit rate of 45.3% and a barrel rate of 9.6%.

Those are definitely some strong metrics to work with off the bench. Back in 2022, Canario belted 37 home runs in a season. He has a very high ceiling, but is out of options, so if the Pirates do take a chance on him, it will be at the big league level.

He has had a chance in Chicago, and did not do poorly. In 15 games in 2024, Canario posted a wRC+ of 128 with a .797 OPS. One issue was his strikeout rate rose to 39.3% and his whiff rate increased to 44.7% in the small MLB sample. Nonetheless, his barrel rate also took a leap to 14.3%, and his bat speed was near the top of the game at 78 mph.

Canario has an interesting skill set that looks like it could be successful under Matt Hague. This is a great opportunity to upgrade the outfield depth chart by replacing Ji Hwan Bae with a more talented option. The Pirates would likely give up a lottery player in this kind of trade, a guy off the 40-man or maybe even cash. We will know soon where Canario goes and, hopefully, it is Pittsburgh.