The Pittsburgh Pirates received some pretty bad production from the shortstop position for quite a few years now. Jordy Mercer has been the shortstop for the last handful of seasons and has been very unremarkable, as well as very mediocre. Prior to that, Clint Barmes was the shortstop, and while he possessed good defensive capabilities, he was even worse than Mercer at the plate (which isn’t an easy feat to pull off).
One could argue that the last time the Pirates had a shortstop that was league average or better was Jack Wilson, who was with the Pirates from 2001 through 2009, and even he lacked a lot in the hitting department despite his astounding glove work. Case in point either way, it has been a long while since the Pirates have had a good shortstop.
With Mercer hitting free agency, the Pirates approach another transition period at the position. They like Kevin Kramer and Kevin Newman, but they didn’t show a lot in their September auditions and neither were seen as elite prospects that should have a spot waiting for them. Cole Tucker seems to have turned a bit of a corner and has a higher ceiling than both Newman and Kramer, but he is at least a year away, if not more. And even he has his questions as to whether he is an automatic heir apparent either.
So, in short, the Pirates should be looking for a shortstop this offseason, and that should be priority number 1 this offseason. While the options aren’t vast this offseason at the position, there are some options out there. Let’s take a look at some.
Jose Iglesias (free agent)
Jose Iglesias is probably the guy most speculated to go to the Pirates this offseason, and it is easy to see why. He is a glove-first shortstop that the Pirates could want to fix up their problems there in the short-term. And the short-term part is key too. Iglesias will not demand a major contract of length like others will. He may only demand a one or two-year deal, which would fit for the Pirates as it would give them time to figure out the future of that position and solidify it, at least defensively, for the present. Iglesias also won’t command the type of money that the Pirates would shy away from. He is right in the area money and contract length wise that the Pirates would prefer to go for. While he wouldn’t help their offense much, he’d certainly sure up the below average defense they’ve seen from Mercer the last few seasons.
Manny Machado (free agent)
This won’t happen, but some fun never hurt anyone. If the Pirates truly wanted to solidify the position for a LONG time, this is the guy. He could be a team’s franchise shortstop for a decade or more. While his defense at shortstop leaves a lot to be desired, his hitting more than makes up for it as he has been one of the league’s most productive players since he entered the league. Plus, he is only 26, so his best years may be still to come.
That all being said, he undoubtedly will demand more than $30 million a year on a deal of at least ten years and despite his playoff antics, he should be able to get that contract without any real effort. He is well out of the Pirates price-range. And even if he wasn’t, his shortstop defense is less-than-ideal and he leaves a lot of questions out there about his effort and his dirtiness as a player. He is very talented, but with that talent comes great risk.
Freddy Galvis (free agent)
Now back to reality, we have Freddy Galvis. Galvis is very similar to Jordy Mercer in terms of production offensively. However, his defense is better. Another thing going for Galvis is that he is younger. He is going to be 29 entering this season as opposed to Mercer being 32. He is a decent player and is a slight upgrade over Mercer on defense and he wouldn’t cost much or demand a big deal at all. He has also played 162 games each of the last two seasons and 151 and 158 the two years prior to that. He has been on the field and healthy, something Mercer has struggled with at times.
Jordy Mercer (free agent)
Speaking of Mercer, he is a free agent. Before you throw your trash my way, let’s take a look. I mean, he is familiar with the Pirates and vice versa and he is at least someone who will mesh with the players easily considering he’s already been in that clubhouse more than any other Pirate on the current team has. Though, bringing him back would be no sort of upgrade offensively or defensively because Mercer is literally Mercer (hard to believe right?).
Ketel Marte (trade)
The Diamondbacks are reportedly considering a bit of a sell-off. One of the more expendable pieces they have is Ketel Marte. While he is known for being a glove-first player, his hitting is at least league average, which we cannot say about Mercer, Galvis or Iglesias. Ketel Marte is also under contract for awhile as he just signed an extension with the Diamondbacks this past spring that will keep him around through 2022 with a couple of options beyond that, and the contract is rather reasonable for a player of his age as the deal can take him all the way through his prime years.
Knowing that, the Diamondbacks may not trade a young player with a good contract like that, but if they want to build again it may not be a bad idea. On the Pirates side, they would want to get their hands on Marte given his production, contract and youth. For a team that just acquired one of the most team-friendly contracts in baseball (Archer) months after signing one of the most team-friendly deals in baseball (Vazquez), they are clearly prioritizing fitting as much talent as possible into the lowest amount of money spent as possible because of their small market situation. Ketel Marte fits that description of another potential deal they’d like to inherit.
With that contract means the cost will be high to get him. I don’t imagine it’d take a huge prospect like Keller or Hayes to get him, but it’d still take a pretty significant haul. Don’t know if the Pirates do it after just trading Meadows, Glasnow, Baz and Hearn at the trade deadline. But perhaps a new leaf has been turned over.
Jean Segura (trade)
Jean Segura has bounced around a few times but has finally found a place where he has been consistent in Seattle. The Mariners rewarded him with a huge 5 year deal worth $70 million. He is not a free agent until 2022 at the earliest (his deal includes an option for 2023). While his contract is pretty pricey overall ($14.25 million base with $600,000 in signing bonuses each of the last four years of his contract), he has been worth that money and might continue to as he has become one of the better all-around shortstops in the game despite little talk about him. With the Mariners “re-imagining” the roster, according to their GM Jerry Dipoto, could they really trade him? It is possible.
While Ketel Marte may be worth a pretty penny, Segura would be worth even more in a trade. The problem here from a Pirates perspective is he is getting paid nearly $15 million each of the last four years they’d have him (with a $17 million option after). And three of those seasons will be when he is 30 and older. The Pirates do not typically like paying guys money like that when they are beyond 30 years old (see Joel Hanrahan, Mark Melancon, Neil Walker and Andrew McCutchen). They may think they are paying more for what Segura has done more than what he will do, which is the opposite of the thought process with Ketel Marte. I highly doubt they’d part with the prospect cost and want to handle that whole contract.
I think it’s safe to say that the Pirates will add a SS. While it’s hard to envision them going at the top of the market and adding Segura through a trade and even more unrealistic to envision them signing Machado, there are plenty of options that make sense. Jose Iglesias is the most obvious one, but Galvis could also even more easily in range as a stopgap option and Marte could be had for a reasonable prospect cost under a good contract. They may even just bring back Mercer (or even Hechavarria) to supplant things while they bring the young guys along.
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