Brandon Lowe and the Pirates Make Perfect Long-Term Sense

During the 2025-26 MLB offseason, one of the more prominent rumors around the baseball industry was that the Pittsburgh Pirates were looking to increase payroll. Given their previous hesitance to spend, this type of commitment to the team by way of external pieces was nothing short of unprecedented. They ended up making a flurry of moves by Opening Day, with arguably the most pivotal move taking place on December 19th, as the Pirates pulled off a blockbuster trade with the Tampa Bay Rays. In this deal, the Pirates managed to acquire outfielder Jake Mangum, flamethrowing reliever Mason Montgomery, and two-time…