Multiple writers for The Athletic recently put out their top 50 MLB free agent list, and I went through each and every one to see if the Pittsburgh Pirates had any chance to land some of the top players available.
However, upon review, and looking at it multiple times to make sure I wasn't missing anything, the Pirates were only linked to one player, and it was outfielder Mike Yastrzemski.
Yastrzemski has spent the bulk of his career with the San Francisco Giants, but played with the Kansas City Royals a year ago. The grandson of all-time great Carl Yastrzemski, he's definitely a decent player, but he's far from what the Pirates need at this stage of the organization.
“A strong-side platoon outfielder who’s consistently hit right-handed pitching, Yastrzemski got a late start in the big leagues and is a first-time free agent at 35. But his 126 wRC+ against righties was top 50 in the major leagues in 2025 — similar to Bobby Witt Jr., Julio Rodríguez and Byron Buxton — and he finished the season with an .839 OPS after a trade deadline deal to the Royals.
“The grandson of Hall of Famer Carl Yastrzemski, Mike spent six seasons in the minor leagues before making his big league debut at 28 in 2019. The Giants had acquired him in a minor spring training trade with the Orioles, and Yastrzemski was something of a sensation in San Francisco,” Gleeman wrote.
I think The Athletic’s Aaron Gleeman put it best.
At the stage of his career, Yastrzemski is probably a platoon bat.
There’s certainly value in adding a platoon bat, but the bigger worry here is the fact that the Pirates weren't linked to any of the other top free agents available.
If the idea is to go out and add a platoon bat, there has to be another player to mix in there.
As I’ve said many times before, if the Pirates were to add four or five hitters and Yastrzemski was one of them, I wouldn't be upset, but if the front office and ownership think it's fine to just bring in Yastrzemski and go from there, I'd be very disappointed.
Unfortunately, it seems like something like that could eventually be the case.