Pittsburgh Pirates

Pittsburgh Pirates Looking For A Veteran Starting Pitcher

Published Jun. 30, 2017 6:28 p.m. ET

foxsports

As the GM and Winter Meetings approach, Pittsburgh Pirates’ GM Neal Huntington will be looking to add a veteran starting pitcher to the team.

Without a doubt the Pittsburgh Pirates’ biggest need this offseason is starting pitch. A poor starting rotation is what caused the 2016 Pirates to finish 78-83-1. Now it is time for Neal Huntington to address the starting rotation.

The top of the Pirate rotation is in great shape. Gerrit Cole and Jameson Taillon should give the Bucs one of the best one-two punches in the National League. Additionally, the Pirates also have a strong back end of the rotation arm in Chad Kuhl. However, they need to bridge that gap.

According to Adam Berry of MLB.com, Neal Huntington wants to add a veteran arm to the starting rotation this offseason. Hopefully, Huntington is able to do so. Huntington told Berry, “We’ll see how things transition as the market opens up. In a vacuum, sure, we’d love to have a veteran arm,” Huntington said. “It needs to be the right veteran that we believe is better than what we have and can help us win games and eat those innings.”

Huntington also reiterated that the Pirates remain in contact with Ivan Nova. Nova, of course, was traded to the Pirates at the traded deadline last year and pitcher great for the Bucs. In 11 starts with the Pirates Nova threw three complete games and posted a 3.06 ERA, 2.62 FIP, and a 3,13 xFIP.

However, re-signing Nova will not be easy. This year’s free agent starting pitching class is very thin. Due to this, Nova will be a hot commodity. Ivan Nova will almost assuredly get overpaid this offseason, and that is something I hope the Pirates avoid doing.

The Pittsburgh Pirates desperately need to add starting rotation help this offseason. I have the utmost confidence in Neal Huntington. I fully expect him to add at least one starting pitcher this offseason. Hopefully it is someone that will make an impact for the Pirates in 2017 and help them return to the postseason.