5 Areas of Concern For The Pittsburgh Pirates

In the future, Pittsburgh will boast one of the best pitching staffs in the league, but for the next couple of years, the team should look to bring in a cheap, low-risk starter. Odds are Francisco Liriano and Edinson Volquez will move on, so the Pirates should look to replace them. One option is Brett Anderson who, after working with pitching coach Ray Searage, could have a better season in Pittsburgh than he had with the Colorado Rockies.

Two years ago, the Pirates had the best bullpen in the league. Unfortunately, that did not carry over to last season. Jason Grilli and Justin Wilson couldn’t keep their ERAs down and replacements who came in were even worse. There are a lot of young options within the organization to come out of the bullpen, but Pittsburgh might want to look for a strong veteran presence to go with closer Mark Melancon.

There is a very good chance catcher Russell Martin will get a big contract from another team this offseason and the Pirates will have to look for a new catcher. Martin has played a huge role in the Pirates’ turnaround and will be hard to replace. With prospect Elias Diaz possibly reaching Pittsburgh at some point soon, the team needs to find a short-term replacement. It would make sense for Tony Sanchez to take that spot if Martin leaves.

The pairing of Ike Davis and Gaby Sanchez at first base was underwhelming last season, but none of the Pirates’ prospects are ready to move out of the minors. Pittsburgh does have other options at first base in Andrew Lambo and Pedro Alvarez, so it might make sense to let Davis and Sanchez go. The platoon pair of Lambo and Alvarez is far from intimidating and is not a long-term solution, but should produce at least on level with last year's duo.

A big issue for the Pirates this season was bench depth. Bringing players like Davis, Sanchez, Alvarez and Clint Barmes off of the bench scared Pirates fans more than opposing teams. Hurdle loves to bring in pinch hitters and defensive substitutes, so the Pirates need to bring more depth to the roster. With productive players available through free agency, Pittsburgh should look to bring in cheap options to replace Barmes, Davis and Sanchez.