The Astros went into last offseason in search of rotation depth. The Rays were looking to offload a cumbersome contract (by their standards). Enter the Pirates, who seized the opportunity and came away with a tremendous trade haul.
Pittsburgh landed second baseman Brandon Lowe, left-hander Mason Montgomery, and outfielder Jake Mangum in the three-team deal. The club sent right-hander Mike Burrows to Houston. The Astros routed a pair of prospects (outfielder Jacob Melton, righty Anderson Brito) to the Rays.
While all three players acquired in the swap made an impact for Pittsburgh, Lowe was the headliner. He smashed 35 home runs as a critical piece in a lineup that has lacked thump in recent years. Lowe finished with an .824 OPS, his best mark since his breakout 2021 season.
The Pirates finished sixth in scoring this season. They flirted with the top spot at times over the summer, but faded late as injuries to key bats thinned out the lineup. It was a huge turnaround after the club finished dead last in runs per game in 2025. Pittsburgh had finished in the bottom 10 in scoring every season since 2018. Even that year, the team ranked 20th. It’s been an inept offense for quite some time.
The contributions from Lowe went beyond his bat. The veteran infielder piled up 13 Defensive Runs Saved out of nowhere. Lowe hadn’t been a positive defender by DRS since 2019. He’d been at -14 DRS in his final season with the Rays. Lowe also stayed on the field, reaching career highs in games (150) and plate appearances (656). Injuries hampered him for much of his time in Tampa Bay. He only reached 450 plate appearances twice in eight seasons (though platooning played a factor).
One magical season might be it for Lowe in Pittsburgh. He heads into free agency as one of the top hitters on the market. Lowe is slotted in at No. 10 on our final Free Agent Power Rankings. The cost and length of his potential deal could price the frugal Pirates out of the discussion. Still, he was the engine of an offense that kept the club in the NL Wild Card race for much of the season. Pittsburgh finished above .500 for the first time since 2018.
If Lowe heads elsewhere this offseason, the deal could easily become the Mason Montgomery trade. The young lefty emerged as one of the most dominant relievers in the league over the final three months of the season. Montgomery was scored upon in just two of 37 appearances from July through the end of the year. He didn’t get his first save until July 11 as the Pirates shuffled through other options in the ninth inning. From that point on, he picked up 18 saves, tied for the most in the league over that stretch.
The 26-year-old Montgomery was a prospect of some regard as a starter in Tampa Bay’s system. He moved to a relief role in the majors but never found his footing in the Rays’ bullpen. As is the case with plenty of borderline big-league relievers, Montgomery missed a ton of bats while failing to throw enough strikes to stick in the majors. He came to the Pirates and was able to lower his walk rate to a respectable 9.4%. He still posted a swinging-strike rate near 15%.
Montgomery won’t reach arbitration until next offseason. He’s under team control through 2030. After struggling to settle on a David Bednar successor, Pittsburgh has found its closer for the rest of the decade.
Mangum is a fourth-outfielder type with plenty of speed and not much power. He didn’t reach the majors until his age-29 season. He’s not the caliber of player who is going to significantly change the fortune of a lineup … unless your center fielder misses extended time. Pittsburgh lost Oneil Cruz to a broken hand in June. He was ultimately sidelined for two months.
While Mangum couldn’t replicate Cruz’s power/speed output, he held the fort in center field. Mangum hit .329 in June, then posted an .815 OPS as an everyday player in July. He remained a regular in August with Ryan O’Hearn going down with a quad injury. Mangum cooled off considerably over the final two months of the season, but the final line was a useful .276/.331/.363 with 23 steals.
Pittsburgh entered the 2026 season with several viable candidates for the rotation, making Burrows expendable. His first full season in the majors was successful. The righty put together a sub-4.00 ERA with more than a strikeout per inning across 23 appearances (19 starts) in 2025. Burrows seemed like a bankable backend starter who could help solidify Houston’s rotation. There was also a chance he took a step forward under the Astros coaching staff.
It didn’t go as planned. Burrows’ first year in Houston was a disaster in multiple ways. He posted a 5.99 ERA over 94 2/3 innings. He was bumped to the bullpen, which created some strife. Burrows’ season was cut short by an elbow injury. He’s still a year away from arbitration, so there’s plenty of time for the acquisition to work out for the Astros. It’s just been a rough start.
Photos courtesy of Charles LeClaire, Imagn Images
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