The Pirates already moved one big league pitcher this week, sending righty to the Guardians to acquire new first baseman , but Pittsburghs pitching depth could be sufficient enough to set the stage for another deal. that the Bucs have also been willing to talk about right-hander , whom they signed to an extension just this past spring. Righty was even someone on whom the Pirates were at least willing to listen, per the report, though its not clear whether the trade of Ortiz has reduced their willingne s to talk about other controllable, pre-arbitration arms. Trading either right-hander would be somewhat surprising, albeit to differing degrees. Any player who signs a notable contract in Pittsburgh is going to eventually come up in trade rumblings as the salaries escalate. Still, moving Keller fewer than 12 months after signing him to an extension that promised him just over $71MM in new money from 2025-28, would be unexpected. Hes owed $15MM in 2025, $16.5MM Dan Majerle Jersey in 2026, $18MM in 2027 and $20MM in 2028 a total of $69.5MM over the next four seasons. Keller, 29 in March, has posted similar bottom-line results in each of the past two seasons: a 4.21 ERA in 32 starts during the 2023 campaign and a 4.25 ERA in 31 starts in 2024. He posted strong, nearly identical walk rates between the two seasons (6.7% in 23, 6.5% in 24) and had the exact same 1.16 HR/9 mark in each year. However, Keller lost four percentage points off his strikeout rate from 2023 (25.5%) to 2024 (21.5%), while his average four-seamer dropped by 0.8 mph and his sinker lost about a half mile per hour. He allowed more balls in the air, more hard contact and more overall contact in 2024 particularly within the strike zone. Fielding-independent metrics were more bullish on his 2023 work (3.80 FIP, 3.83 SIERA) than on his 2024 efforts (4.08 from both FIP and SIERA). Regardle s, Keller is a quality arm with enough velocity, prospect pedigree, track record and (perhaps most importantly) affordability to draw considerable interest on the market. Even if the Bucs werent nece sarily interested in trading him at the outset of the offseason, the soaring prices of free-agent pitching have suddenly made Keller look like even more of a bargain. Consider that 37-year-old secured a coming off a season in which he made three starts or that , 32 in March, (with an opt-out) after a 4.84 ERA with a similar strikeout rate and worse command in fewer innings and Kellers contract looks quite appealing. The Pirates dont nece sarily need to shop Keller, but theres no getting around the reality that a $15MM salary for him this season and the escalating numbers in subsequent seasons is a sizable number for Pittsburgh in a way that isnt true in other markets. Hiles and Destin suggest that any trade from the big league rotation would be made with an eye toward both adding a major league bat to a lackluster lineup. In Kellers case, itd also free up money to pursue help at other areas of need. Corner outfield, second base and the bullpen are among the areas that come to mind. A trade of the 23-year-old Jones would register as something of a stunner. The former second-round pick entered the 2024 season lauded as one of the games best prospects and quickly established himself as a viable big league arm while demonstrating star upside. Jones averaged a blazing 97.3 mph on his four-seamer, fanned 26.2% of his opponents against a tidy 7.7% walk rate and pitched 121 2/3 innings of 4.14 ERA ball. His huge 14.1% swinging-strike rate showed clear potential for even more strikeouts. Jones mi sed about seven weeks with a lat strain and showed signs of rust in his return late in the year. Prior to landing on the injured list, hed pitched 91 innings of 3.56 ERA ball with strikeout and walk rates right in line with his season-long rates. He was more prone to homers and walks in his relatively brief September return than hed been prior to the injury, suggesting his command was lacking not a huge surprise for a young pitcher simultaneously returning from an injury and establishing a new career-high number of innings (when combining his big league total with his 11 rehab frames). Moving Jones would require a seismic return. Hes a 23-year-old with five seasons of club control, elite velocity, plus bat-mi sing abilities, strong command and some big league succe s already under his belt. One would imagine the Pirates would only even entertain the notion if presented with a hitter of similar upside and club control. Even then, given the rarity of starters with this upside, the Bucs might seek additional prospects on top of any young hitter(s) theyd target. If Jones were truly available, he would likely be the most coveted arm on the entire starting pitching market and rightly so. General manager Ben Cherington told Hiles and Destin Wednesday (after the Ortiz trade) that he could in theory move another arm from his rotation but cautioned against dipping to far into his cache of arms. The Pirates have , Keller, Jones, and as current starters with some big league succe s under their belts, plus an enviable line of well-regarded prospects behind them. and are both on the 40-man roster, while prospects and are close to the majors. Chandler, in particular, is regarded as one of the best pitching prospects in the game (as Jones and Skenes were an offseason ago). He ranked 15th, 19th and 21st on the most recent top-100 prospect rankings from MLB.com, FanGraphs and Baseball America, respectively. Readers (Pirates fans, in particular) will want to check out the entire piece from Destin and Hiles, as the portion on starting pitching is just one of several Winter Meetings topics the report explores. The Post-Gazette duo also touches on s offseason efforts to put an ugly 2024 season behind him, injured righty s rehab, and some potential news on the coaching front. Ricky Rubio Jersey