Pirates Rumors: Pittsburgh pursued reunion with former pitcher before Andrew Heaney

Adding Andrew Heaney was very exciting for the Pirates on Thursday night, but that was not all the news that broke about Pittsburgh's chase for a left-handed veteran.

According to Robert Murray of Fansided, the Pirates actually pursued a reunion with veteran Jose Quintana prior to signing Heaney. He says that once Quintana declined an offer that was worth more than Heaney's $5.25 million deal, the Pirates finalized a deal with Heaney.

Obviously, the Pirates' determination to land a starting pitcher is a bit surprising, given their rotation depth is deep throughout multiple levels of the organization. In fact, multiple arms in Triple-A would likely be safe options to throw in the major league rotation. Nonetheless, adding a pitcher here sets up an exciting and uncertain, whether that mean trading Bailey Falter or someone else for more offense or after a corresponding injury.

Pirates pursued Jose Quintana before Andrew Heaney in free agency

Between the two, either or significantly boosts the rotation. Quintana has a better ERA, HR/9, and opponents' batting average coming in at 3.75 to 4.28; 1.16 to 1.29; and .233 to .248. Heaney led in FIP, BB/9, K/9, and HR/FB, which came respectfully at 4.04 to 4.56; 2.31 to 3.33; 8.94 to 7.13; and 10.8% to 12.6%.

They are very close in production, but the cool thing about bringing Quintana back would have been how he performed under Oscar Marin back in 2022. Marin saved his career as he was struggling badly, and luckily he came to Pittsburgh to rediscover himself. He posted a 3.50 ERA with a 3.23 FIP and 1.27 WHIP before getting dealt to the Cardinals at the deadline. That trade has helped the Pirates to this day in the form of Johan Oviedo.

This would have been a fun reunion for the Pirates, but Quintana just did not want to return with what the Pirates were offering. Heaney is completely fine though, and Quintana will continue to search for a team to play for in 2025. If he does not sign soon enough, he could have a similar fate that Jordan Montgomery experienced, waiting too long to sign and not giving himself enough time to get ready for the season.