The small market Pirates have been criticized in recent years for not spending on free agents and not retaining their home grown stars. Let's be clear, this is an ownership problem, not a management problem. This forces the Pirates to place most of their eggs into the player development basket.
The offense trails behind the pitching by leaps and bounds and it's hard to name more than a couple of bats that you can trust moving forward. Oneil Cruz and Bryan Reynolds both had below average seasons by wRC+ and only top prospects Konnor Griffin and Edward Florentino truly get you excited.
Targeting Pirates pitching and leaving the hitters is probably the play in dynasty for the next several seasons.
The hype has largely faded on Johnson in dynasty circles, but as my penultimate article from the Diamond Diplomas series mentioned, the second baseman still has the look of an above-average big leaguer. He continues to cut down on strike outs with each passing year, and our PLive+ rating system likes him a lot more than public consensus. Kick the tires on him in dynasty this offseason.
Brandan Bidois
The 24-year-old Aussie has a starter’s pitch mix and questionable command, a combination of attributes that could help him carve out a long-term future in the majors as a shutdown closer. He posted an ERA of 0.74 over 40 appearances in 2025, giving up just one hit and zero earned runs throughout all of August and September (appearing in both Double-A and Triple-A). He is still available in almost all dynasty leagues, but could surprise people by challenging for a high-leverage role in the Pirates’ bullpen as soon as next season.
Dynasty Sells
Sammy Stafura
Stafura failed to impress both before and after his move to Pittsburgh from Cincinnati, and the Pirates have quite a few players and prospects who seem likely to wind up as league-average infielders lacking upside. With older names such as Yorke and Gonzales already on the major league roster, and fellow prospects Sanford, Mitch Jebb, and Yordany De Los Santos also in the long term conversation, Stafura has more name recognition than fantasy value at the moment. He has time to turn the ship around, to be sure, but at the moment there are a number of safer and more compelling uses for a dynasty roster spot.
Thomas Harrington
As with Stafura, Harrington looks like the odd man out in his position group. The right-hander struggled in his initial exposure to big league competition in 2025, and then his season ended prematurely thanks to a groin injury he suffered after being demoted back to Triple-A in August. He will almost certainly get another chance to pitch in the majors in 2026, but will have to compete with a half-dozen other intriguing players and prospects for a starting rotation role over the next couple of seasons. Harrington is still worth rostering in dynasty leagues, though he would not be the pitcher I would bet on to still be in the mix as a starter for Pittsburgh come 2028.
Top Fantasy Prospects
Players are in order of their fantasy prospect ranking from our September end of season list.
It's time to utter the word that the industry uses more than it should, but sure seems like it applies to Konnor Griffin: Generational. After entering the 2025 season with some concerns over his hit tool, the 6'4 225 lb. teenager silenced just about every critic with a combined .333/.415/.527 slash line across three levels. His contact rates were at a solid 76% in the lower minors, and there shouldn't be great cause for concern with a drop to 72% at Double-A after a long, grueling campaign. Of course, the juiciest aspect of this stud hasn't even been mentioned yet: a combination of power and speed that some believe could lead to a bigger version of Bobby Witt Jr. Yes, those are darned big shoes to fill...but if you're looking for someone to do it, you might as well go with a 19-year-old posting 21 HR and 65 SB in his first 122 games of pro baseball. His power actually grew in the upper minors as well, slamming 5 bombs in just 21 games! Congratulations to all dynasty GMs who have shares of the beast known as Konnor Griffin. If you missed out, good luck acquiring him at this point. - Darren Eisenhauer
Bubba Chandler was seen as one of the best pitching prospects in baseball entering 2025; our February prospect rankings had him at 15th overall, and the 3rd best pitcher behind Roki Sasaki and Jackson Jobe. He lived up to the ranking to start the year, pitching to a 2.03 ERA and 2.81 FIP in 48.2 IP at Triple-A through the end of May. However, he lost command as the year went along and didn’t get called up until August 22nd, and he started out in a long relief role to limit his innings enough for the Pirates to retain rookie eligibility for him in 2026. The Pirates’ starting pitching staff may be crowded with Skenes, Jones, Keller, Oviedo, Ashcraft, and Burrows all as viable options, but Bubba is one of the better names in that group and should be on the inside looking out, so to speak. He’s also one of the favorites to win Rookie of the Year in 2026, and if the Pirates learned their lesson from Skenes, they’ll want to give him as much of a chance as they can to win that award and earn the PPI pick. - Raj Mehta
Few prospects saw their stock rise as much or as sharply as Florentino in 2025. The lanky outfielder dominated at the Complex, posting an OPS over 1.000, before continuing to impress with his power, speed, and swing decisions at Single-A. He ran a zone contact rate of nearly 90% over 54 games at the level, while posting above-average exit velocities and stealing 29 of his 35 total bases on the season. While he does strike out at a slightly elevated clip, and that tendency may get exposed a bit more as he moves up through the system, he has more upside than all other hitting prospects in the Pittsburgh system but one (Konnor Griffin, the top prospect in baseball). Expect him to start the year in High-A at 19, where a strong start would propel him up even further from top-25 status into the stratosphere as one of minor league baseball’s best talents. - Lucas Morel
As Director of Pro Scouting, I lead a talented group of evaluators as we break down future stars. You can find me at random California League games throughout the season!
As Director of Pro Scouting, I lead a talented group of evaluators as we break down future stars. You can find me at random California League games throughout the season!
Director of Dynasty Content - Canadian born and raised, moved to Arkansas with my wife and two sons Ezra and Ari. Followed and played baseball my whole life; played dynasty for 25+ years.
As Director of Pro Scouting, I lead a talented group of evaluators as we break down future stars. You can find me at random California League games throughout the season!
As Director of Pro Scouting, I lead a talented group of evaluators as we break down future stars. You can find me at random California League games throughout the season!
Director of Dynasty Content - Canadian born and raised, moved to Arkansas with my wife and two sons Ezra and Ari. Followed and played baseball my whole life; played dynasty for 25+ years.
As Director of Pro Scouting, I lead a talented group of evaluators as we break down future stars. You can find me at random California League games throughout the season!
