What’s Next for the Pittsburgh Pirates After the Brandon Lowe Deal?

The Pittsburgh Pirates Finally Land a Power Bat — and the Betting Outlook Shifts

Ladies and gentlemen, it finally happened: the Pirates landed an impact bat.

Early on December 19, Pittsburgh pulled off a three-team blockbuster, acquiring Brandon Lowe, Jake Mangum, and Mason Montgomery, while only surrendering Mike Burrows to the Houston Astros. After months of near-misses on names like Kyle Schwarber (Philadelphia Phillies) and Josh Naylor (Seattle Mariners), this move confirmed that the Pirates’ offseason talk about spending and competing wasn’t just noise.

From a betting perspective, this trade matters immediately. Pittsburgh just added power, depth, and bullpen upside in one swing — and for a team trying to escape years of offensive mediocrity, that’s how markets start to re-evaluate you.

This is a strong start. But it can’t be the finish.

Brandon Lowe Breaks the Power Drought — and Changes the Ceiling

Let’s start with the headliner.

Lowe gives the Pirates something they haven’t had in years: a legitimate middle-of-the-order power threat. In 2025, Lowe hit 31 home runs across 134 games, slashing .256/.307/.477 with a 114 wRC+ and 1.7 fWAR.

That alone puts him in rare territory for Pittsburgh. The Pirates haven’t had a 30-homer hitter in six seasons, and they haven’t had a second baseman reach that mark since Jeff King in 1996.

Lowe’s power isn’t fluky, either:

Barrel rate just under 13%
.474 xSLG
Consistently strong exit velocity data

From a betting standpoint, Lowe immediately impacts:

Team total overs
Game-to-game run projections
Longer-shot Wild Card futures

For the first time in a while, Pittsburgh can realistically punish mistakes in the strike zone.

Jake Mangum Raises the Floor — Quietly Important for Bettors

While Lowe grabbed the headlines, Mangum may end up being one of the most useful pieces in this deal.

Mangum hit .296/.330/.368 with a 95 wRC+ as a rookie, stole 27 bases, and provided elite defense, finishing with 6 Outs Above Average in the outfield. The underlying power metrics aren’t exciting — a 2.6% barrel rate tells you exactly what kind of hitter he is — but that’s not the point.

Only four Pirates hitters with 200+ plate appearances last season posted a wRC+ equal to or better than Mangum’s.

Mangum brings:

Elite contact skills
Strong whiff and strikeout suppression
Speed and defense that keep him playable even when the bat cools

For bettors, players like Mangum matter because they stabilize lineups. Fewer empty at-bats means fewer dead innings — and that shows up in totals and live betting far more than raw slugging.

Mason Montgomery Is the Sneaky Bullpen Bet

The most intriguing long-term piece might be Montgomery.

Montgomery’s 2025 surface numbers weren’t pretty (5.67 ERA), but the raw stuff jumps off the page:

Fastball averaging 98.7 mph
Nearly 20 inches of induced vertical break
Close to seven feet of extension
Slider with over 43% whiff rate

This is exactly the type of arm Pittsburgh’s pitching development group loves to work with. Montgomery needs refinement — fewer walks, possibly another pitch — but the tools scream late-inning upside.

Considering the Pirates only gave up Burrows, adding a potential high-leverage reliever with this kind of raw stuff is a major win.

Where the Pirates Still Need to Upgrade

As impactful as the Lowe trade was, Pittsburgh isn’t finished. If the Pirates want to shift from “interesting” to “dangerous” in 2026, two areas still stand out.

They Still Need One More Impact Bat

Lowe shouldn’t be the final offensive addition.

Adding another legitimate bat would:

Provide protection for Lowe
Prevent pitchers from pitching around him
Raise the lineup’s overall variance ceiling

The Pirates have been connected to Kazuma Okamoto and Munetaka Murakami, and the timing matters. Both posting windows are approaching, and both markets have been quieter than expected. That creates leverage.

If Pittsburgh is serious about contending, this is the moment to strike.

The trade market also remains an option. Names like Luis Robert (Chicago White Sox) and Brendan Donovan (St. Louis Cardinals) have already been linked to the Pirates, and Pittsburgh still has enough prospect depth to make another deal without gutting the system.

From a betting angle, one more bat could be the difference between:

Fringe Wild Card pricing
And legitimate postseason consideration

One More Reliever Could Solidify the Back End

Montgomery has upside. Gregory Soto has upside. But bullpens built purely on projection are volatile.

Adding a proven arm like Seranthony Domínguez, Michael Kopech, or Hunter Harvey would stabilize the late innings and reduce the number of games that spiral late — something Pirates bettors have suffered through before.

The Pirates may choose to trust their internal options, but adding one veteran reliever would meaningfully reduce risk.

Betting Bottom Line: Pittsburgh Is Finally Moving Forward

For the first time in his tenure, Ben Cherington has now pulled off back-to-back strong trades — and this one changes how the Pirates should be viewed heading into 2026.

The Lowe deal addressed:

Power
Outfield depth
Bullpen upside

That’s a lot of ground covered in one move.

If the Pirates add one more bat and potentially one more reliever, they absolutely deserve to be viewed as a sneaky Wild Card contender. The floor is higher. The ceiling is real.

This move can’t be the last — but it’s the clearest sign yet that Pittsburgh is done standing still.

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