Pirates Urged to Trade All-Star This Offseason

The Pittsburgh Pirates are entering into an offseason where the front office has a lot of questions to answer.

After finishing the 2026 season with a record of 82-80, the Pirates feel as if 2027 could be the year to get back to the playoffs. But the team will have to answer some big questions about a few players across the roster in the coming months.

One player that the Pirates have to make a decision on is veteran right-hander Mitch Keller, who had an underwhelming 2026 season. Overall, Keller finished 2026 with a 5.29 ERA over 22 starts, throwing 115.2 innings of work.

The right-hander was ruled out for the remainder of the season in August with a teres major muscle injury. Pittsburgh has multiple starters on the roster entering next season, making Keller's spot in the rotation a big question entering the offseason.

MLB analyst Jack Markowski of the Pirates on SI has urged the team to make a trade for Keller this season. Keller made the All-Star team in 2023 with the Pirates, but he hasn't been up to par on the mound since.

One area of concern in any potential trade of Keller is that he is still owed a lot of money over the next two years. The right-hander is scheduled to make $18 million in 2027 and then $20 million for the 2028 season.

Due to his struggles this year, there likely won't be many teams willing to take on Keller's contract. But there are a few organizations around the league who could take the flier on the former All-Star, eating his salary in the process.

Some of these could be the Los Angeles Dodgers or New York Mets, both of which have large payrolls already. Both Los Angeles and New York could use a end of the rotation arm for next season, and if Keller can bounce back, he could be a steal of a player.

Keller has proven over his MLB career that he can be a dependable back-end starter for a team, and this could help the Pirates chance of trading him. Pittsburgh likely wouldn't eat any of the money left on his contract, but if they really wanted to move him, it could be in consideration.

The Pirates could elect to bring him back for next season, hoping for a turnaround from the poor 2026 results. But Pittsburgh may be better off trying to trade him this winter, even if that may take some time to find the right suitor to get a deal done.