The Pirates' intriguing trade chip nobody is talking about

It has been widely reported that the Pittsburgh Pirates are expected to aggressively pursue upgrades to their offense. While they claim to have room in the budget to be significant players in free agency, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic believes the team may have an easier time adding bats through trade.

The Pirates have the best farm system in the sport, according to FanGraphs' midseason update, but that is due in part to having a top-heavy system featuring the likes of Konnor Griffin, Bubba Chandler, and Seth Hernandez. After the top five or so, the Pirates' system isn't as rich with talent as it has been in years past. But there is another option...

Beginning in 2013, MLB implemented the Competitive Balance Rounds of the draft, which awards extra picks to small-market and lower-revenue teams after each of the first two rounds of the draft. These are the only draft picks eligible to be traded. The Pirates have a pick in Round A (after the first round) in the 2026 draft. These picks have become a popular commodity and have been included in some pretty significant trades.

Round A picks have been traded 15 times since 2013, including a record-high four times in 2025—the Brewers traded the 33rd pick as part of a package for Quinn Priester, the Rays traded the 37th pick straight-up for reliever Bryan Baker, the Reds traded the 41st pick plus a prospect for Gavin Lux, and the Rays then acquired the 42nd pick in the six-player swap that sent left-hander Jeffrey Springs to the Athletics.

Other teams that have used a Round A pick to acquire MLB talent include the Orioles (in the 2024 Corbin Burnes trade), the Cardinals (as part of the Randy Arozarena-Matthew Liberatore swap in 2020), and the Padres (as part of the package to acquire Craig Kimbrel and Melvin Upton Jr. from the Braves in 2015).

Trading their Round A pick would allow the Pirates to preserve some of their prospect depth (ideally at the upper levels of the minor leagues). But the team's position in the 2026 draft makes that pick even more expendable.

Although the exact pick numbers aren't set in stone yet, the Pirates are in position to have four premium picks in the upcoming draft:

The placement of the team's first-round pick will be determined during Tuesday night's draft lottery. Despite the Pirates "only" losing 91 games, the team has the third-best odds (16.81%) to come away with the No. 1 pick, thanks to the 96-loss Nationals and 119-loss Rockies being ineligible for a lottery pick. Pittsburgh's first pick cannot be any lower than ninth. So the Pirates are in prime position to add another top talent to their system.

Their next two picks are projected at 37 and 45 overall, but that's while making a couple of assumptions. Those picks will be determined upon the conclusion of Zac Gallen's free agency. Those spots are locked in unless Gallen either signs for less than $50 million or re-signs with Arizona. In that event, those picks would move up to 34 and 44, respectively (the Yankees and Phillies have picks 35 and 36 due to luxury tax penalties).

Not only do the Pirates have an extra pick after the first round, but the team also has an extra pick in the middle of the second round. The Pirates are guaranteed the 51st pick due to the club's failure to sign second-rounder Angel Cervantes, whom the organization selected at No. 50 last year.

The Pirates should be floating their Competitive Balance Round A pick in trade talks.

So with extra picks after round one and during round two, coupled with the chance (if not a likelihood) of a really high pick at the top of the draft, the Pirates certainly can afford to use their competitive balance pick as trade fodder instead of further depleting the farm system. Pittsburgh may need to get creative while searching for bats, and part of that equation could include trading that pick in order to hold on to assets that can still help the team in 2026.