Pirates Shouldn't Disrespect Brandon Lowe With Qualifying Offer

I don't know why the Pittsburgh Pirates would offer Brandon Lowe a qualifying offer unless they know they don't plan to get him back. The Pirates enter this offseason with a ton of needs on both sides of the baseball, specifically offensively and in the bullpen. 

You could even argue this team needs another starting pitcher, something we wouldn't have expected to say just a year ago.

Regardless, the bigger focus is on Lowe. 

There's no debate that he's among the best second basemen in Major League Baseball, and giving him the qualifying offer is likely to ruffle some feathers and make him not want to return to the organization. 

The last thing the Pirates should look to do is not pay a guy who's already said that he wants to come back and is coming off a season in which he hit 35 home runs and drove in 96 RBIs. He was absolutely excellent from top to bottom this year, and the Pirates need him back offensively. I'd even go so far as to say he's the best offensive player available in this free-agent class. 

If Bo Bichette opts out of his deal, you could argue his history is better than Lowe's. Even then, I don’t think it’s crazy to say Lowe is the better player.

That's why I'm surprised to see Bleacher Report suggest Lowe is just the fifth-best offensive free agent in baseball this offseason.

“It's difficult to project how owner Bob Nutting will act, but the right move for the Pirates would be to extend the one-year, $23.15 million qualifying offer to Lowe. If he accepts it, you get a really good player for another season. If he declines it, his market could be suppressed enough that you re-sign him, or you'll get draft-pick compensation if he leaves in free agency.

“Given he's 32 and has dealt with injuries before, Lowe should decline the QO if the Pirates extend him and take the best long-term deal he can get. He's not going to have a better contract year than he did in 2026,” Tim Kelly of Bleacher Report wrote.

As Bleacher Report noted, Kelly makes some fair points about why it wouldn't make sense for Lowe to take that qualifying offer anyway. 

At 32, and turning 33 in the middle of next season in July, he has no reason to take a qualifying offer. 

The reality is that this is the best chance he's had in much of his career to get paid, and guys typically won't waste that by signing a qualifying offer.

I guess we can never rule anything out in Major League Baseball, but it really doesn't make sense to mess around with this.