The Pittsburgh Pirates did one thing right at the Winter Meetings: they finally addressed a glaring, neon-sign, year-long need by adding left-handed bullpen help in Gregory Soto.
Great. Necessary. Round of applause. But here’s the truth that every Pirates fan already knows in their bones: none of that matters if they don’t fix the lineup.
Not a bench bat. Not another “well, if everything breaks right…” dart throw. A real upgrade. A starter. A threat. An actual middle-of-the-order presence who does things like… hit baseballs hard. Consistently. Something last year’s team did not do in any meaningful way.