Free agency is just a weird event in any sport. The fans and the media decide on which players a particular team should sign, and if that team doesn’t do it, it’s a failure.

That’s what the beginning of Major League Baseball’s free-agent frenzy was like for the Pittsburgh Pirates, as they began the task of improving a team that improved its record by 14 games last year (76-86).

Why didn’t the Pirates sign pitcher Jack Flaherty, who inked a one-year, $14 million deal with the Tigers? Why didn’t the Bucs sign pitcher Michael Wacha, who inked a contract to play for the Royals, of all small-market teams? That’s right, the Royals, a team that went 56-106 last season, signed a big-name free-agent pitcher. Actually, Kansas City has been quite active in free agency and has added many new faces, including pitcher Seth Lugo and outfielder Hunter Renfroe.

Why haven’t the Pirates been as active? OK, they were kind of active early on, acquiring pitcher Marco Gonzales in a trade with the Braves on December 5. Gonzales, 31, has a career record of 65-49 in nine seasons with both the Cardinals and Mariners. He comes to town with a $12 million contract for 2024. That’s the kind of pitcher I’d expect a team like the Pirates to acquire. Only problem? Gonzales had to have surgery to relieve nerve pressure in his left arm (his pitching arm) and only appeared in 10 games for the Mariners a season ago.

The Gonzales trade was the only noteworthy transaction for the Pirates, that is, until Tuesday when they signed pitcher Martin Perez to a one-year, $8 million contract. Perez, 32, has a career record of 85-81 in 12 total seasons with the Rangers, Red Sox and Twins. Perez had two stints with Texas, including last year when he compiled a 10-4 record and a 4.45 ERA in 2020 starts for the eventual World Champions. Perez’s best year was in 2022 when he went 12-8 and had a 2.89 ERA, numbers that were good enough to be named to his first and only All-Star team.

When you compare the careers of Gonzales and Perez to that of Flaherty, there isn’t much difference, other than age and price.

If you’ve been watching the Pirates for as long as I have, you shouldn’t be surprised that they added two left-handed veteran pitchers to their starting staff who come to town with a little age and a bit of uncertainty. The Pirates are never going to go out and sign a top pitcher in his prime. No, they have to either trade for or draft that guy.

The Pirates spent years hoping Mitch Keller would be that guy as he was rounding into shape in the minors after being selected in the second round of the 2014 amateur baseball draft. Keller made his MLB debut in 2019 and proceeded to struggle a good bit over his first four seasons. But Keller had a breakout year in 2023, striking out 210 batters and finishing with a 13-9 record. Keller was even named to the National League All-Star team.

Keller, 27, is expected to be the Pirates ace again in 2024 and will likley be joined by Paul Skenes, the number-one overall pick in the 2023 draft.

Hopefully, Skenes will be in the starting rotation sooner rather than later, and if he is the phenom many expect him to be (the Pirates really need this guy to be a phenom), that would be quite the one-two punch. The knock on both Gonzales and Perez is that they’re fourth or fifth starters. OK, but the Pirates were never going to go out and sign a number-one or number-two starter. The job of the ace belongs to Keller, and it would be a bad sign if Skenes doesn’t quickly get promoted to the major league roster and assume the second spot in the rotation.

Ideally, Johan Oviedo, a big, young pitcher the Pirates acquired in a trade with the Cardinals last year, would have heavily factored into the starting rotation in 2024. Unfortunately, he recently had to undergo Tommy John surgery and is expected to miss the entire season.

The Pirates will surely add more pitching before the start of spring training. Will the move or moves make waves? Probably not, but that’s what Mitch Keller and Paul Skenes are being paid to do.