Pirates' willingness to spend could preview next CBA

The Pittsburgh Pirates and willingness to spend in free agency are rarely seen together without the words "do not have a" between them. That is not the case this offseason.

ESPN's Jeff Passan reported that the Pirates had pursued first baseman Josh Naylor in free agency before he returned to the Seattle Mariners on a five-year, $92.5M contract. While Passan did not provide an exact dollar amount, he did note that the Pirates were willing to spend more than $78M to bring Naylor on board.

Such a contract would be unprecedented for the Pirates. Their largest free agent contract was given to pitcher Francisco Liriano in 2015 — a three-year, $39M deal. That history made it easy to dismiss The Athletic's Ken Rosenthal's report that the Pirates were looking to be aggressive and spend during the offseason.

Time is right for the Pirates to spend on roster, but motive may not be obvious

This is the perfect time to spend to supplement the Pirates core, at least in theory. The Pirates have an exciting young rotation headlined by 2025 NL Cy Young Award winner Paul Skenes, who is still a year away from arbitration. However, the Pirates have typically pinched pennies hard enough to make Abe Lincoln cry, residing in the bottom quarter of the league in payroll for 21 of the last 22 years.

The Pirates newfound willingness to spend may also be a precursor of changes to come league-wide. While most of the focus during the current Collective Bargaining Agreement negotiations involves ownership looking to impose a salary cap, the league is also looking to institute a salary floor. Such a floor would likely force the Pirates to increase payroll, making such forays into free agency necessary.

If ownership is willing to spend on the roster, the Pirates could be an attractive destination. Their rotation is one of the best in baseball and they have five of the top 100 prospects per MLB.com, including the top prospect in shortstop Konnor Griffin, who could debut in 2026. The Pirates are finally ready to spend on the roster; they may not have a choice otherwise.