If there’s one thing the Pittsburgh Pirates need to solve at the trade deadline, it’s their bullpen. The Pirates’ bullpen has been a point of contention for the Bucs for most of the year. While there have been some bright spots, it is the main reason the Pirates can’t seem to get any momentum going this year.
Luckily, the Pirates should have plenty of avenues to explore to improve the pen, and today, we’re going to be ranking them. How good the pitcher is isn’t the lone factor in these rankings. Along with that, the likelihood they actually get traded, how well they’d fit the Pirates right now (and in the future if they’re not a pure rental), and the chances the Pirates pursue them in trade will also factor into these rankings.
#1: Daniel Lynch IV
The best potential fit for the Pirates is Daniel Lynch IV. The left-hander entered the 2020s as a consensus top 100 prospect for the Kansas City Royals. Although he didn’t find his footing as a starter, Lynch IV started to flash potential as a long reliever last year and has only improved from there this year. Over 38.1 innings, the southpaw owns a 2.35 ERA, 3.15 FIP, and 0.94 WHIP.
Lynch IV is striking out only 21.4% of batters this year; however, that is an improvement over the 15.6% mark he posted in 2025. Plus, he is excelling in many other areas. He has only dished out a free pass 7.8% of the time and has allowed just two home runs all year. Lynch IV has a 50% ground ball percentage, along with an 87 MPH exit velocity and a 6.5% barrel rate. However, the most impressive part of his season is that his FanGraphs Stuff+ went from just 95 last year to 107 this year. He is also seeing higher leverage more frequently, as his leverage index went from 0.78 last year to 1.26 this year.
Along with being an effective pitcher, Lynch IV makes a good fit for the Bucs because he is affordably controlled for multiple more seasons. He has two more years of control left via arbitration after 2026. He is making just over $1 million this year as well. Although the American League standings are insane right now, the Royals are ten games out of a Wild Card spot and 13 out of the American League Central. Lynch IV’s upward trend, along with his performance and affordability, should make him one of, if not the Pirates’ top trade target.
#2: Brooks Raley
Veteran left-hander Brooks Raley returned from Tommy John surgery in the second half of 2025 and has returned to becoming an effective left-handed reliever for the New York Mets. Raley has pitched 35.1 innings this year, pitching to the tune of a 2.04 ERA, 3.16 FIP, and a 1.13 WHIP. The bottom line isn’t the only good thing about his performance either.
Raley has struck out just under a quarter of opponents with a 24.3% K%. His 8.8% walk rate may not wow anyone, but it has limited the damage the walks cause by allowing just two home runs all season. Raley is highly effective at limiting hard and quality contact. He has an 87.5 MPH exit velocity and a 5.2% barrel percentage so far this year. Despite his elbow surgery and age (currently in his age-38 campaign), Raley has a strong 110 FanGraphs Stuff+.
Raley is the best rental fit for the Pirates this year. The Mets will be sellers this year. They are 16 games out of the National League East and 12 games out of a Wild Card spot. Raley will be one of the first out of the door. He is a rental and a free agent at the end of the year. The lefty is the best rental the Pirates could go after.
#3: Luke Weaver
Raley is far from the only Mets reliever that should be on the Pirates’ radar. 2025-2026 offseason signee Luke Weaver should also be on their radar. Weaver took his breakout with the New York Yankees and took it to Queens, as he’s put up a 1.85 ERA, 2.49 FIP, and a 0.82 WHIP in his first 39 innings with the Mets.
Pirates reporter @AlexJStumpf thinks Luke Weaver is the most realistic reliever the Pirates may acquire and the best possible solution at the deadline.
I would definitely approve of Weaver as the Pirates closer. pic.twitter.com/xfyEfKuQek
— Austin Bechtold (@AustinRBechtold) July 16, 2026
Weaver is inducing plenty of strikeouts. He has a 28.7% K%. Along with that, he has a solid 7.3% BB%. The right-hander is on pace for his third straight season with a K% over 27% and a BB% under 8%. Weaver is also having his best season at limiting hard contact and home runs. He has a strong 88.1 MPH exit velocity, an 8.4% barrel rate, and a 0.46 HR/9 ratio. Weaver has primarily served as the Mets’ set-up man, with a 1.61 leverage index on the season.
Weaver is not a pure rental either. He is controlled through the 2027 season. However, it isn’t cheap control, as he is owed $12.5 million. Weaver is more than likely out the door for the Mets. The only reason he isn’t higher is the amount he is owed moving forward. However, if the Pirates can get over that, then Weaver should be one of their top trade targets.
