Suddenly, there’s a lot of urgency surrounding the Buccos – a position that they haven’t been in for quite a while.

They have the best pitcher in the game in Paul Skenes, who was last year’s Rookie of the Year, and now he seems like he has the Cy Young locked up as well.

But as the Pirates figure out what they want to do to surround their star pitcher with a winning team, it first should look to who’s receiving those pitches.

The situation behind the plate in Pittsburgh is a total mess.

Catcher Joey Bart has lost all the power he had last season, and analytically is in the lower percentile in nearly all categories. Not only that, fellow catcher Henry Davis, who’s primarily a defensive catcher but has virtually no offense.

In 84 games and 240 at bats, both of which are career highs, Davis is batting a morbid .163, to go with his career .179 average.

If Pittsburgh wants to utilize his defensive capabilities at certain points, fine, but you can’t rely on someone who’s unable to put the ball in play.

Which is why an interesting option is sitting in Baltimore at the moment with the Orioles.

Former first overall pick, catcher Adley Rutschman is still under team control until 2028, but is going to need a new contract after this season.

The two-time All Star made $5.5 million in 2025 and Rutschman is arbitration eligible for the next two seasons. If the Orioles know that Rutschman isn’t in their future plans, then why not ship him off to a team that needs a catcher?

But why would Baltimore want to move on from a two-time All Star and former first overall pick?

The Orioles made a big and risky investment on their 21-year-old catcher Samuel Basallo by giving him an eight year, $67 million contract after only playing four games in the major leagues.

Basallo’s ascension through the minor league ranks was impressive, winning the Carolina League MVP in Single-A, and was awarded the Top MLB Prospect in 2023. 

However, even with all those early accolades, it was an unprecedented move from Baltimore who is putting all their eggs into Basallo’s basket. But it also signifies that if it was willing to give Basallo that kind of money and not Rutschman, then he’s as good as gone next season.

So why not get Rutschman, who may not have panned out as a cornerstone player, but is still good enough to be an All Star, a good hard look?

He’s better than any of the options that the Pirates have, hitting a career .256 with 61 home home runs, 130 RBIs, and a decent .756 OPS.

Pittsburgh needs to make all the right moves this offseason to fully convince Skenes that its serious about winning, and Rutschman may not be the missing piece, but he’s the starting piece to the puzzle that can be essential to a winning team.

The value for Rutschman is at an all time low, and Pittsburgh has the opportunity to capitalize.