It has finally happened! Ben Cherington has made an incredible splash in the trade market, reviving the lineup in Pittsburgh. According to Chandler Rome and Ken Rosenthal, the Pittsburgh Pirates are acquiring Brandon Lowe, Jake Mangum, and Mason Montgomery from the Tampa Bay Rays in an exciting three-team trade.
Pittsburgh isn’t sending anything to Tampa, but they are sending Mike Burrows to Houston. The Rays will receive Jacob Melton and Anderson Brito from the Astros.
Lowe was a perfect fit for the Pirates. He is a left-handed second baseman that belted 31 home runs in 2025 with a 114 wRC+ and a .785 OPS. It’s the power bat that Pittsburgh has desperately needed for years. They haven’t gotten a 30 home run season since Josh Bell in 2019.
On top of that, they get Mangum, a contact hitting outfielder with excellent defense that will play very well at PNC Park. He batted .296 with 27 stolen bases and a strikeout rate of just 15%. Mangum’s fWAR of 1.8 would have led Pirates’ position players in 2025. Lowe’s at 1.7 would have been tied for second with Spencer Horwitz.
Somehow, that isn’t the full deal either as the Pirates got a fireballing left handed reliever in Montgomery, who is a former top 10 ranked prospect in the Rays farm system. Montgomery is more of a project right now, posting a 5.67 ERA across 57 games in 2025. The Pirates have a lot to work with there as he brings a 97th percentile whiff rate of 35.8% and 30.1% strikeout rate.
This spectacular trade completely revamps this team in Pittsburgh, giving two significant upgrades in the lineup, while also adding high-upside depth in the bullpen. Especially as the Pirates lack left-handed pitching in the organization. This lineup suddenly doesn’t look as bad as it did in 2025 and gives this pitching staff a lot of insurance.
While this is all great for the offensive side of things, the Pirates did lose a strong, controllable starter in Burrows. The rookie right hander put together an excellent season, posting a 3.94 ERA with a 9.09 K/9 and a 4.00 FIP. He was a valuable arm to have at the end of the rotation, but to get productive bats, the Pirates had to give up something at the same time. As sad as it is to lose Burrows, getting this package is totally worth it.
The rotation still has plenty of depth too. The rotation now looks like this; Paul Skenes, Mitch Keller, Bubba Chandler, Braxton Ashcraft, and Hunter Barco. This could open the door to signing a veteran inning eater, but it is still a strong group with Jared Jones returning around midseason.
Now that Lowe is in the organization, the Pirates need to make a strong effort to extend him. He has just one year left on his contract and with a potential lockout looming, Pittsburgh needs to secure him long term before it’s too late.
This deal looks really great for the Pirates and it could also be the deal that tempts free agents to sign in Pittsburgh. Cherington appears to have fleeced the trade market with this deal. Lowe and Mangum are the additions this team needed. Incredible work Pittsburgh, now let’s not call it an offseason and bolster it again with a guy like Ryan O’Hearn too.