#4: Huascar Brazoban
The third Mets reliever on this list is right-hander Huascar Brazoban. A late-bloomer who didn’t make his MLB debut until his age-32 season, Brazoban has consistently posted above-average numbers as a reliever. He has pitched 45 innings this season, working to a 2.76 ERA, a 3.47 FIP, and a 1.09 WHIP.
Brazoban has struggled to limit walks, with an 11.4% BB%. However, he has an above-average 23.9% K%, and is one of the best pitchers in the league at avoiding hard contact. Brazoban is in the 100th percentile for exit velocity at 83.6 MPH and the 98th percentile for barrel rate at 2.6%. Unsurprisingly, he has a 0.59 HR/9.
Brazoban is also controlled through the 2029 season via arbitration. He is also making just over $1 million this year, so he will be affordable. There are only two things that could keep this from being an outstanding fit for the Pirates. The biggest potential roadblock is Brazoban’s age. He is in his age-36 season, and will be 39 in his last year of control.
#5: Jeff Hoffman
Jeff Hoffman is an unpopular player in Toronto. The Blue Jays right-hander not only cost the Jays a World Series win last year, giving up a game-tying home run to Miguel Rojas with one out in the ninth inning of Game Seven, but he currently has a 4.57 ERA and 1.40 WHIP over 41.1 innings this year.
However, there are plenty of reasons to believe that this is a fluky ERA and WHIP. Hoffman is posting career-bests in K% (34.8%), chase rate (38.9%), and whiff rate (36.9%). His 26.6% K-BB% is the second time he has posted a K-BB% over 25%. He is also avoiding hard contact very well, with an 86.8 MPH exit velocity and an 8% barrel percentage. In terms of pitch quality, he is as good as ever with a 109 FanGraphs Stuff+. Hoffman’s 2.41 SIERA and 2.53 xFIP are both career lows.
The Blue Jays could look to offload Hoffman at a low price. That allows the Pirates to add a reliever with a ton of potential and strong peripherals. However, there is obvious risk involved. Hoffman has not pitched extremely well since 2024. He is also owed just over $12.6 million next year. However, if the Jays are willing to eat at least part of that to offload him, this could be someone the Bucs have a ton of interest in.
#6: Antonio Senzatela
Antonio Senzatela is reinventing himself as a relief pitcher. The long-time Colorado Rockies’ right-hander struggled badly in 2025, his first fully healthy season since 2021. He has since pitched all 49 of his 2026 innings out of the bullpen, with much better results. Senzatela owns a 3.31 ERA, 3.22 FIP, and a 1.22 WHIP on the season.
Senzatela has a solid 7.9% walk rate, albeit with an unimpressive 20.8% K%. Despite pitching half of his games in the thin atmosphere of Coors Field, he has not gotten taken yard very often. Senzatela has a 0.55 HR/9 ratio. He can thank a quality 87.8 MPH exit velocity and a 5.6% barrel rate for that. His FanGraphs Stuff+ went from an 85 as a starter last year to 102 this season. Plus, he is seeing a fair share of his innings in higher-leverage, with a 1.64 leverage index.
Senzatela is not purely a rental. He comes with a 2027 team option; however, it is not an inexpensive one either. If the Rockies, or another team (if they trade for him), picks up his 2027 option, he will get paid $14 million. The improvements he has made in 2026 are promising for his future. Plus, moving out of Coors Field will certainly help. There are better, and cheaper relievers out there, but Senzatela is definitely an interesting arm to keep an eye on.
#7: Adrian Morejon
Adrian Morejon could be one of the best lefty relievers on the trade market this summer. It depends on how the San Diego Padres play over the coming weeks. After years of injuries sidelining him, the once-consensus top 100 prospect broke out in 2024 as a lights-out reliever and hasn’t looked back since. He is in the midst of his best season yet, pitching to a 3.42 ERA, 2.40 FIP, and 1.10 WHIP over 50 innings pitched.
Morejon has an excellent 28.4% K%, which is a career-high mark. His 5.9% walk rate is a career-best as well. He is one of just eight qualified lefty relievers with a K-BB% over 20% at 22.5%. The left-hander is in the 95th percentile of both chase (36.8%) and whiff (34.2%) rates.
When opponents do make contact vs Morejon, it’s rarely ever good contact. He’s held them to just an 86.2 MPH exit velocity and a 2.3% barrel rate. On top of all that, he has an awe-inspiring 64.4% ground ball percentage. Morejon’s average sinker velocity of 99.5 MPH is nearly two whole MPH faster than last year and has helped him post a career-best 129 FanGraphs Stuff+. His leverage index this season is 1.57.
