Pirates Have Interesting Option if They Lose Brandon Lowe

There are a couple of different ways to look at the Brandon Lowe situation this offseason for the Pittsburgh Pirates.

I'm of the personal belief that if the Pirates don't bring him back, everybody should be frustrated with the front office and ownership. There's absolutely no excuse for not bringing back a player of his caliber, but as we've seen in the past with this organization, we really don't have any tell on what might happen. 

The unfortunate reality is that the Pirates just haven't given us enough to trust them at the level we need to in order for this team to be what everybody's hoping for it to be. Until the Pirates figure some of those things out, I can understand why fans are rightfully going to be questioning what happens this winter. As for what could happen if the Pirates don't bring back Lowe, there are a couple of different scenarios that some fans might not be considering. 

While nobody wants to think about the reality of losing Lowe, there could be some factors that allow the Pirates to improve while still losing him. 

I don't want to say they'll be a better team or anywhere close to what they need to be if he's not there, but it doesn't necessarily mean that the Pirates have to replace him with a second baseman, as they could put Nick Gonzales back up the middle.

“The biggest need for the Pirates this offseason is attempting to re-sign second baseman Brandon Lowe. In order to bring him back, they’ll have to shatter their franchise free agent contract record.

“If they are unable to bring Lowe back to Pittsburgh in 2027, the Pirates will need to pivot to add offense elsewhere. Turning to another second baseman not named Lowe is a possibility. Adding a third baseman and moving Nick Gonzales back to his natural position at second base is another,” Danny Demilio wrote.

The interesting part is that losing Lowe would be a big problem on the offensive side, but there’s a path where it could work.

Again, do I have any trust in the Pirates going out to land a player of his caliber offensively at third base? 

Probably not, but that becomes a lot easier to do than finding a guy who can swing it at second. 

At the same time, I think it's fair to question whether the Pirates should really be trusted to do that. The reality is that this organization has been looking for an above-average third baseman for much of the past decade and hasn't been able to do so. 

We could see a situation in which the Pirates find themselves in a position where they try to get creative, and it backfires on them at two different positions now.