Pittsburgh Pirates DVOA, Stats, & MLB Rankings

The Pittsburgh Pirates have signed free-agent outfielder Michael A. Taylor on Friday. The contract is reportedly a one-year deal worth $4 million for the upcoming 2024 season. The 32-year-old is coming off a one-and-done season with the Minnesota Twins. Taylor slashed .220/.278/.442 with a career-high 21 home runs and 51 RBI in 129 games with the Twins. Taylor should be able to find his way into regular at-bats whether it's in the outfield or at designated hitter. The expectation is that his power is going to regress after last season, which makes him barely a deep league option in fantasy formats.

Pittsburgh Pirates closer David Bednar (lat) is scheduled to throw a bullpen session in camp on Friday. Bednar felt some right-lat tightness at spring training earlier this month, and his mound session on Friday will be his first time throwing since the injury cropped up. The 29-year-old right-hander has yet to debut in a spring training game this year because of the injury, but because he's a reliever and not a starter, he still has ample time to prepare to be ready for Opening Day at the end of March. Despite pitching for the lowly Pirates, Bednar is considered a top-10 fantasy closer, and that shouldn't change unless it's announced that he's going to start the year on the injured list. If Bednar misses any time in 2024 due to injury, veteran left-hander Aroldis Chapman would likely take over closing duties for the Bucs.

Pittsburgh Pirates shortstop Oneil Cruz continued his power display during Wednesday's game against the Toronto Blue Jays. The young slugger belted his fifth home run of the spring during Wednesday's blowout loss. This spring, Cruz is hitting .292 with five dingers and eight RBI in 24 at-bats. The Pirates could have a breakout star on their hands if Cruz can stay healthy in 2024. This hot start to camp is certainly going to raise his status on draft boards.

Pittsburgh Pirates manager Derek Shelton reported on Sunday that everything went well after closer David Bednar (lat) played catch for a second straight day. Bednar continues to deal with lat tightness after Pittsburgh shut the right-hander down from throwing last Monday, but the Pirates just seem to be taking a cautious route with their All-Star stopper this spring after he led the National League with 39 saves a year ago and attained a 2.00 ERA, 1.09 WHIP, and 80:21 K:BB during 67 1/3 innings. While Bednar doesn't appear to be facing any kind of lengthy absence to start the year, setup man Aroldis Chapman should probably stay rostered in fantasy leagues in the meantime just to be safe. Bednar may not be getting selected as a top-tier closing option but is a fairly safe bet at his 91.2 Yahoo ADP, while Chapman is worth a speculative flier in all settings until Bednar is fully healthy.

Pittsburgh Pirates shortstop Oneil Cruz had a big day at the plate on Sunday in a Grapefruit League game against the Philadelphia Phillies. The 25-year-old went 2-for-4 with a pair of home runs and four RBI, continuing what has been a big spring for the young infielder. Cruz is now hitting .278 with three homers, one stolen base, and a 1.187 OPS across 22 plate appearances this spring. Limited to just nine games last season due a broken ankle suffered in just his ninth game of the season in 2023, Cruz has hit .237 with 19 home runs, 13 stolen bases, and a .751 OPS across his first 410 plate appearances in the big leagues. He owns an appetizing combination of power and speed that fantasy managers should covet in drafts this spring.