Spring training in Bradenton is off and running this week for the Pirates with full squad workouts going on, Manager Don Kelly addressed the players Monday and Grapefruit League games start this weekend. And I’ve noticed something that is obvious to me—this is, without a doubt, the highest vibes have been to start a season since arguably 2016. It’s definitely the best vibes we’ve seen in Ben Cherington’s tenure.
Now, I’m as jaded or negative as any fan around (hey, I’ve watched the Pirates for about 40 years so it should be no surprise why I’m that way), but even I can say that overall the vibe surrounding the organization right now is generally promising on the field and on social media. This is a certainly a new feeling…
It’s not just the players looking like they’re having a good time being back in camp and getting the work in, but the fans are mostly excited for this upcoming season too. Even the comments I’m seeing on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Instagram are more positive then we’re used to seeing.
Let’s talk about why that’s the case. And no it’s not just because AJ Burnett is in camp…that helps, but that’s not really it. First, the Pirates went out and had their best offseason in recent memory. They added not one All-Star, but two All-Stars from 2025 to this lineup and just counting last year’s stats, they added 69 additional home runs from just three players in Brandon Lowe, Marcell Ozuna and Ryan O’Hearn. Power was something the Pirates lacked last season (30th in MLB with 117 HRs, next closest team had 148) and desperately needed to upgrade. Their offense should be significantly improved in 2026.
Second, part of the reason they were able to add guys like this is because they actually spent some money. According to Ethan Hullihen on X, the Pirates payroll currently sits at $102,916,560. I don’t know if they’re done adding prior to Opening Day, but I’ll be honest I never thought they would spend more than $100M for this upcoming season. And I’m not celebrating the fact that they finally spent a little bit of money because this should have been the minimum for a while now, but this is all we’ve been asking for…spend a little and at least show that you’re at least trying to build a product worth watching. No one was ever saying go spend $200M+, that’s absurd but being at $100M should have been the min. I think being at $120M should be no issue for this team to be at year in and year out, but this is at least a start and hoping it builds from here.
And third, they did all of this without trading Mitch Keller and his contract too…at least to date. We knew it was a given that they would trade some of their pitching for hitting. Well they were able to do that and acquire players like Lowe, Mason Montgomery, Jake Mangum and Jhostynxon Garcia without dealing Keller. Keller’s steady presence and rubber arm is still on this team and holding on to him will be huge for this pitching staff I believe.
They are FINALLY coming out of the rebuild. This season will be Cherington’s 7th season as Pirates GM, it’s taken a while to get here. I would have liked to see this start two years sooner but we can’t change that now. Thankfully, it seems like they finally understand the rebuild is over, the window is small with Paul Skenes here so let’s go do something now. Also, I’m not saying this guarantees the Pirates anything. We all know it doesn’t. This team could start out slow and be buried in the division again by midseason, but it sure doesn’t seem as likely as it has in recent years.
I’ve been saying this for years that with the bar so low for this organization, fans weren’t asking for much. Spend a little bit of money, go and get actual impact players to upgrade the existing core and just show somewhat of an effort that you’re trying to get better and fans will rally behind them. I think that’s what’s finally happening and right now at least, it’s fun to see a different energy around the team so let’s continue to let the good vibes roll.
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