North Shore Nine

Well, we’ve finally arrived in 2024. This will be the fifth season in the tenure of Ben Cherington and the season that most have pointed to as the one where we should begin seeing results. Will the 2024 Pittsburgh Pirates finally blossom into what we’ve all hoped that they would?

Let’s start off by looking at what has changed. Free agency kicked off with a handful of Pirates players being claimed by other teams after not being tendered an offer by Pittsburgh. Vinny Capra was claimed by the Brewers, Alfonso Rivas was picked up by the Guardians, the Padres called dibs on Tucupita Marcano, the A’s claimed Miguel Andujar, and the Braves nabbed Angel Perdomo. During this same period, Cody Bolton was traded to the Mariners for cash and Andrew McCutchen, Vince Velasquez, Jarlin Garcia, Hunter Stratton, and Osvaldo Bido elected free agency. Andre Jackson was released by the team so that he could pursue an opportunity to play in Japan. Both Stratton and McCutchen have been re-signed by the team.

As far as additions, they have added catcher Ali Sanchez who had most recently been in the Diamondbacks organization. They added right-handed pitcher Roddery Munoz and later designated him for assignment which led to him being traded to the Marlins for cash. Yeah, I probably could’ve just left that one out, huh? They traded for left-handed pitcher Marco Gonzales. Another deal was struck with the Royals for right fielder Edward Olivares. Free agent first baseman Rowdy Tellez was signed. They have also signed left-handed pitcher Martin Perez to a one-year deal, though it still has yet to be made official now two weeks later. I won’t get into all of the minor-league contract signings. They’re as meaningless as they are plentiful.

None of these moves are bad in a vacuum. The problem is that they’re all essentially moves that would be made to maintain an already established roster. It’s just that the Pirates’ current roster wasn’t all that established to begin with. There were glaring holes coming out of the 2023 season that required a more dynamic resolution. What we are seeing so far with this off-season feels a lot more like tinkering around the edges than actually addressing the root of the problems. Does this spell doom for 2024? No. Of course not. But, so far, there really isn’t anything that inspires a great deal of confidence.

There are far more ‘ifs’ with this roster than there are sure things. If a lot of things swing the Pirates’ way, sure we could see another meaningful step forward. There is also still the possibility that we see a significant signing/trade or two that will help. We were told that the team would be shopping in a different aisle this off-season and so far it appears that what they meant was the clearance aisle. But there is still time. However as we see more and more of the top free agents come off the board, it does feel less and less likely.

Are the 2024 Pirates going to be bad? Not compared to the 2020, 2021, and 2022 teams most likely. There will at least be a solid core group that will be fun to watch. There are prospects that have the potential to grow into major league talents. We get to watch Andrew McCutchen play in the black and gold again. I’m excited for the season, but I also don’t have high expectations for them either. I kind of expect a similar win total to last season. We should get to see Paul Skenes make his MLB debut at some point. Hopefully. We get to see Oneil Cruz return. There is plenty to look forward to. I will miss Endy Rodriguez and Johan Oviedo. Their returns will be something that we can just pencil into the 2025 New Year, New Bucs article.

I think that probably the best possible way that 2024 could start for the Pirates would be for Bob Nutting’s name to show up on the Epstein Island client list that is supposed to be released today. That should be enough to shame him into relinquishing control of the team. It would be a good start, at least. Barring that, it appears that 2024 will be yet another year of frustration from poor ownership.

So, is it New Year, New Bucs? Or is it just the same ol’, same ol’? It’s probably a little too early to tell for sure. While I’m not all that optimistic at this point, I am very much looking forward to pitchers and catchers reporting. I’ve watched far more horrible Pirates teams in my life than I have great ones. And I don’t expect this one to be horrible in comparison to some of the really awful teams of recent memory. They may not be World Series contenders, but with some good luck on their side, they may be able to make a little noise and make for a fun summer for Pirates fans.