Pirates Named As Intriguing Team To Potentially Sign Ace Pitcher

With the hot stove heating up, the Pittsburgh Pirates are looking to make improvements to their roster but there’s potential for them to go big this offseason.

It’s been well-documented that the Pirates are going to try and make some much-needed additions to build around their ace Paul Skenes. The reality is that the Pirates haven’t made the playoffs since 2015, and they’d like to change that following their second-straight 76-86 campaign.

While Pittsburgh has specific positions to tend to including first base and the outfield, MLB.com’s David Adler believes that the Pirates could go bigger — with a continued focus on putting together one of baseball’s best rotations. MLB.com put together a list of intriguing teams that should consider signing Japanese star Roki Sasaki, with Pittsburgh being one of the six teams featured.

“Roki Sasaki and Paul Skenes. Enough said,” Adler wrote. “Sasaki and Skenes would make the Pirates THE must-watch rotation in baseball. They’re two of the most hyped young pitchers ever. Sasaki is 23. Skenes is 22. They’re going to be lighting up the Major Leagues for years to come — so imagine them doing it together.”

Adler makes a strong point, as a duo of Sasaki and Skenes could make the Pirates an instant playoff contender.

“Skenes and Sasaki in the same rotation could be the pitching equivalent of Aaron Judge and Juan Soto in the same lineup with the Yankees or Shohei Ohtani, Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman with the Dodgers — except if all of those players had started their careers together and risen to superstardom simultaneously,” Adler wrote.

“Skenes and Sasaki both have 100-plus mph fastballs. They both have a signature secondary pitch — Skenes’ splinker, Sasaki’s splitter — that is among the nastiest pitches in the world. They might be dueling for the title of “best pitcher in baseball” for the next decade. Why not do it as teammates?”

The Sasaki sweepstakes are currently underway, but if the star free agent wants to be side-by-side with a fellow top hurler, then the Pirates could be his team.

More MLB: MLB.com Names Free Agent That Makes Most Sense For Pirates