Pirates general manager Ben Cherington is among the many executives who spoke with the media at the GM Meetings this week. The fifth-year baseball operations leader indicated the rotation has been the focus in the early going. Weve been mostly focused on starting pitching, both in free agency and trade , Cherington said of the offseasons first few days ( ). We would like to add to our position player group, too. But more of our energy has gone to the pitching market early on. Bringing in a starter or two seems an obvious goal for the front office. Pittsburgh had five starters log 50+ innings this past season. None had an ERA better than 4.21 mark. was traded and is now a free agent. had a disastrous season that saw him optioned to the minors on a couple occasions. allowed nearly five earned runs per nine with almost as many walks as strikeouts. Despite a disappointing second half, Keller has one rotation spot secure as the current staff ace. logged 177 2/3 innings over a full slate of 32 starts. The results a 4.31 ERA with a 20.2% strikeout percentage and lofty 10.6% walk rate were serviceable enough that Oviedo likely goes into Spring Training with a job in hand. could return midseason after undergoing Tommy John surgery in April. That still leaves multiple vacancies, as none of , nor pitched well in smaller samples. No one Spencer Daufeldt Jersey will expect the Bucs to make a run at or , but they have the payroll room to add a third or fourth tier free agent. and are the only two players with guaranteed contracts totaling a combined $17MM next season. MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projects the arbitration cla s to earn roughly $16MM. The Pirates opened 2023 with a player payroll around $73MM, as calculated by Cots Baseball Contracts. Cherington and his group thus have the ability to consider mid-level free agent options like , or . If they prefer the one-year route a tack theyve taken in prior offseasons someone like or could be a po sibility. Theyll need to weigh any rotation investment against what they hope to accomplish on the position player side. Cherington said the club would like to add at first base. Pittsburgh traded at the deadline and relied mostly on and down the stretch. Joes production was mostly concentrated against left-handed pitching; Rivas was waived and lost to Cleveland. With Santana back on the open market, a reunion could be an option. , and longtime division rival join him in the free agent cla s. and are non-tender candidates. It seems first base is the most pre sing infield need for the Bucs. Cherington expre sed more confidence in their internal second base options, which are headlined by , and . None of the group had much succe s this year they were 26th in OPS at the position but it doesnt seem an addition is a priority, even if Cherington added that theyre not ruling out adding someone. A middling free agent market led by , and could play a role in that. One free agent who seems likely to wind up in Pittsburgh is franchise icon . The veteran outfielder has been clear about his desire to finish his career in the Steel City. Cherington has reciprocated that interest on multiple occasions, something he reiterated yesterday. The GM told reporters that he has had multiple conversations with McCutchens camp since the season ended ( ). If McCutchen returns, hed rejoin Reynolds and among the corner outfield/designated hitter options. Davis, a former #1 overall pick, saw the bulk of his time in right field as a rookie. Cherington stre sed the organization still views the Louisville product as a viable option at catcher, though, even if their playing time share in 2023 suggested they viewed fellow first-year backstop as a better defender behind the plate. Taylor Fox Jersey