Pirates' under-the-radar GM Meetings admission could reshape their free-agent plans

We know the Pittsburgh Pirates will address their pitching staff in some way this offseason. They can't afford for the bullpen to emerge as a total liability like it did in the first half of this past season, and it'd behoove them to add some veteran depth to a young rotation.

There are also some decisions to make about various in-house players, such as Carmen Mlodzinski's future role and whether Mitch Keller still fits the team's big-picture plans. Thankfully, general manager Ben Cherington gave us some clarity on this front at the GM Meetings this week, though he fell short of naming any individual targets or addressing specific positions.

“We see the advantage of having left-handed pitching at PNC Park,” Cherington said. “We see how many left-handed hitters are in the game today. We want to put ourselves in a position to combat that as well as we possibly can.”

There are a lot of available players who fit the bill, though what matters more than any individual name is diversifying the pitching staff as a whole.

Pirates, Ben Cherington have numerous pathways to address their left-handed pitching deficiency

As things stand, the Pirates' entire projected 2027 rotation leans right-handed, and the only two southpaws in the bullpen are presumed closer Mason Montgomery and middle reliever Brandon Eisert. Just two more lefties — starter Hunter Barco and reliever Evan Sisk — are on the 40-man roster, with fewer than 90 innings of MLB experience between them.

Clearly, this is a problem that needs solving. In 2026, the Bucs got the third-fewest innings from left-handed pitchers (214⅔) across the league, though that thin contingent mustered a 10th-place finish in ERA (3.69) and second-place ranking in FIP (3.32). In other words, the southpaws the Pirates have are quite good, they just don't have enough of them.

It would certainly be nice to add a left-handed starter mix to just to give opposing lineups a different look, even if that takes the form of a back-end option like Matthew Boyd or Kris Bubic. Depending on what the future holds for Mlodzinski and Keller, it might be wise to get someone who can handle a variety of roles (i.e., starting, bulk relief, and one-inning spurts), like David Peterson or Sean Newcomb.

A left-handed reliever is less of a priority thanks to the presence of Montgomery, though it wouldn't hurt to add some additional competition for Eisert and Sisk. The Pirates, who acquired Montgomery as part of the Brandon Lowe blockbuster last offseason, may also opt to turn their attention back to the trade market to fill this need if certain free-agent pursuits (*wink wink* Lowe) command most of the available budget.

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