The Pittsburgh Pirates, so often ridiculed for their cheapness, are being painted as possibly prolific spenders this offseason by some of baseball’s most respected insiders — notably Tom Verducci, Jeff Passan and Ken Rosenthal.

Bob Nutting must feel pretty good about that. It makes the Pirates look respectable for once. And they must feel great that their alleged $100 million-plus offer to free agent slugger Kyle Schwarber was made public.

Or do they?

I wonder, because if they actually did offer Schwarber in excess of $100 million — and if Nutting meant it as a real offer rather than a self-serving bluff he hoped to be publicized — then they should be held to that budget this offseason.

So start spending, boys!

Who cares if Schwarber signed back with the Phillies for $150 million over five years? The high-rolling Pirates now have more than $100 million to throw around, right? And Paul Skenes is going to recruit some of those big free agent bats, right?

Maybe sign three $40 million players, then. Or go out and get Pete Alonso. Talk is cheap. Finish some deals. Prove it’s real.

In the meantime, I can assure you that we’ll be rolling our eyes at these alleged “offers” and the careful language used to describe them. We’ll wonder if the Pirates make them knowing they will be refused. (“Hey, I’ll drive you to the airport at 5 a.m.,” Jimmy says, knowing his friend already has a ride.)

We’ll wonder if they will somehow “just miss” on other big names and come away with maybe one medium-priced player the entire offseason, and we’ll even be surprised if they get up to $20 million a year on one.

The crazy part is, these aren’t obscure podcasts peddling this stuff. These are the giants of baseball media who continue to sort of report that the Pirates are major players, ready to binge.

By “sort of,” I am referring to the phrasing involved. It’s quite interesting. Rosenthal, writing on the eve of baseball’s winter meetings two days ago, began his piece in The Athletic this way:

“Are you sitting down? The Pittsburgh Pirates have made free-agent designated hitter Kyle Schwarber a four-year offer, according to people briefed on their discussions. The offer almost certainly is for more than $100 million.”

Almost certainly.

Verducci, meanwhile, co-writing a piece with Eva Geitheim for SI.com, reported after Schwarber re-signed with the Phillies that the Pirates “might have been the most serious team outside of Philadelphia bidding for the slugger’s services.”

Might have been.

And if you weren’t sitting down for Rosenthal’s report, I sure hope you were for what Verducci reported next, as recounted at SI.com: “According to sources, both the Pirates and Orioles were also offering Schwarber deals in the five-year, $150 million range, and the Pirates ‘indicated a willingness to go higher.’”

Indicated a willingness.

I’m no longer sitting down. I’m passed out. And I flat-out do not believe the Pirates offered anything in the $150 million range — at least not if they thought Schwarber would actually take it — let alone were willing to “go higher.”

I’m also curious whether the sources involved are Pirates people, player agents or even Major League Baseball personnel. MLB, you know, has a vested interest in small-market teams such as the Pirates at least looking like they are willing to spend real money.

With a labor war pending, MLB likely doesn’t want the players union or big-market owners pointing to the Pirates and others as total non-participants in free agency, never willing to join the bidding for big-time players despite the monies they receive from higher-revenue teams.

Listen, I’ll be first in line to commend the Pirates if they sign a high-impact player or two, even if it is just the cost of doing business.

Let me clarify: I have a willingness to commend them, and I almost certainly would.

____

©2025 PG Publishing Co. Visit at post-gazette.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.