Guardians Acquire Luis L. Ortiz From Pirates

The Cleveland Guardians acquired pitchers Luis L. Ortiz, Josh Hartle and Michael Kennedy from the Pittsburgh Pirates on Tuesday night in exchange for infielder Spencer Horwitz, according to sources. Ortiz is the biggest name in the swap for the Guardians as they look to add pitching depth to their system. The 25-year-old Dominican right-hander had […]

Spencer Horwitz Flipped To Pirates

The Cleveland Guardians traded second baseman/first baseman Spencer Horwitz to the Pittsburgh Pirates on Tuesday night in exchange for pitchers Luis L. Ortiz, Josh Hartle and Michael Kennedy, according to sources. The Guardians traded second baseman Andres Gimenez to the Toronto Blue Jays earlier in the day for Horwitz before flipping him to Pittsburgh. Horwitz's […]

Endy Rodriguez Expected To Be "Fully Healthy" For Spring Training

Pittsburgh Pirates manager Derek Shelton said at the MLB winter meetings on Monday that the expectation is that catching prospect Endy Rodriguez (elbow) will be "fully healthy" for the start of spring training in mid-February. Rodriguez was forced to miss all of the 2024 season after undergoing surgery to fix the UCL and flexor tendon […]

Hunter Stratton Returning To Pittsburgh On Minor-League Deal

According to Andrew Destin of the Pittsburgh Post Gazette, the Pirates have signed relief pitcher Hunter Stratton to a minor-league contract. Stratton spent all of last summer in Steele City but underwent surgery in his left knee in August. Stratton was facing a seven-to-ten-month recovery window at the time of the operation. Through 37 2/3 […]

Christian Walker Could Be Ideal Fit For Pirates

The Athletic's Ken Rosenthal suggests that free-agent first baseman Christian Walker, who is from the eastern part of Pennsylvania, could be an ideal fit for the Pittsburgh Pirates, a team looking for upgrades on offense. However, many other teams will be interested in Walker this offseason, including both New York teams if they lose out […]

Bryan Reynolds Expected To See Time At First Base

According to Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic, Pittsburgh Pirates outfielder Bryan Reynolds is expected to see time at first base in 2025. While this will likely only be in a part-time role, this is a situation worth monitoring as it could provide Reynolds even more at-bats throughout the season. Rosenthal also noted that given Pittsburgh's […]

Top Fantasy Baseball Hitting Prospects for 2025 Redraft Leagues

Every year, a talented crop of rookie hitters immediately impacts the Fantasy Baseball landscape. Then, the following season, their ADPs skyrocket. 2024 was certainly no exception. Budding stars like Jackson Merrill, Jackson Chourio, and Junior Caminero hit the ground running, providing fantasy managers with tons of value. As a result, their respective draft values are […]

Top Fantasy Baseball Pitching Prospects for 2025 Redraft Leagues

The 2024 MLB season saw an incredible batch of rookie pitchers dominate the league. Players like Paul Skenes, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Shota Imanaga, Luis Gil, and Mason Miller were some of the game's best hurlers. Heading into 2025, it's shaping up to be another season of phenomenal young arms. In Fantasy Baseball, having a solid pitching […]

Pirates Expected To Non-Tender Bryan De La Cruz, Connor Joe

The Pittsburgh Pirates are expected to non-tender outfielder Bryan De La Cruz and first baseman/outfielder Connor Joe, according to a source. It will make both players free agents this winter. De La Cruz didn't impress the Bucs after the acquired him from the Miami Marlins at the trade deadline in the summer, as he hit […]

Paul Skenes Named 2024 NL Rookie Of The Year

Pittsburgh Pirates right-hander Paul Skenes was named the 2024 National League Rookie of the Year on Monday evening. Skenes, last year's first overall pick out of LSU, debuted less than a year after being drafted and is a generational talent at the position. The 22-year-old went 11-3 with a 1.96 ERA over 23 starts in […]

Steamer Surprises: Projection Values For 2025 Fantasy Baseball

Welcome back to The Lookahead; this week, we take an early look at the first projections of 2025. It’s the most wonderful time of the year… No, this isn’t yet another column decrying the perpetually accelerating Christmas creep phenomenon. Instead, we fantasy baseball fanatics have two events to celebrate. First, drafts for 2025 are open […]

Brent Strom Joins Pirates Coaching Staff

The Pittsburgh Pirates have hired Brent Strom as an assistant pitching coach ahead of the 2025 season. This was a nice pickup for the Pirates as Strom played a big part with the Houston Astros from 2014-2021. He was the pitching coach in Houston when they won the World Series in 2017. Since then, Strom […]

Pirates Claim Trey Cabbage Off Waivers

The Pittsburgh Pirates have claimed outfielder Trey Cabbage off waivers, according to Ari Alexander of KPRC2. The 27-year-old appeared in only 47 games at the major league level in the Space City last season and held an underwhelming .209/.253/.337 slash line with just one home run and one stolen base. However, in Triple-A, he posted […]

The Biggest Fantasy Baseball Busts Of 2024

There are technical, precise ways to measure a fantasy “bust,” but we know one when we see one. We lived through it, after all. These players slowly but surely sabotaged our fantasy teams despite high expectations. For those who want firm parameters, we have, with one exception, spotlighted players drafted in the top 150 who […]

Starting Pitchers: Fantasy Baseball End-Of-Season Report Card (Part 2)

The 2024 fantasy baseball season is in the books. It seems like the perfect time to look back and reflect on the season: What went right and what went wrong. One of the biggest determinants will likely have been how the starting pitchers you drafted early performed throughout the year. Our focus here is on […]

