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Did Pirates Miss Chance to Trade Keller? 3 Ways to Facilitate a Deal
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- Did Pirates Miss Chance to Trade Keller? 3 Ways to Facilitate a Deal
Mitch Keller, Pittsburgh Pirates
The Pirates considered trading veteran starter Mitch Keller last offseason but nothing materialized. Keller, the longest tenured pitcher on the roster, remained in Pittsburgh for an eighth season.
Entering the year, Keller had been a consistent contributor. From 2022-25, he made 124 starts with a 4.18 ERA. During those four years, only eight MLB pitchers totaled more starts than Keller.
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The Pirates entered the year banking on more of the same from the right-hander — someone who is going to make all his starts and pitch well enough to keep his team in the game.
But Keller's 2026 season was his worst since 2021. He went 6-8 with a 5.29 ERA in 22 starts and averaged only 6.9 strikeouts per nine innings. If the subpar performance wasn't bad enough, Keller's season ended in early August with a right arm teres major muscle injury.
Keller, who made $16.9 million last season, will make $18.4 million in 2027 and $20.4 million the following year. The Pirates already project to have around a $100 million payroll next season without any additions made.
Because the Pirates operate with a low payroll, Keller's name could be floated in trade talks once again this offseason. But did Pittsburgh miss its chance to trade him?
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Coming off the year he had, no team will be eager to take on Keller and the roughly $39 million he's owed the next two seasons. Unless Ben Cherington is able to somehow convince a team to take on Keller's entire contract like the Reds did with Ke'Bryan Hayes, he'll have to do one of three things.
The first option is to eat a significant portion of Keller's remaining salary. The second is to take on a bad contract in return. The third is to attach a prospect or another asset to Keller (like Francisco Liriano in 2016) to help facilitate a deal.
None of the three options are ideal. Bob Nutting won't be thrilled about paying a player to play for another team. Taking on a bad contract in return is essentially a zero-sum game. Parting with a notable asset to entice a team could easily backfire.
But given Keller's situation, those are Pittsburgh's best bets to create at least some extra financial flexibility. Or, the Pirates could decide that keeping Keller in hopes he can return to what he had been over the last few years is their best option.
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Hindsight is always 20/20, but Cherington is probably wishing he was able to find a taker last winter.
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