WASHINGTON – They are the tacit representatives in Major League Baseball’s fight to install a salary cap during collective bargaining negotiations, the embodiment of “what fans want” when the league claims widespread socialism must exist among its billionaire owners for the game to survive.
Yet the Pittsburgh Pirates might be proving a different point as they head toward the All-Star break with a winning record: Spending just a little bit of money can make a big difference.
Two offseason moves – signing designated hitter Ryan O’Hearn to a two-year, $29 million contract and trading for second baseman Brandon Lowe – played significant parts in turning one of the game’s least productive lineups into one of its most potent. And as the 46-45 Pirates remain in the thicket of the National League wild card race, they’re proving one of baseball’s axiom’s to very much be true.
“You have to spend money to win. That’s really what it is,” veteran outfielder Bryan Reynolds tells USA TODAY Sports. “Spend smart money. It doesn’t have to be a ton.
“We spent some money. And it’s paying off.”
Let’s be clear: It wasn’t a lot. O’Hearn’s signing and the $11.5 million due Lowe after a three-way trade sent him from Tampa Bay to Pittsburgh helped nudge the payroll to $102 million, 22nd among 30 teams.
It’s the highest the Pirates’ payroll has ranked since 2016, when they had the 20th-highest the year after winning 98 games. Yet their payroll that season was $100 million. That means the Pirates payroll jumped 2% as industry revenues grew 31%, from an estimated $9.5 billion in 2016 to $12.8 billion in 2025.
Certainly, the Pirates’ piece of that pie didn’t grow in lockstep, but they benefited from greater revenue sharing as well as increases in national TV contracts, among other shared revenues.
And while they may be painted as the small market, underdog anti-Dodgers, it’s also clear early proposals shared by MLB run counter to some of their 2026 success.
Wake me up when December ends
O’Hearn knows his way around medium markets. A Kansas City Royals draftee, he broke out as an All-Star in his third season in Baltimore and now totes an .807 OPS with 13 homers for Pittsburgh.
He also knows what saber-rattling looks like when MLB and the MLB Players’ Association lock horns early in negotiations.
“I read the emails. I have an idea what’s going on,” says O’Hearn. “But this’ll be my third CBA. I would be shocked if anything came to a solution before crunch time. So I’m not going to get lost in the day-to-day of it, because I have seen this before.
“The league said they’re going to lock us out. So, OK. Things don’t really happen until crunch time, from my experience. I’ll stick with that.”
That Dec. 1 lockout date can wait just a minute, though.
The Pirates’ offensive turnaround has been startling. In 2025, their payroll was a mere $86 million and the lineup resembled such neglect as they ranked 30th in OPS (.655) and runs (583).
This year? They are second in OPS (.762), trailing only the Dodgers, third in runs (475) and lead the majors with 829 hits.
Many hands have had a part in the uprising, including rookies Konnor Griffin and Esmerlyn Valdez, along with big steps forward from players like infielder Nick Gonzales that manager Don Kelly says began last year under first-year hitting coach Matt Hague.
It’s foolhardy to downplay O’Hearn and Lowe’s impact, though. Lowe’s 42 extra-base hits rank fifth in the major leagues, and his 21 homers already surpass Oneil Cruz’s team high from 2025.
“It’s very helpful,” says Reynolds, in the fourth year of an eight-year, $106.75 million deal that averages $13 million a season. “We’ve got one of the best offenses in baseball now, in big part to those two guys, and some other guys too. It’s been great.”
Lowe leads all major league second basemen in homers, RBIs (63) and slugging, making his omission from the All-Star Game something of a surprise. He put the capper on the Pirates’ Sunday, July 5 conquest of the Nationals, ripping a three-run homer in the eighth inning of their 11-5 victory to cap a winning road trip.
“It’s a blast being a part of this lineup,” says Lowe. “One through nine, and even with guys not starting that day, there’s damage to be found and runs to be scored.
“It’s fun coming to the ballpark understanding that I hit behind (Griffin) or in front of (Reynolds), we got O’Hearn and Valdy behind me.”
Indeed, while Lowe and O’Hearn have had huge hands in the Pirates’ success, another newcomer is simply fortunate an MLB CBA proposal wasn’t already adopted.