2024 Fantasy Baseball Awards - RotoBaller Staff Picks

After a long, exciting, and at times, frustrating 187 days, the 2024 fantasy baseball season is behind us. Throughout the summer, we saw top prospects begin to establish themselves as the league’s next generation of stars and saw several veterans continue their dominance. Let’s stroll down memory lane and hand out several awards to the […]

Eric Cross' Top 100 Dynasty Rankings for Fantasy Baseball (October 2024)

Another fantasy baseball season has come and gone, but in dynasty, when one season ends the next one begins. Rankings don't reset, they simply continue on. We saw plenty of notable performances down the stretch in 2024, both good and bad which created plenty of movement in my final Top 500 dynasty rankings update of […]

Eric Cross' Top 100 Dynasty Prospect Rankings for Fantasy Baseball (October 2024)

Well, the 2024 season is in the rearview mirror, and we are now turning our attention to 2025. Sure, it's only the first day of October when this article is being published, but as dynasty managers know, there's never a bad time to improve your roster for the future. At this point in the year, […]

Termarr Johnson Injured In Arizona Fall League

Pittsburgh Pirates infield prospect Termarr Johnson (foot) was injured while playing in the Arizona Fall League on Tuesday night and had to be carried off the field while being unable to put any weight on his right foot. Johnson injured his foot swinging through a pitch. It's unclear exactly what the 20-year-old's injury is, but […]

Fantasy Baseball Closers and Saves Waiver Wire Report for Postseason Week 1

Congrats to all of you who won, placed, showed, or even just had fun in your fantasy leagues this season! We hope we were able to help you get the best out of your lineups from draft day until the last time you set your lineups. It was another very interesting season of baseball, for […]

Pirates Part With Hitting Coach Andy Haines, Bullpen Coach Justin Meccage

The Pittsburgh Pirates will not be bringing back hitting coach Andy Haines or bullpen coach Justin Meccage for the 2025 season, per the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette's Noah Niles and Andrew Destin. The team did get consistent offensive production from outfielder Bryan Reynolds and shortstop/outfielder Oneil Cruz, but the rest of the lineup was unable to provide […]

Starts and Sits - All Starting Pitcher Matchups for Fantasy Baseball (September 23 - September 29)

Welcome to the final week of the season, where we all finish with our best decisions thanks to our starting pitcher starts/sits for fantasy baseball Week 27 -- Monday, September 23 through Sunday, September 29. Keep it locked in here as teams shuffle their rotations for playoff assignments. We'll do our best to lay out […]

Paul Skenes Dominant To Finish Season

Pittsburgh Pirates starting pitcher was dominant in his short outing on Saturday and didn't allow a single runner on in his two innings of working during the Pirates' 9-4 win over the New York Yankees. Skenes finishes with a 1.96 ERA on the season with an 11-3 record and a strong case to win the […]

Mike Burrows Promoted To Major Leagues

Pittsburgh Pirates starting pitching prospect Mike Burrows is being promoted to the major league roster. In a corresponding move, the Pirates demoted right-hander Jared Jones to the Florida Complex League as he made his final start of the season on Friday evening. Burrows has spent the entire season at Triple-A Indianapolis and posted a 4.06 […]

Andrew McCutchen Out On Saturday

Pittsburgh Pirates outfielder/designated hitter Andrew McCutchen is out of the starting lineup on Saturday against the New York Yankees in the Bronx. With McCutchen out, Bryan Reynolds is serving as the DH and batting second, while Billy Cook makes the start in left field and is hitting in the nine-hole against Yankees right-hander Luis Gil. […]

Bryan Reynolds Goes Deep Twice On Friday

Pittsburgh Pirates outfielder Bryan Reynolds went 2-for-3 with a pair of home runs -- one from each side of the plate for the switch-hitter -- in Friday's 4-2 win over the Yankees. The 29-year-old collected three RBI in the contest, walked once, and scored twice as well. The home runs ended a long 21-game homerless […]

Oneil Cruz Sitting On Friday

Pittsburgh Pirates infielder/outfielder Oneil Cruz and third baseman Jared Triolo are both out of the lineup for Friday's series finale against the New York Yankees in the Bronx. Billy Cook will get the start in center field and will bat in the nine-hole, with Isiah Kiner-Falefa manning third base and batting sixth against Yankees left-hander […]

Top Hitting Fantasy Baseball Prospects Who Should Debut Early in 2025

The 2024 season is winding down, but it's never too early to start thinking about and prepping for the 2025 season. Throughout the 2024 season, I wrote a weekly article on the Top 25 prospects to stash in redraft leagues. Hopefully, that article was useful to many of you who read it each week, helping […]

Joey Bart Absent On Wednesday

Pittsburgh Pirates catcher Joey Bart is out of the starting lineup ahead of Wednesday's game against the Milwaukee Brewers. The right-handed slugger will get a breather after starting in each of the last two games. In his absence, Yasmani Grandal will do the catching and bat seventh versus right-hander Freddy Peralta. Grandal is underachieving with […]

Pirates Designate Rowdy Tellez, Michael Taylor For Assignment

The Pittsburgh Pirates designated first baseman Rowdy Tellez and outfielder Michael Taylor for assignment on Tuesday and recalled infielder Liover Peguero and outfielder Joshua Palacios from Triple-A Indianapolis in corresponding moves. The Pirates have decided to move on from a couple of veterans with the end of the 2024 regular season quickly approaching on Sunday. […]