Paul Skenes Could Seriously Help Pirates This Offseason

The Pirates allowed the third least home runs (153), posted the fourth lowest WHIP (1.22), the seventh lowest team ERA (3.76), the seventh least walks (473) and the eighth lowest opposing batting average (.236). They also posted 19 shutouts, the most in baseball.

Pittsburgh also brought up rookies in Braxton Ashcraft, Hunter Barco, Mike Burrows and Bubba Chandler, got a solid season out of Mitch Keller and got Johan Oviedo back from injury.

The Pirates will get Jared Jones back from internal brace surgery next season and will have solid bullpen options in Justin Lawrence, Carmen Mlodzinski, Isaac Mattson and Dennis Santana.

Where the Pirates massively struggled was at the plate, where they served as one of the worst-hitting teams in baseball.

The Pirates posted the lowest slugging percentage (.350) and OPS (.655), the third lowest batting average (.231) and the eighth lowest on-base percentage (.305).

Pittsburgh also scored the least runs (583) and drove in the least RBIs (561), both lower than the 43-119 Colorado Rockies. They also hit the least home runs (117), 31 home runs less than the second-lowest team in the St. Louis Cardinals, at 148 home runs, and had the seventh most strikeouts (1,422).

Will the Pirates Actually Make Moves this Offseason?

The Pirates historically don't make many moves in the offseason, as they haven't made a multi-year free agent signing in almost a decade.

Their biggest free agent signing was also bringing back left-handed pitcher Francisco Liriano for three years, $39 million on Dec. 9, 2014.

Pittsburgh generally ranks towards the bottom of payroll amongst MLB teams, finishing amongst the fifth lowest spenders in Opening Day payroll in the 16 of the 19 seasons Bob Nutting has served as owner of the team.

Pirates general manager Ben Cherington said at the general manager meetings in Las Vegas three weeks ago that they have more "flexibility" and will act more "aggressively" than in years past.

Team president Travis Williams said much of the same thing, addressing the urgency with what they must do, but also acknowledging they'll have the resources available to make the necessary moves.

Rosenthal and Drellich reported that the Pirates have shown interest in NL MVP finalist Kyle Schwarber, San Diego Padres designated hitter Ryan O'Hearn, Seattle Mariners second baseman Jorge Polanco and Japanese superstar Kazuma Okamoto.

They also noted that the Pirates can't waste Skenes' prime and that if they don't do it now, they never will.

"At this point, the Pirates need to pull out every stop. If they can’t try with Skenes on their roster, they will never try," they wrote. "And their first two seasons with Skenes already have gone to waste."