The Pirates agreed to contracts for the 2026 season with Dennis Santana, Joey Bart, Oneil Cruz and Justin Lawrence Thursday, meaning they will not need to go to arbitration with anyone this spring. Terms of the deal were not announced, but sources told MLB.com that Santana will make $3.5 million

The Pirates finalized a two-year contract with free agent and 2025 All-Star Ryan O'Hearn on Thursday, adding another bat to a lineup they very much wanted to revamp this winter. The deal, first reported in late December, is worth $29 million, per sources. O’Hearn, who will wear No. 29, becomes

If we had a dime for every time we’ve said or used the word “tools” at MLB Pipeline … we’d sure have a lot of dimes. Tools are, of course, the building blocks for prospects, and a lot of time is spent evaluating all of them to try to determine

The new year is all about resolutions -- and, yes, predictions! Nobody knows what the future holds, but on the latest MLB Pipeline Podcast, Jim Callis and Jonathan Mayo do their best to try figuring it out. Callis and Mayo whip out their crystal balls to project which prospects will

In Part I of the MLB Pipeline Executive Poll, we took a look at the industry’s picks for Rookie of the Year in each league. This next installment will dig deeper into what front offices think about top prospects. The survey, filled out by more than 40 execs across nearly

This story was excerpted from Alex Stumpf’s Pirates Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

He was the 2024 National League Rookie of the Year. He was the 2025 NL Cy Young Award winner. What does flamethrowing Pirates phenom Paul Skenes have in store for 2026? Well, for one thing, a new look. Skenes has shaved the facial hair he kept during his first two

As the Pirates move into the offseason, this page will continue to be updated. Players on the 60-day injured list will have to be added back to the 40-man roster after the World Series.

Welcome to the fourth annual MLB Pipeline Executive Poll. Starting before the 2023 season, we surveyed front offices across baseball -- from general managers to scouting directors, farm directors, analysts and beyond -- on a number of questions regarding prospects. As has been our tradition, we’re beginning with who they

As we enter a new year and inch closer to the 2026 baseball season, there's much to be determined for many clubs as they head to Spring Training. While there has been plenty of offseason activity, many key free agents remain on the board, possible trade candidates haven't been moved

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The calendar has flipped over to 2026, and we already have year-end awards on our minds here at MLB Pipeline. In 2025, we picked two of the three American League Rookie of the Year finalists in the Athletics' Jacob Wilson and Roman Anthony of the Red Sox. And we singled

The new year is for new starts, the unknown and the to-be-determined. No one can perfectly say what will happen in this 2026 calendar year, but we can certainly take a few highly educated guesses. In the land of Minor League Baseball, there may not be a more sought-after prediction

A brand new year means new possibilities for all 30 teams. Whether it's postseason success, individual awards, statistical records or player development, there's something every club can dream on heading into 2026. With the help of MLB.com's 30 beat writers, here's one key prediction for every team ahead of the

Mason Montgomery’s first velocity spike came the traditional way. A Minor League starter since 2021 with the Rays, Tampa Bay moved him to the bullpen during the 2024 season while at Triple-A Durham, when his four-seam fastball was sitting at 91-92 mph just a year prior. It jumped to over

Part of what makes baseball the best are the feats and amazing stats accruing left and right, every single day. We chronicle them throughout the year, but there’s no better time than before the calendar flips to take a look back. It’s hard to pick just one per team, after

PITTSBURGH -- Expectations were high for Oneil Cruz in 2025. Positioned at the heart of the lineup, there were hopes he could take another step after a 20-20 campaign in 2024, especially since he was another year removed from his 2023 ankle injury.

After one of the great seasons in baseball history -- a season we’ll be talking about for the rest of our lives -- Major League Baseball has a tough act to follow in 2026. Fortunately, it has a deep cast of stars and compelling figures, all main characters in a

As we close the book on 2025 and celebrate the teams that enjoyed a great year, the teams that didn’t should keep this in mind: One year can make a huge difference. Just ask the Blue Jays. In 2025, they reached a World Series that they came this close to

A new year brings new opportunities -- to build on the positives from last year, to improve on a disappointing season, or to finally reach expected potential. One or more of those could apply in 2026 for players on the verge of a breakout year. These are players who, for

Andrew Heaney, who pitched for two World Series-winning teams, announced his retirement on Sunday afternoon in a social media post. The left-hander spent time with six teams over 12 big league seasons, during which he racked up 56 wins, 1,156 strikeouts and a 4.57 ERA.

The 2025 Draft has early promising returns with several players making great first impressions in the months after signing. First overall pick Eli Willits, just 17 at the time, slashed .300/.397/.360 at Single-A. SEC standouts Andrew Fischer and Wehiwa Aloy posted an .848 and .856 OPS respectively. The Rockies' first

Another year in baseball is in the books, so let's look back at the best of the best plays from this past season. These are the annual Statcast superlatives -- the longest home run, the fastest strikeout, the speediest inside-the-park home run, the toughest catch and more. Here are 15

With the Minor League season in the rearview mirror and a new year on the horizon, we took a look at how some of the top prospects performed in 2025.