Pittsburgh Pirates second baseman Brandon Lowe is a free agent this offseason, and the team could look to re-sign him or let him walk to another team on the open market.
Lowe, 32, enjoyed a breakout year with the Pirates, where he had 5.3 wins above replacement, a career high for the 9-year veteran. In 150 appearances for the Pirates, he had a batting average of .260, 35 home runs, and 96 runs batted in. His strong showing in a contract year makes him one of the top free-agent infielders available,
but that could be a flash in the pan. It’s very possible we may have seen the best of Lowe already.
Bleacher Report contributor Zachary D. Rymer listed Lowe as one of the top eight potential free agent busts in the league this offseason.
“The bad stuff concerns what happened when Lowe didn’t make contact. His 28.8 K% marked his highest strikeout rate since 2019, and it might undersell how much he swung and missed. He had a 66.9 contact percentage, third-lowest among qualified hitters,“ Rymer wrote.
“That would be easy to forgive if Lowe had good plate discipline, but his 33.6 chase percentage was a career high and in the 27th percentile to boot. That’s never ideal, and least of all for a 32-year-old whose “old man skills” should be getting sharper.“
Lowe is expected to get many strong offers in free agency, which could poach him from the Pirates, who would love to re-sign him but at a reasonable price tag. Other teams may offer Lowe a much larger bag, which could mean he is one-and-done in Pittsburgh.
These concerns might be part of the reason why the Pirates are hesitant to give him a larger deal, but they have their number in mind for him when negotiations begin in the offseason.
