The concept of need is an ambiguous one. The Pittsburgh Pirates currently have the second best record in all of baseball so the idea that they need to do anything at the trade deadline is a bit of a misnomer. The Pirates could easily opt to do nothing and be perfectly fine. A team with big glaring weaknesses just doesn’t happen to fall into as many wins as the Pirates currently have through less than 4 months. Still even though this team may not need anything there are still some weaknesses which could be shored up as the trade deadline approaches.
One way I like to look at a team's weaknesses is by using a stat on baseball reference called sOPS+. This stat doesn't tell you anything you can't divine from watching the teams play but it gives some concrete backing to our correctly held beliefs. The stat is a measure of how well a team/position/player is performing relative to league average. One hundred represents league average, anything less than 100 is below league average and anything greater than 100 is above league average. Here is a breakdown by position for the Pirates.
C: 99 sOPS+
1B: 103 sOPS+
2B: 101 sOPS+
3B: 107 sOPS+
SS: 70 sOPS+
LF: 112 sOPS+
CF: 138 sOPS+
RF: 75 sOPS+
P: 39 sOPS+
PH: 84 sOPS+
Again these findings just reinforce what we already knew. The Pirates weak spots in the lineup are SS, RF, P and pinch hitters. They also have C, 1B and 2B which are roughly league average and could be improved upon but for now let's just focus on the positions in which the Pirates are considerably weak at. For the sake of this discussion we will exclude pitcher hitting as there isn't really a whole lot the Pirates can do about that from an external view point at least. I mean in theory you could go get better hitting pitchers but generally speaking a team does not acquire a pitcher just because he is good at hitting.
Shortstop
Before the injury to Walker, Jordy Mercer had assumed the starting shortstop role and was definitely providing an offensive boost. He currently has a 96 sOPS+ as a shortstop and a 99 sOPS+ overall. The upgrade from Barmes has been significant offensively at least. However there are some warning signs that he may not be what he appears to be. Mercer’s OPS against left handed pitching is a robust 1.025 but against the more common hand it is a pedestrian .629. That is worrisome especially when you see how much he has cooled off in the last month to the tune of a .591 OPS over the last four weeks.
On the other hand Barmes who looked incompetent offensively for the first part of the season has been strong over the last four weeks posting a .794 OPS in that time. His .400 OPS against left handed pitching on the year is far from what Mercer has produced but his .595 mark against right handed pitching just might be close enough to Mercer’s that his defense can make up the difference.
Simply put the Pirates could certainly use an upgrade at the SS position and considering the farm is empty of shortstop prospects in the upper levels it would benefit the team to find someone who could be a solution for multiple seasons.
Right Field
Whereas shortstop is relatively simple right field is a bit more complex. The Pirates could try to improve the position in two ways, one is by acquiring an actual right fielder and the other is by acquiring a first baseman and moving Jones to right field. For whatever reason be it comfort level or sheer randomness Jones’ numbers while playing RF have been consistently better than his numbers while playing 1B.
Also to consider is the fact that Tabata has done a fine job so far this season. He has a .759 OPS on the season and since returning from his injury he has been a little better at .784. He may not be your prototypical power hitting right fielder but he has been doing a perfectly acceptable job so far in that spot. Of course with Tabata there is always a chance for injury and that is something that needs to be considered.
The other player who has taken a lot of time in right field this season has been Travis Snider. I don’t need stats to tell you that simply put he hasn’t been good especially since April. However he does have some upside and as we will see later on he has been valuable in other ways outside of being a right fielder.
Right field has been the most discussed about position in need of an upgrade and indeed there is merit in that but with Tabata hitting well it is easy to see it isn’t a pressing need and may not really be a need at all. Ideally with Lambo hitting well in AAA and Polanco hitting well in AA the right field position should they deem it necessary to upgrade should only be an issue for the remainder of this season and possible some of next. Of course the best laid plans don’t always work so someone with longer control could also be an option but overall it seems a rental is the best fit here.
