North Shore Nine

The MLB Winter Meetings wrapped up last week which only means one thing now. Christmas is a few weeks away and I am under immense pressure. Why? Because my wife hates gifts.

For the last few years, I have purchased my wife a gift. A Tiffany’s necklace. A useful air fryer before they were the craze. Oh, and I recall an Apple Watch somewhere in there. Why do I know she hates gifts? Because she’s returned every single one of those items for feeling bad I got her something she didn’t even need.

Yes, imagine an air fryer being such a lavish gift that you simply couldn’t maintain your composure.

I am under immense pressure for this upcoming Christmas because I absolutely know she is going to want to return it. I know this because she’s shown me time and time again that she will. There is no part of me that feels comfortable in knowing when that wrapping paper tears she will be joyous and I will win Christmas!

Now I turn to Twitter, or X for you posers, and find people telling me to be patient and wait until February to complain if the Pirates don’t make any significant roster moves. Here is the thing, for 25 additional years the Pittsburgh Pirates have also been showing me who they are. The Pirates’ largest free agent contract is still Francisco Liriano‘s $39 million from back in 2014. What gives anybody the confidence they are going to do just that?

Now I understand that it is still quite early in the offseason and moves can begin to happen. I get that, trust me if you don’t believe me. However, with each passing day and another free agent off the board, the offseason starts becoming a little less early. The Pirates have one reliable pitcher in their rotation, Mitch Keller. They added another interesting pitcher with Marco Gonzales, but his health leaves some question marks in regard to durability. After that, Luis Ortiz, Roansy Contreras, Quinn Priester, and Bailey Falter are here but there isn’t much that these cast of characters showed to instill the confidence that they can truly help a competitor in 2024.

All of this should culminate in a sense of concern for those who have followed the Pirates for some time now. With the payroll currently sitting at a projected $56 million (Thanks Ethan Hullihen!) there should be no hesitation by this front office to spend some real dollars and mitigate those risk concerns while adding actual talent around this young club to go out and contend in this weaker NL Central. Yet, it still feels with this opportunity in their lap that the Pirates may be fixated on keeping payroll flexibility as tight as Travis Williams’ 5th layer of sweater vest.

The Pirates have added just $6.2 million this offseason by having Marco Gonzales’ contract paid down by over $9 million and the Rowdy Tellez signing last night. For comparison, the small market Cincinnati Reds have added $87 million and are still rumored to be linked to a number of starting pitchers on the market. Hell, even the Royals who lost 106 games last year have spent $60 million in free agency so far and they already had a payroll of $20 million more than Pittsburgh last season.

I continue to emphasize things like this as the offseason progresses to not simply complain or “bitch” as few like to point out. I use this to show how other teams in much of the same position as the Pirates are capable of operating. Yes, capable which is not the same thing as willing. Seeing teams in an even smaller market who are right in line with the Pirates’ ascension or still quite a ways from it investing in their clubs only ensures that the Pirates have to do so as well. There cannot be any excuses when February comes and there weren’t any moves made to truly put them in contention.

I’m not here to tell you they absolutely won’t. There is still reason to believe they can and will open the purse. Ben Cherington has said that it is time to not be satisfied. You’ve also heard the infamous line about shopping in a different part of the store this offseason. If you want to take these words seriously as your proof, then there is reason to believe things will be different. With a payroll that is already bottomed out (2nd lowest in MLB), you can almost assure they will add. The question many have is just how much?

It’s year five of the Pirates rebuild and there is a real opportunity for them to add and compete. This makes it officially put up or shut up season. I guess the thing that worries me most is that once again my wife is going to return her gift.