The kid stays in the picture
On a single, steamy 94-degree afternoon, Griffin’s play constantly demands attention. One moment, he’s laying out headlong to reel in a fly ball to shallow left field; a couple innings later, he’s going horizontal to reel in another dying quail.
And then with the game on the line, he’s fighting off a pair of two-strike pitches to slash a go-ahead two-run single in the eighth inning Sunday, a knock that preceded Lowe’s game-breaking three-run homer.
Griffin is 20 years old. And if one of MLB’s proposals in early rounds of CBA negotiating was already gospel, he wouldn’t be here.
Griffin reclassified to the 2024 draft class – he was selected ninth overall by Pittsburgh – and was bought out of a commitment to LSU. But an early proposal from MLB to the union included a stipulation that high school players would no longer be draft-eligible, that they’d have to be two years removed from high school graduation and at least 20 years old to be drafted.
Griffin wouldn’t be a Bucco, then, instead serving time in Baton Rouge. The proposal seems all the more drastic when you see Griffin take over a major league game.
He certainly took notice when MLB and the union exchanged proposals June 19 and the high school draftee ban was floated.
“It makes me think, ‘Dang, what if I couldn’t have gotten drafted out of high school?’” Griffin tells USA TODAY Sports. “It’s definitely a different situation, but I’m just thankful I was able to be a part of that and glad it worked out for me.”
Some guys are just ready.
Griffin was still 19 when he made his debut April 3, and four days later agreed to a nine-year, $140 million contract extension – a term that would also be limited under MLB’s proposals.
Instead, he is a Bucco through most of his 20s, continuing a pattern of moving quickly: Griffin is already married, and already putting down roots in Pittsburgh.
“It’s just cool seeing a lot of my jerseys, my last name in the stands,” he says. “It’s pretty neat seeing all that. I wanted to be somewhere to try to help change a club where we become a winning baseball team.
“I want to do some special things in Pittsburgh, so it’s been really cool to see how the fans have shown me the love.”
He has rewarded them, too, becoming the fastest Pirate in club history to notch 20 steals, and accruing 1.7 WAR in just 59 games, despite missing nearly a month with a forearm strain.
“Being 20 years old and a rookie, he’s way mature beyond his years,” says Kelly, in his first full season as Pirates manager. “He’s going to have huge moments like that, yes, and also understanding that he’s 20 and learning.
“There’s not too many 20-year-olds in the big leagues. It’s the work ethic, the way he goes about it – he’s a mature kid to begin with and when you put the talent on top of that, it’s hard to beat.”
Says Griffin: “I’ve had to grow up pretty quick. Getting drafted out of high school, reclassed a year early, been living on my own a while now, got married, just adapting to what life is throwing at me.”
Lowe says he likes to give Griffin a hard time when he sprawls out for catches as he did Sunday, when sweat mottled the lenses of his sunglasses, he went sans eyewear and then had to lay out for a fly in shallow left field.
At 6-3, 222 pounds, Griffin is an imposing physical figure, featured on ESPN’s “You Got Mossed” segment when he was a Mississippi high school freshman.
“That wide receiver’s coming out on those plays,” says Lowe. “It shows the athleticism and why he’s up here. Not just a hitter or glove. He’s got it all going on.”
Tempting to say the Pirates do, as well. While reigning Cy Young Award winner Paul Skenes and veteran Mitch Keller have scuffled of late, the rotation remains stout. They’re just three games out of a wild card and more important, a biscuit above .500 as the trade deadline nears in less than a month.
At year’s end, they’ll be on the back nine of Skenes’ contractually obligated time with the team. A new CBA may frame just what he can pursue come free agency in 2029, and will certainly set a course of action for the Pirates to pursue.
In the current system, the Pirates – with a TV market size ranked No. 27 – should be more concerned with catching Milwaukee (38th-biggest Nielsen market) than the Dodgers.
But at least the Pirates are in the conversation, proof positive that spending a few bucks can provide an immediate dividend.
“I came into this and it was like, ‘Hey, this team has great pitching but was 30th in offense last year.’ A pretty big turnaround offensively,” says O’Hearn. “I’m proud of what we’ve done so far.
“We’ve got a long way to go, but we’ve got the players to score runs.”
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: The Pirates finally spent some money. You'll never guess what happened next.