Pinch Hitters (aka Bench)
Simply put the Pirates bench is bad. I know it, you know it, the Pirates know it, and all of baseball knows it. To upgrade this the Pirates could seek out bench players who could look to push some current starters into bench roles by acquiring upgrades over them. The most frequent pinch hitter has been Travis Snider and as I alluded to earlier he has been valuable here. This isn’t to imply he has been great but he has a 111 sOPS+ as a pinch hitter which means he has been above average in that role. The other two players with 20 or more PA as a pinch hitter are Gaby Sanchez and Brandon Inge. Sanchez has been bad as a pinch hitter with a 67 sOPS+ but Inge has been completely dreadful with a -9 sOPS+.
The next two players with the most PA as pinch hitters have also been rather successful in those roles but Garrett Jones and Jose Tabata are regulars so their production cannot be counted on at this point. Rounding out the bench Harrison, McKenry and Barmes have gotten only 1 hit in 23 combined PA.
It goes without saying this is something the Pirates are very likely to address as the deadline approaches.
Pitching
The pitching as a whole has been much better than the hitting so the Pirates aren’t likely to do much to it as the deadline approaches. This does not mean they won’t actively pursue upgrades or possibly even add a player but it seems safe to say hitting and not pitching will be their priority. Still the pitching is at least worth exploring.
Starting Pitchers
The Pirates starters have been solid positing a 3.31 ERA and holding opponents to an 84 sOPS+. The current starting five of Liriano, Burnett, Locke, Morton and Cole is strong and if they remain healthy are a formidable group going down the stretch. However in there lies the rub; the Pirates have lost most of their depth to injury this season. It appears neither McPherson nor Irwin will be back this season and anything the Pirates get from Karstens, Rodriguez or McDonald the rest of this season should be viewed as a bonus. Currently in reserve the Pirates have Jeanmar Gomez, Brandon Cumpton, Andy Oliver, Kris Johnson and Stolmy Pimentel. That isn’t a bad group as Gomez and Cumpton have shown they are capable of being decent starters this season but it is certainly a group that can be upgraded upon. Adding a 6th starter or even having Cole serve as the 6th starter via adding a higher quality arm would be a huge boost to the Pirates depth.
Bullpen
I can’t say enough good things about the bullpen. It has been this team’s strength and has been terrific all year. There is depth to it too as Jared Hughes, Ryan Reid, Duke Welker, Victor Black and even current starters like Kris Johnson and Stolmy Pimentel all look like they are capable of stepping up and at the very least filling a middle relief role. However last night things may have taken a bit of a turn as Jason Grilli went down with a right forearm injury. It is entirely possible the injury is nothing serious and assuming that is the case I would find it unlikely the Pirates would touch the bullpen. However should the injury prove to be serious the Pirates could very well be on the market for a quality reliever. The depth they have means they wouldn’t have to make a move just to make a move but if the right fit came along at the right place I could see it happening.
Recap
The Pirates have a lot of directions they could choose to go this deadline and nothing that appears to be a critical need. They could acquire a starting shortstop which will strengthen the lineup and at the same time shore up the bench by having Mercer replace Inge. Or if the Pirates are unable to find a starting shortstop on the market they could opt to continue using Mercer and Barmes in a tandem at short and add an offensive minded utility infielder to add a bat to the bench.
In right field the Pirates could opt to look for an everyday option which would put Tabata on the bench and Snider probably off the team. Then again they could look for a left handed player to platoon with Tabata essentially taking over the role they had envisioned for Snider. Yet another option would be adding an everyday 1B pushing Jones into a platoon with Tabata and allowing Snider to serve as an extra outfielder while Sanchez who would no longer be needed is optioned to AAA. Or they could simply opt for a smaller move to improve the bench and overall depth of the team.
On the pitching side the Pirates are in a position where they could add a starter or a bullpen arm but there is really no urgency to do so. If the upgrades made to the offense are modest the Pirates could offset it by adding pitching and strengthening a strength.
Bottom line is that with all these avenues they could pursue the Pirates should be able to find something which will improve their ball club. However keep in mind this team as constructed has the second best record in all of baseball so if they choose to stand pat that would by no means be a bad outcome either.