Pirates running out of third base options with another free agent off the board

Spring training is less than a month away, and the Pittsburgh Pirates’ biggest unresolved roster question is staring them in the face.

Third base.

Yoán Moncada felt like the kind of move that fit the Pirates’ reality. A short-term gamble. A bounce-back bet. A player who could have been paired with Jared Triolo to form a functional, affordable platoon at the hot corner. Instead, Moncada is headed back to the Los Angeles Angels on a one-year, $4 million deal, and with that, one of the few remaining “Pirates-shaped” solutions is gone.

It’s a small transaction in the grand scheme of baseball. For Pittsburgh, it’s a reminder of how narrow the margin is when you live in this market tier.

The Pirates entered the winter knowing third base was a problem. They still haven’t solved it. Ke’Bryan Hayes’ injuries forced them to confront that reality in 2025, and the front office clearly acknowledged it by poking around on the free-agent market. Moncada was one of the names they checked in on. Now, he’s off the board. And the board is getting awfully sparse.

Eugenio Suárez remains the obvious answer. He’s the best bat left at the position, and he would instantly lengthen a lineup that finally has some structure after the additions of Brandon Lowe and Ryan O’Hearn. But Suárez has made it clear—directly or indirectly—that he wants a team he views as a contender.

That’s the uncomfortable paradox for the Pirates: they need a player like Suárez to become that team, yet they’re still fighting the perception that they aren’t one. Every day that passes makes that sell harder.

The remaining options are a mix of risky bets and internal hope. Internal hope means more Triolo, more patchwork, more nights where the bottom third of the lineup feels like it’s treading water while Paul Skenes, Mitch Keller and a suddenly legitimate rotation are trying to win games. It means asking a pitching staff built to compete now to carry an offense that still has holes.

Pirates' options to improve at third base are dwindling after Yoán Moncada re-signs with Angels

For the first time in this era, the Pirates look like a team that should be aggressive. They have front-line pitching. They have young position players who are ready to win. They have a window that’s open, not theoretical. Leaving third base unresolved undercuts that entire posture. It sends the message that the offseason improvements were meant to be incremental, not transformational.

Moncada was never going to save the franchise. But he represented a type of move: pragmatic, imperfect, and aligned with where this roster is. Losing him to a one-year deal elsewhere highlights the problem. These are the deals the Pirates have to win. These are the moments when “we’re interested” has to become “we did it.”

Every missed option narrows the path. Every narrowing path increases the odds that April arrives with a familiar look: a competitive core, a glaring hole, and the sense that the front office is still waiting for the perfect moment that never quite comes.

The Pirates don’t need a superstar at third base. They need competence. They need reliability. They need something better than “we’ll figure it out later.” With spring training looming, later is turning into now.