Pirates “sadly announced today that star pitcher resigned following a loss.”

See the MLB Spring Training game between the Baltimore Orioles and the Pittsburgh Pirates. The first pitch is set to take place in LECOM Park today, February 26, at 1:00 PM ET. Learn how to watch this Grapefruit League 2024 match live online for free.

Spring Training is well underway, but there are still a lot of big names available on the free agent market. The majority of the elite names are still accessible despite the quiet off-season. But, it appears that some free agents—particularly those in the middle and lower tiers—are beginning to reduce their asking prices or are open to accepting less lucrative offers. The Pittsburgh Pirates should seize a possible deal right now if this is the case for the remainder of the market.

Now, am I saying the Pirates are going to go after Jordan Montgomery, Blake Snell, or Cody Bellinger? As fun as that would be and as much as I would like that to happen, all I can say is that I’m not holding my breath on it.

But now the lower and middle tier level of free agents are starting to sign, and they’re not signing extremely lucrative deals. I am not the only one to point this out. Just look at some of the deals some free agents have recently received:

As this list shows, the 2024 salaries for these players dip as low as $1 million and top out at $5 million. Everyone complains about the Pirates waiting until the off-season is over or nearly over to make any moves, but the Pirates have the chance to prove that this year, this strategy could work out for them. The team could still use another starting pitcher and an outfielder, and there are definitely some names in this mid-tier list that I would like to see the Pirates go after.

There are some starting pitchers left I think would be in the Pirates’ price range, especially if some of the mid-tier free agents are lowering their asking price. Mike Clevinger, Domingo German, and Michael Lorenzen are pitchers I’d like to see the Pirates go after. They’ve already been connected to German and Lorenzen. German has his off-field issues, but Lorenzen was very solid last year. He was very solid for the Detroit Tigers, and while he struggled with the Phillies, he also went from an extremely pitcher-friendly environment to an extremely hitter-friendly environment. Clevinger also has had some off-field issues in the past, but he did have a strong second half of 2023.

There are currently two outfielders available who, in my opinion, would suit the Pirates. Michael A. Taylor is one of them; he had a 96 wRC+ and hit.220/.278/.442. With +5 defensive runs saved and +8 outs over average, he was still among the finest defensive center fielders in baseball. Tommy Pham is the other, and he was a more effective batter with a 110 wRC+, slashing.256/.328/.446. In terms of defense, he was a little above average with -1 outs and zero DRS. Additionally, he has expertise playing all three outfield positions.