The only reason Morejon is not ranked higher is that the Padres may still compete this year. While they are over a dozen games out of the NL West, they’re only 3.5 out of a Wild Card spot. The next week or two will decide that. However, if the Padres opt to sell short-term pieces, Morejon will be out the door and a prime trade target for the Pirates. However, he won’t be cheap, as he’ll be one of, if not the best, short-term relievers on the market. He hits the open market at the end of 2026, making him a rental.
#8: Aroldis Chapman
Like Morejon, Aroldis Chapman could be one of the most highly sought-after relievers on the trade market depending on how his team plays out of the All-Star Break. The Boston Red Sox have helped Chapman enter a career renaissance of sorts. After a career year in 2025 at the age of 37, the Cuban Missile’s encore has also been high-quality. In 28.2 innings, Chapman owns a 2.20 ERA, 2.40 FIP, and 1.22 WHIP.
Chapman continues to strike out plenty of batters, with a 29.9% K%. After posting a career-low 6.6% walk percentage last year, that has spiked to 9.9% this year. However, that is still better than his career average BB% of 12.1%. Chapman has allowed only one home run this season; however, his 88.1 MPH exit velocity and 8.3% barrel rate are closer to average. Chapman also continues to post elite Stuff+ numbers, coming in at 117 this season.
The Red Sox are still ten games out of the NL East but are just a half-game out of a Wild Card spot. However, they have played very good baseball over the last month-plus. Since June 11th, they are 19-8. If they continue to play like that out of the break, Chapman will more than likely not be on the market. Chapman is also not a pure rental. If he reaches 40 IP, his $13 million mutual option/$300K buyout becomes a guaranteed $13 million for 2027.
#9: Garrett Whitlock
Garrett Whitlock has rebounded from an injury-riddled 2024 season with back-to-back strong seasons as Chapman’s set-up man for the Red Sox. Whitlock is posting a 2.18 ERA, a 2.59 FIP, and a 0.94 WHIP over 33 innings this season, and his peripherals only make his bottom line look even better.
Whitlock has a 28.9% strikeout percentage (a career-high mark), while only walking 4.7% of batters faced. His 24.2% K-BB% is the 12th best among qualified relievers. He is in the 100th percentile of chase rate at 40%. Unsurprisingly, getting that many out-of-zone swings leads to a lot of weak contact. Whitlock is in the 72nd percentile of exit velo at 87.7 MPH, and the 87th percentile of barrel percentage at 4.7.
Like Chapman, Whitlock may only get moved if the Red Sox opt to sell. Even then, they have even less of a rush to trade Whitlock than Chapman. He has an $8.25 million team option for 2027, and another $10.5 million option for 2028. Both years also come with buyouts. He’d fit the Pirates’ bullpen well, and give them a multi-year option at a relatively affordable cost in terms of salary and payroll. However, that would also mean the cost to acquire him would be high.
#10: Mason Miller
The best arm that the Pirates could possibly go after to improve the bullpen is Mason Miller. A PA native, Miller has blossomed into the best closer in baseball, and the Padres sent the Athletics a king’s ransom last trade deadline to acquire him, including consensus top-five prospect Leo De Vries. The cost was certainly understandable when you look at Miller’s numbers. Miller has pitched 39.2 innings, pitching to a 0.91 ERA, 0.53 FIP, and 0.78 WHIP. As things currently stand, Miller is the first MLB reliever to have an ERA, FIP, and WHIP all under 1.00 in at least 35 games pitched (one or fewer starts).
Miller has yet to allow a home run this year, as opponents can’t put the bat-to-ball against him. He has a 48.3% K% and a whiff rate of 47.5%. That means nearly 50% of swings taken against Miller have resulted in a miss. When they do make contact, it has resulted in an 84.6 MPH exit velocity and a 3.2% barrel rate.
Miller’s 8.7% walk rate is only about average, but with how many K’s he is getting, his K-BB% of 39.6% is higher than all but one other reliever’s K% alone, that being Philadelphia Phillies’ star 9th inning flamethrower Jhoan Duran. His fastball sits at 101.3 MPH, which is the third-hardest-thrown average fastball in the pitch-tracking era (since 2008, min. 100 fastballs).
As fun as it would be for the Pirates to acquire Miller, the chances it actually happens are very slim. As stated about Morejon, the Padres may not be sellers this year. They’re definitely not out of contention, but there is far less of a rush to move Miller compared to Morejon. Miller still has control via arbitration for three more seasons. It would also cost a fortune to acquire him. Trading for Miller is about as close to a pipedream as possible.
Main Image Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images
