Pittsburgh Pirates Continue to Miss Out on Affordable Catching Options

The Pittsburgh Pirates still need to add a startable catcher to their roster. Yet, more and more options continue to come off the free agent board.

Last year, the Pittsburgh Pirates used a series of catchers to get through their season. The team traded away former starter Jacob Stallings during the 2021-2022 offseason. Then the team added veteran Roberto Perez to supplement the trade. Well, that is not exactly what happen, Perez tore his hamstring about half of the way through the season and missed the rest of the year.

The team also gave reps to veterans Michael Perez and Dusty Brown but were both shipped out of town as soon as possible. So then the team turned to Jason Delay, and Tyler Heinemann to eat up innings until the end of the season. All four gave basically no production, especially at the plate.

So it is pretty frustrating to see the Pittsburgh Pirates continue and ignore the position this offseason. Entering the offseason, the Pittsburgh Pirates had only a few glaring holes, with the catching position being one of those. The expectation was for the team to be aggressive in filling the position this off-season.

Instead, they have sat by and watched plenty of potential catchers sign elsewhere. What is even more irritating is that they are on contracts that the Pittsburgh Pirates should be willing to give out. The most recent example is catcher Omar Narvaez. Narvaez looked to be a solid fit for the Bucs, with NL Central experience, and some pop, and was noted as being good behind the dish.

The veteran catcher ended up signing a 2 year deal with the Mets. The deal was very team-friendly as he is getting paid $8 million in 2023. The second year of the contract is a player option for $7 million, again a very affordable price for the Bucs at a position of need. Again, just another example of the Pittsburgh Pirates not being aggressive and actually spending meaningful money.