The Pittsburgh Pirates have a legit chance to be good this year. They were extremely aggressive this offseason, acquiring Brandon Lowe, Jhostynxon Garcia, Mason Montgomery, and Jake Mangum via trade, and signing Ryan O’Hearn, Marcell Ozuna, and Gregory Soto. They’ve still shown they’re willing to be aggressive, promoting Konnor Griffin during the first week of April, and (likely) extending him to a nine-year contract. The Pirates should be buyers this summer, and they’ll have a perfect opportunity to add some legitimate high-impact players, not just a half-measure like in 2024.
The first reason is that the Pirates can acquire any trade candidate they want with the farm system they have. MLB Pipeline ranked the Pirates’ system as the third best in early March. Baseball America was even more bullish, ranking their system as the best in baseball in early February. The Pirates have some very talented prospects atop their system, like the aforementioned Griffin, along with right-hander Bubba Chandler, 2025 star breakout prospect Edward Florentino, and 2025 first-round pick Seth Hernandez.
Their system has a myriad of other notable names. The Pirates have become known for their pitching development, so it’s no surprise they aren’t light on young pitching talent in the system. Along with Hernandez, the Bucs also have Hunter Barco, Wilber Dotel, Antonwe Kelly, Khristian Curtis, Jesus Travieso, Reinold Navarro, Thomas Harrington, and many more. Their position player talent pool is also strong beyond Garcia, Griffin, and Florentino. The Pirates currently have Esmerlyn Valdez, Termarr Johnson, and Rafael Flores Jr.
Now, the Pirates’ system may fall in rankings by Summer. Both Griffin and Chandler graduating prospect status would bump any farm system down in rankings. However, the Pirates will have a fantastic opportunity to replenish the system over the next two drafts. This year, the Pirates have four picks in the first round. They have their first-round pick, the 5th overall selection. Since it is an even year, they have a competitive balance round A pick. For the Pirates, that is the 34th overall selection. Their second-round pick is the 44th pick of the draft. After failing to sign their second-round pick from last year, Angel Cervantes, they received a compensation pick at #51.
The Pirates also have a strong chance of landing an extra draft pick in 2027. Both Konnor Griffin and Bubba Chandler are prospect promotion incentive eligible. Both appear on all three of MLB Pipeline, Baseball America, and ESPN’s top 100 MLB prospect lists, and are still rookie-eligible. If Griffin or Chandler wins Rookie of the Year, the Pirates get an extra draft pick. Both are two favorites to take home the award this season. So far, four MLB teams have received a PPI pick. That includes the Kansas City Royals in 2024 for Bobby Witt Jr. finishing top three in AL MVP voting in 2024, the Arizona Diamondbacks and Baltimore Orioles in 2024 for Corbin Carroll and Gunnar Henderson winning Rookie of the Year in their respective leagues, and the Seattle Mariners in 2023 for Julio Rodriguez winning ROTY in 2022. All four picks were among the top 35 picks in the draft.
The Pirates have enough prospects to bolster their roster this summer for a playoff run and an opportunity to fully replenish any lost talent from trades over the next two drafts via extra picks. It is about as good an opportunity as any team would ever get to add talent, both in the Major Leagues and farm system, while becoming more competitive. The Pirates need to jump on what could be a perfect opportunity this offseason.
