The Amato Report - Pirates
- Jim Santora
- 1 day ago
- 3 min read
The Pirates sold at the deadline and are the offseason kings of hoarding as many picks as possible prior to the 7th round. The strategy paid off as their season looks brighter for this season as they look to contend with a revamped team.
NOTABLE OFFSEASON TRANSACTIONS
Acquired: Mookie Betts, Hunter Greene, Christian Walker, Giancarlo Stanton (so all former Reds lol)
Departed: Kodai Senga, Edward Cabrera, Dylan Lee
Strengths
As noted above, draft picks. Even dealing their 2nd and 8th overall to the Reds, they still have 3 first round picks! The Pirates are actually done drafting after the 6th round, which gives their manager time to drive to the lake house and play some cards with the boys before we even hit the 10th round.
Joking aside, and aside from the draft picks, the team has a good framework. The rotation is strong with Freddy Peralta, Hunter Greene, Luis Castillo and Spencer Schwellenbach as the 1-4. The relief corps is probably one of the best in the league with Dennis Santana, Josh Hader, and Phil Maton...yes Phil Maton had that kind of year.
Opportunities
The offense has a few solid pieces - Xavier Edwards, Jazz, Mookie Betts, and Giancarlo Stanton. Alec Bohm is likely slated for 3B as Jazz is like a 4e23 there, and is your typical Bohm card (hits and OBP but no power). The offense will get a boost when the team drafts #1 overall some guy with the initials of K.T. While the offense looks slightly above pedestrian right now, it will look a whole lot better after this draft.
Draft day strategy
I mean they have a million picks...The manager could just pick the best available and it would work out just fine. Though I see OF being an area they could target: Bellinger takes one spot (though his splits vs rhp aren't great), KT in RF, and as of now Victor Scott II in CF. I could see getting some depth there along with another 1-2 SP's and just loading up on an already stacked bullpen. Or they could just trade for a 37-year-old starting pitcher with the initials JD...😆
Projected lineup (as of now vs RHP)
C - Luis Torrens
1B - Christian Walker
2B - Xavier Edwards
3B- Alec Bohm
SS - Mookie Betts
LF - Cody Bellinger
CF - Victor Scott II
RF - Dan Myers (eventually KT)
DH - Jazz Chisholm
Projected rotation
Freddy Peralta
Hunter Greene
Luis Castillo
Spencer Schwellenbach
Michael Soroka
Keep an eye on these players in 2026 (in real life)
Cade Cavalli - once a top prospect, he's coming back from TJ - I think his 2nd(?) - and is the first 'best shape of my life' guys...really curious to see if he can finally put it together with the Nats
Alec Bohm - just give me 20+ homers and you are a perennial all star my guy, come onnnnnn
Giancarlo Stanton - curious to see if he can 1) put together a full season and 2) if he can put together a full season at the rate of his 2025 season (would be looking at like 55 homers, etc). Just keep moving those elbows.
2026 projection based on Ed's SIMs: fringe playoff team
I think the acquisition of Hunter Greene gives the Pirates the edge of getting in the playoffs. Sure, there are needs at certain positions, but Torrens and his -4 arm will cut the running game down, the defense overall is middle of the road, and the offense - when fully together - is above average, and the pitching overall is definitely top 5 in the league.
I see the Pirates hovering around the 4th thru 6th spots all season, with the ceiling being the 3-4 seed. Just like the Dbacks, while the ceiling isn't the top team, they do have a high floor that will allow them to compete all season long. And with a million picks, the Pirates will land a lot of good value from players that drop in the draft as teams address needs first.
