Inbox: What will Bucs OF look like in 2020?

PITTSBURGH -- Finally, it feels like the offseason. The Pirates hired a general manager, Ben Cherington, and they should have a new manager in place before too long. The Winter Meetings are a little more than two weeks away, so while Cherington dives into the work ahead of him, we’ll dive into your questions in the Pirates Inbox.

What do we do with the outfield? It seems as if the only lock to be there on Opening Day is Bryan Reynolds. Do they trade Starling Marte and seriously rebuild? Do they trade Gregory Polanco? What even is his trade value? I saw people suggesting signing Eric Thames. -- Max B.

It’s probably safe to assume the Pirates plan on having Reynolds and Polanco somewhere in their Opening Day outfield, as long as they’re healthy. Reynolds is a lock for obvious reasons: He’s very good, and he’s under team control for five more years.

Polanco, who turned 28 in September, is under contract through 2021 with club options for ’22-23. It’d be just about impossible to trade him for anything of value right now, considering this was essentially a lost year for him and he still has to prove his surgically repaired left shoulder is strong enough to survive the season, so pencil him in to start in right field.

Beyond that, I think it depends on what direction Cherington chooses to take the team.

If they want to give this core another shot, they should absolutely keep Marte, Reynolds and Polanco and do what they can to add a veteran outfielder who could play every day, if necessary, to guard against another injury for Polanco. MLB Trade Rumors recently suggested former Angels outfielder Kole Calhoun, for instance. I think I’ve mentioned Matt Joyce as a fit for this role every offseason dating back to the year he played here, so why break that streak now?

Assuming the Pirates rebuild, they should find the best deal for Marte (two club option years remaining) while hoping a healthy Polanco reestablishes his value as a potential trade candidate or someone they can build around in the final years of his contract.

If they move Marte, they could play Reynolds in either left or center and fill the other spot in one of three ways.

One: Promote from within and take your chances with Jason Martin, José Osuna, Erik González, Pablo Reyes, Kevin Kramer, Will Craig as an outfielder, et al. Two: Sign a veteran outfielder, like Calhoun or Joyce, to fill that spot in the short term; rebuilding teams often opportunistically flip expiring contracts like that for prospects at the Trade Deadline, too. Three: Acquire a younger outfielder as part of the Marte return, like my colleague Mark Feinsand suggested in this hypothetical trade with the Padres.

Stating the obvious here, but what they do with Marte will be the best indication of their plan moving forward. Plenty of teams will be interested if Marte is available.

Is there a veteran catcher available either via free agency or trade the Pirates can target to work with the staff and frame pitches? -- @GolfmanBrian

Great question. Other than pitching, a front-line catcher seems like the Pirates’ biggest short- and long-term need. I recently took a look at Jacob Stallings' strengths and where he might fit, and he definitely fulfills the “work with the staff and frame pitches” criteria. But for a postseason contender, he’d ideally be a backup.

Again, it’s fair to ask how Cherington will want to handle this. If the Bucs are rebuilding, they’re more likely to let Stallings prove himself while giving Elias Díaz, who hit well in 2018 and may have been sapped this year by the mysterious virus that sidelined him in Spring Training, a shot to reestablish himself.

But if they want to build around what they have…

You can rule out Yasmani Grandal, the best free-agent catcher this offseason, who got four years and $73 million from the White Sox. It’s hard to see a veteran like Russell Martin coming back here if he wants to put himself in the best possible position to win a World Series.

Also, there are a lot of buyers in a pretty thin market. The A’s, Braves, Brewers, Rays, Reds, Astros, Rangers, Angels and the World Series champion Nationals all could use help behind the plate.

Even if some of those teams address their need through trades -- perhaps for a pair of Chicago catchers in Willson Contreras and James McCann -- there could be something of a competition for the intriguing tier of free agents that includes Travis d'Arnaud, Robinson Chirinos and Jason Castro.

d’Arnaud offers the most potential, albeit with injury risk. Chirinos is the best offensive option, and whatever he did behind the plate was good enough for Justin Verlander. Castro is a well-regarded pitch-framer who posted a 101 OPS+ this year.

Beyond that group, it might be worth betting on Yan Gomes to bounce back to his 2018 All-Star form. If you want to keep the former Yankees backup pipeline flowing, Austin Romine, who turned 31 on Friday, did some solid work in New York.

What do you think of the idea of the Pirates acquiring Rick Porcello (assuming the Red Sox don’t re-sign him) and Drew Smyly or Michael Wacha? The latter two, I believe, are more realistic. I like the idea of Porcello coming to Pittsburgh and, hopefully, having a rebound like A.J. Burnett. But we thought the same with Chris Archer. If he would rebound, that might be good for the current starters. -- Anthony D.

I think you’re at least shopping in the right aisle in terms of what the Pirates would realistically spend for a one-year, bounce-back kind of starter.

Smyly showed great potential earlier in his career, to the point that the Rays made him a key part of the David Price deal in 2014, and he made a handful of solid starts for the Phillies down the stretch this year. The lefty’s injury history and overall numbers, though, will probably drive down his value.

Wacha feels like a classic Neal Huntington-era target. Pirates fans understand the former Cardinal’s upside because they’ve seen it in action, and the right-hander is still only 28 years old.

Porcello, once acquired and extended by Cherington in Boston, is an interesting target because he’d give the Pirates what they lacked last year: starts and innings. The veteran has made at least 28 starts every season while averaging 189 innings per year since 2011. Even for a potentially rebuilding team, there’s value in that kind of durability.

The problem is only one of those years, Porcello's 2016 American League Cy Young Award campaign, has been markedly above average. And last year was brutal. So you’d definitely be hoping the Pirates’ new pitching coach, whoever it may be, can get more out of him. And as you mentioned, that hope is not always rewarded.

Porcello could probably set a credible example for some of the Pirates’ younger pitchers, given his experience. But his track record of durability might also draw interest from contending -- and bigger-spending -- clubs looking for a reliable back-end starter.