The Pirates owner presents the club’s approach to the trade deadline

The race for the final two wild card spots in the National League is quickly becoming a dogfight, and the Pirates are one of as many as eight teams, all within two games of each other in the standings, that are currently fighting for those final two spots in the postseason picture alongside the leaders in the league, the Phillies, Dodgers, Brewers (and the Braves, who are firmly in first place among the wild cards by 5.5 games). This position in the middle of the playoff race was achieved despite Pittsburgh’s poor 36-39 record at this point in the season, but owner Bob Nutting nonetheless recently made it clear to reporters (including Kevin Gorman of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review) that he believed this year the club can fight for the play-offs.

“I think we’ve shown it’s achievable,” Nutting told reporters (as reported by Gorman) when discussing the possibility of a postseason departure this year, before admitting the club needs more production from an offense that ranks fourth out of last place in the majors with an 85 wRC+. Nutting then suggested that the club is currently working to determine how much attacking play can be improved internally and how much of the improvement will need to come from external acquisitions.

Nutting suggested that these outside acquisitions won’t necessarily have to wait until the near July 30 trade deadline, even though the league has generally leaned toward making most of its major summer transactions in the days and hours leading up to the deadline in recent years. As Noah Hiles of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette noted, the franchise’s owner said the Pirates could “get opportunities well before the deadline” this year.

“I think we should have been prepared to take action earlier,” Nutting told reporters (as reported by Hiles). “I think we should be prepared to take advantage of opportunities when they arise. I know (club director Ben Cherington) has the flexibility to look at a wider range of alternatives, options but also the timeline of when it makes sense to bat.

Hiles further notes that Nutting confirmed his earlier comments that more funds will be made available to the baseball operations department now that he believes the club is capable of competing for a postseason berth. This is good news for Pirates fans, as the club’s current earnings of just over $86 million are already the highest since 2017, according to Cot’s Baseball Contracts. The following off-season saw the departure of key players such as Andrew McCutchen and Gerrit Cole, a clear sign that the club was entering a rebuild from which it had only now begun to fully emerge.

The club has a strong starting pitching lineup, with Paul Skenes and Jared Jones offering top-notch tackles at the top of the rotation, while Mitch Keller and Bailey Falter serve as solid mid-rotation arms behind them. Given such a strong pitching staff and the club’s previously mentioned struggling offense, it’s no surprise that FanSided’s Robert Murray recently reported that the Pirates are expected to make purchasing offense a “high priority” this summer. As it stands, the only teams currently selling without issue are the White Sox, Rockies, Marlins, Angels and A’s. These clubs certainly have some interesting potential targets, from Chicago’s star center fielder Luis Robert Jr. to the A’s late bloomer Brent Rooker.

Each of these targets makes sense on a speculative level for the Pirates club, which has clear room for improvement in the frontcourt, and you can certainly imagine a club interested in adding offense at first base, with Rowdy Tellez having a 71 wRC+ in 61 games this year. Both first basemen Pete Alonso and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. have been in the rumor mill quite a bit this winter, although even smaller signings like longtime Pirate (and now Marlin) Josh Bell or recent DFA’d A corner J.D. Davis could potentially represent an upgrade for the club over Tellez.