Pirates praised for 2 signings, 2 trades: They 'finally did it'

The Pittsburgh Pirates made noise heading into the offseason that this one would be different.

And then it was. "They finally did it," wrote The Athletic's Jim Bowden.

Rather than sitting out the offseason proceedings, the Pirates took part.

They signed Ryan O'Hearn and Gregory Soto to free agent deals.

They Jhostynxon Garcia, Brandon Lowe, Jake Mangum and Mike Montgomery as part of two separate deals.

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It's not a big-market offseason by any means, but it's a lot more exciting than Pittsburgh often has to offer this time of year.

"They were aggressive with their efforts to improve their offense, highlighted by the trades for second baseman Brandon Lowe and outfielder Jhostynxon Garcia and the signing of first baseman/outfielder/DH Ryan O’Hearn," Bowden wrote. "They have one of the best young starting rotations in MLB and now — finally — have a chance to score some runs for them."

And then, maybe most exciting for Pittsburgh fans, is all the top-100 prospect lists that came out recently. They all feature Pirates shortstop phenom Konnor Griffin as the No. 1 prospect in the sport.

"They also have the best prospect in baseball — shortstop Konnor Griffin — waiting in the wings," Bowden wrote. "Griffin is only 19 but he could make the Opening Day roster or debut before All-Star break. He could be the key as to whether the Pirates are pretenders or contenders."

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There haven't been a ton of fun seasons in recent Pirates memory.

This one, though, has the potential to be special.

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