Pittsburgh Pirates: Grading The Bucs’ Offseason Moves To Date

Coming off their first winning season in two decades, it hasn’t been an exciting offseason to this point for the Pittsburgh Pirates.

General manager Neal Huntington has filled some needs so far but the Pirates are still lacking power in right field and first base and could possibly use another arm in the starting rotation in the process.

Oct 3, 2013; St. Louis, MO, USA; Pittsburgh Pirates starting pitcher A.J. Burnett (34) waits for a new baseball after giving up a three-run home run to St. Louis Cardinals right fielder Carlos Beltran during the third inning in game one of the National League divisional series playoff baseball game at Busch Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-USA TODAY Sports

However, while some Pirates fans want to see big moves, that’s not entirely possible at this point.

Signing a competent right fielder isn’t really an option with prized prospect Gregory Polanco coming to Pittsburgh in the near future. It makes very little sense to tie up both money and years in right field when Polanco could arrive this season. That being said, it makes sense to start the year with a platoon of Jose Tabata and Travis Snider, with Andrew Lambo possibly in the mix as well.

The same goes for the starting rotation.

If A.J. Burnett decides he wants to return for cheap, the offseason looks a lot better. But Huntington is wise not to invest dollars in an arm, when Jameson Taillon could be in Pittsburgh in June or July.

Also keep in mind that most of the Pirates’ core is already in place, so a lot of major moves were not needed.

Here’s a recap of what the Bucs have done so far.