Pirates Get Top Grades in Recent Blockbuster Trade
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PITTSBURGH — The Pittsburgh Pirates made their biggest trade of the offseason, landing an important bat and two other pieces for their team in 2026.
The Pirates engaged in a three-team trade with the Tampa Bay Rays and Houston Astros, in which each team received and gave a player/players to another team.
Pittsburgh added second baseman Brandon Lowe, outfielder Jake Mangum and left-handed relief pitcher Mason Montgomery from Tampa Bay and sent right-handed starting pitcher Mike Burrows to Houston, while Houston sent two of their top prospects to Tampa Bay.
The trade was a risk for the Pirates, giving up a top, young starting pitcher, but what they got back earned them great praise from the national media.
Pirates Get Top Grades After Trade
Bradford Doolittle of ESPN gave the Pirates an "A-" grade for the trade, a B+ to the Rays and then a C+ to the Astros.
Doolittle liked that the trade showed that Pirates general manager Ben Cherington is committed to supporting the rotation, featuring the likes of National League Cy Young Award winner Paul Skenes, veteran Mitch Keller, Jared Jones returning from injury and rookies in Braxton Ashcraft, Hunter Barco and Bubba Chandler.
He also likes that Lowe brings in necessary power to the Pirates and makes their lineup much better, closer to a playoff-contending team.
"Lowe isn't a star, but he's a proven power threat and the Pirates need those in the worst way," Doolittle wrote. "Over the past five years, Lowe has averaged 34.5 homers per 162 games; last season Oneil Cruz led the Bucs with 20.
"Stack Lowe, Bryan Reynolds and Spencer Horwitz in the lineup, then you're moving toward league average on offense, which for this team is a formula for wild-card contention."
Tim Capurso of Sports Illustrated noted how important it was for the Pirates to get Lowe, but that their acquisitions of Mangum and Montgomery were even better.
Capurso sees Mangum taking over the vacant starting spot in left field and that if Montgomery cuts back on his walks, he has the stuff to become a "big-time lefthander out of the Pirates’ bullpen."
"Giving up a pitcher with years of control such as Mike Burrows is no small thing, but it's hard not to like a trade when it addresses multiple needs at once," Capurso wrote.
Keith Law of The Athletic wrote his analysis on the trade, critiquing some of the additions from the Pirates, including Mangum.
Law didn't give a grade, but did, praise the acquisition of Lowe and that his importance to this Pirates' lineup is massive, even if he doesn't fully pan out.
"More importantly, Lowe gives the Pirates a power threat they have lacked for approximately forever," Law wrote. "Only one Pirate hit more than 16 homers last season, and none hit more than 20. Since 2010, the Pirates have had only two players hit more homers in one season than Lowe did last year: Josh Bell in 2019 (37 homers) and Pedro Álvarez in 2013 (36).
The two times Lowe has been healthy enough to play a full season, he’s topped 30 homers. I might be repeating myself on that point, but Pirates’ hitters have set such a low bar to clear that it means this acquisition might make an enormous difference right away, even with Lowe’s somewhat troubling propensity to whiff."
What the Pirates Get in the Trade from the Rays
Lowe is coming off one of the best years of his career in 2025, as he slashed .256/.307/.477 for an OPS of .784 in 134 games, with 130 hits, 19 doubles, 31 home runs, 83 RBIs and 38 walks to 149 strikeouts.
He earned an All-Star nod for his performance, just the second of his career. He earned his first as a rookie in 2019, slashing .270/.336/.514 for an OPS of .850 in 82 games, including 17 home runs.
Lowe is an eight-year MLB veteran who has had great success from the plate and has served as the Rays' second baseman since 2020, a position the Pirates have now upgraded.
He slashed .247/.326/.481 for an OPS of .807 in 745 games since 2018, with 657 hits, 126 doubles, 12 triples, 157 home runs, 446 RBI and 282 walks to 817 strikeouts.
His time in Tampa Bay puts him amongst the best in franchise history. He ranks second in slugging percentage, third in home runs, fourth in OPS, seventh in RBI and on-base percentage and eighth in hits, walks and batting average.
He has hit more than 20 home runs in the four seasons he's played more than 100 games in and hit 31 home runs last season, 11 more than Oneil Cruz, who led the Pirates with 20 home runs.
The Pirates need a left fielder heading into 2026 and Mangum started 46 of 63 games he played there as a rookie in 2025 for the Rays.
Mangum also started 26 of 32 games in right field and started 30 of 41 contests in center field, with 118 games played in 2025, giving the Pirates a versatile player in a position group they are thin in.
He also had success from the plate, slashing .296/.330/.368 for an OPS of .698, with 120 hits, 18 doubles, one triple, three home runs, 40 RBI and 19 walks to 64 strikeouts.
The Pirates also needed a left-handed relief pitcher and Montgomery provides that as well, making him their second lefty reliever addition. They signed Gregory Soto to a one-year, $7.75 millon contract on Dec. 15.
Montgomery made 57 relief appearances for the Rays in 2025, with a 1-3 record, 5.67 ERA in 46.0 innings pitched, 10 holds, 63 strikeouts to 27 walks, a .277 batting average allowed and a 1.65 WHIP.
Dominic writes for Pittsburgh Pirates On SI, Pittsburgh Panthers Pn SI and also, Pittsburgh Steelers On SI. A Pittsburgh native, Dominic grew up watching Pittsburgh Sports and wrote for The Pitt News as an undergraduate at the University of Pittsburgh, covering Pitt Athletics. He would write for Pittsburgh Sports Now after college and has years of experience covering sports across Pittsburgh.