Pirates signal more moves could be coming with third base unsettled

The Pittsburgh Pirates have gone to great lengths to improve what was the league's worst offense last year. The team added a pair of 2025 All-Stars in Brandon Lowe and Ryan O'Hearn, as well as two controllable outfielders in Jake Mangum and Jhostynxon Garcia. Despite those significant additions, one glaring weakness remains in the Pirates' lineup—somebody's got to play third base.

The Pirates thought they had the hot corner figured out when the club gave Ke'Bryan Hayes a then-franchise record $70 million on an extension that locked him up through the 2029 campaign. Alas, the bat never developed and the Pirates dumped the remainder of his contract—four-plus years and over $38 million—to the division-rival Cincinnati Reds at last season's trade deadline.

Speaking to reporters after the introductory press conference for O'Hearn, whose signing marked the end of the franchise's multi-year free agent contract drought, general manager Ben Cherington voiced his intention to make more moves and signaled that adding a third baseman was still on his offseason to-do list.

The Pirates desperately need to add a third baseman to the mix, but options are dwindling.

There are multiple avenues the Pirates could pursue here, but after missing out on free agents Jorge Polanco and Kazuma Okamoto, there aren't many plausible upgrades remaining on either the free agent or trade fronts.

The cream of the remaining free agent crop, and a name Pirates fans have been begging for lately, is Eugenio Suárez. The Bucs have been loosely connected in recent days to the slugger, who hit a career-high 49 home runs a season ago. But Suarez will turn 35 in July and is expected to be seeking a three-year deal that could approach $20 million annually.

That's just not how the Pirates do business, and in this case, that might not be the worst thing. Suárez's right-handed power would be a welcome addition, but it's unrealistic to expect him to repeat his 49-homer performance, whether he signs with Pittsburgh or not. Given his age and history, he's much more likely to replicate his 2023-2024 seasons, where he averaged 26 homers and 195 strikeouts while playing below-average defense.

Cheaper free agent options could include Yoan Moncada, Luis Rengifo, Willi Castro, and Ramon Urias. Moncada is the biggest name, as a former top prospect who had somewhat of a career resurgence in 2025. He's a switch-hitter who hits righties well, but is strictly a platoon bat, an abysmal defender, and has a lengthy injury history. It's also worth mentioning that Cherington was Boston's GM when they signed Moncada as a 20-year-old prospect for $31.5 million.

Rengifo, Castro, and Urias are each super-utility players who can bounce all around the diamond and have ample experience at third base. Rengifo and Castro fit better as switch-hitters (and Castro was an All-Star as recently as 2024), while Urias has the highest offensive floor and was a superb defender in 2025.

The Pirates could also go the trade route. If they do, the most likely target would be Philadelphia's Alec Bohm. He boasts strong bat-to-ball skills, with a .287 batting average and a 93rd-percentile whiff rate in 2025. But he doesn't draw enough walks or hit for enough power for him to be anything more than a league-average hitter (105 wRC+ in 2025, 103 for his career). The Phillies are expected to shop Bohm, whose 2026 salary is locked in at $10.2 million, in light of the team's pursuit of Bo Bichette.

Other trade options include Isaac Paredes and Josh Jung. Paredes may now be the odd man out of Houston's infield and has hit 90 home runs over the last four seasons (only two of which were full seasons), but he needs to play in a park tailored for his pull-heavy right-handed swing, and PNC Park is the furthest thing from that. Of those 90 home runs, only 56 of them would have left PNC. He spent the second half of the 2024 season with the Cubs (Wrigley Field also has a deep left field) and slugged .307. His production almost certainly would not warrant any potential trade cost.

Jung may also be available with the Rangers operating under a tight budget. The former top-10 draft pick was a key piece of Texas' championship run in 2023, slashing .266/.315/.467, homering 23 times, and earning an All-Star berth. When he made his debut as a top prospect in 2022, current Pirates third base coach Tony Beasley was serving as the Rangers' interim manager, so a familiar face of that caliber might help him adapt to a new environment. Jung is under team control through 2028 and will make $2.9 million in 2026.

As things currently stand, unless 19-year-old Konnor Griffin breaks camp with the Pirates, the left side of the infield is slated to be manned by Jared Triolo, Nick Gonzales, and...Nick Yorke? Alika Williams? Davis Wendzel? Addressing and adding to that group before the season starts is a must.

The Pirates talked a pretty big game after the season about making meaningful additions and, to the surprise of many, have largely backed that up so far. But Cherington can't be done yet, and based on his recent comments, he seems to understand that. Time for him to put his (rather, Bob Nutting's) money where his mouth is.