Pirates' next steps after Mets bailed Pittsburgh out from making ill-advised Luis Robert trade

Sometimes the best offseason move for a team is the one they don’t make.

With the New York Mets swooping in to land Luis Robert Jr. from the Chicago White Sox, the Pittsburgh Pirates can finally exhale and move on from a trade rumor that never really made sense for where this roster is right now.

New York paid the price in both prospect capital and real cash — Robert’s $20 million for 2026 and a $20 million team option for 2027 (with a buyout) — because they’re chasing impact and can afford to gamble on a volatile asset. 

The Pirates? That gamble had regret written all over it.

Robert at his best is a game-changer. But the version actually being traded is a talented, injury-prone player coming off a down year at the plate, and that’s before you factor in the salary hit. For a team that still has multiple holes and doesn’t have the luxury of lighting money on fire, that’s the wrong kind of swing. The Mets basically did Pittsburgh a favor by removing the temptation.

Pirates can finally breathe after Mets take Luis Robert off the table

Now the Pirates can do the smarter thing: take the same urgency fans feel and point it at needs that are way more immediate. Third base, left-handed pitching depth, and one more reliable source of thump.

We know that Jared Triolo can play third. He can also play a bunch of other places, and the organization clearly values that versatility. But he’s a useful Swiss Army knife, not a “set it and forget it” answer at the hot corner on a team trying to win games that matter.

That’s also why Eugenio Suárez makes so much sense as the cleanest fix. Ken Rosenthal has connected the Pirates to Suárez, but also noted the obvious complication: he may prefer a more competitive landing spot, meaning Pittsburgh could have to pay a real tax to close it. 

If Suárez is too pricey (in dollars or years), the fallback path gets messier fast. Yoán Moncada has been linked to Pittsburgh interest-wise, and he fits as a switch-hitting upside play — but he also comes with his own durability questions. Meanwhile, Alec Bohm is the kind of name fans will toss around, but reporting around the Phillies suggests a trade is unlikely right now. 

The Pirates have already added lefty bullpen help by signing Gregory Soto. But they still need the boring-but-necessary rotation depth.

A back-end “innings eater” isn’t exciting, but it’s how you avoid burning out the staff by midseason. MLB.com’s list of remaining veteran starters includes names like José Quintana and Tyler Anderson in that exact mold.

The Pirates have made efforts to add offense. Ryan O’Hearn is in on a two-year deal, and they already brought in Brandon Lowe earlier this winter. But the larger point still stands: they need at least one more credible 20+ homer threat so “score first” doesn’t feel like a mission impossible objective.

With Robert heading to the Mets, Pittsburgh doesn’t have to burn resources on a shiny distraction anymore. They can spend the rest of this offseason doing the unsexy work that actually completes the roster.