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Compiling and comparing the WAR of moves by the Pirates
Baseball offseason is always very interesting. At least for most of the League, for the Pirates it typically is not. Usually, it consists of the Pirates making a bunch of bottom-of-the-barrel type moves, bringing in veterans on cheap 1-year deals, or prospects who have been labeled a bust and likely will continue to be. We have seen the team sign the likes of Derek Holland, Rich Hill, Jose Quintana, Carlos Santana, Ji-man Choi, and Ben Gamel.
The Pirates once again followed this trend during the 2023-2024 offseason. The team was a little more aggressive in acquiring players, but the impact has not really been there yet. Several new players have contributed very little to the Pirates cause. Of course, a lot of their in-house players continue to struggle as well.
This offseason the team made several acquisitions for the 2024 Major League Club. This group was led by hard-throwing lefty reliever Aroldis Chapman. On the offensive side, the team brought in several players with Michael A. Taylor leading this group.
Overall it has not been very good results for the Pirates and their new additions. FanGraphs provides WAR, so I decided to compile the total WAR of the new additions. Michale A. Taylor leads the new Pirates with a WAR of 0.4. For the new pitchers, lefty Martin Perez leads all Pirates with a WAR of 0.9.
Overall the new additions to the Pirates have compiled for 1.1 WAR. This is considering 12 offensive players who were brought in this offseason. So that breaks down to just under 0.1 WAR per player. Not very impressive. Martin Perez also helps make up a large chunk of that number at 0.9 with Rowdy Telez bringing the number down the most at -0.7.
For comparison's sake, I decided to look at a few other teams' news acquisitions and the WAR they have produced. The Cincinnati Reds are the first team I looked at. Most of their team has been built through internal development. However, they did bring in 7 new players. These players have totaled for a 0.7 WAR. A very similar rate to what the news players posted for the Pirates.
However, there are two other teams that have had a lot of positives to reflect on in terms of their offseason acquisitions. First off, the Chicago Cubs. The Cubs have had 6 additions make impacts this season. Their biggest of course has been Shota Imanaga who has already accumulated a WAR of 1.4 overall the Cubs have gained 3.2 WAR from the 6 players brought in. Yes, the Cubs are a bigger market than the Pirates, but decisions are still decisions and the Cubs seemed to have made the right ones.
The Milwaukee Brewers are in the same boat as the Cubs. The players they brought in have also produced a WAR of 3.2. Their top addition is Joey Perez, who they received as part of the return for Corbin Burnes. Notable their first base acquisition, Rhys Hoskins, has produced a WAR worth 0.4 already.
This is significant. The Pirates are supposed to be just as good as these teams, if not better.
The Milwaukee Brewers were not even supposed to be really competing this season, yet their offseason acquisitions have produced significantly better than the Pirates. WAR is not everything, but it gives a quick snapshot at just how poor the Pirates staff put together this 2024 roster.