The race for the final two Wild Card spots in the National League is quickly becoming a dogfight, and the Pirates are one of a whopping eight teams all within two games of each other in the standings currently vying for those final two spots in the postseason picture alongside the division-leading Phillies, Dodgers, and Brewers as well as the Braves, who have a firm grasp on the top Wild Card spot with a 5.5 game lead. That positioning in the thick of the playoff hunt comes in spite of Pittsburghs lackluster 36-39 record to this point in the season, but club owner Bob Nutting nonethele s recently indicated to reporters ( Nathan Legare Jersey including ) that he believes the club can contend for the playoffs this year. I think weve shown its attainable, Nutting told reporters (as relayed by Gorman) when discu sing the po sibility of postseason berth this year, before going on to acknowledge that the club needs more production from its offense, which ranks fourth from the bottom in the majors with an 85 wRC+. Nutting went on to suggests that the club is currently working to determine how much the offense can improve internally and how much of the improvement will need to come from external acquisitions. Nutting went on to suggest that those external acquisitions wont nece sarily have to wait until the July 30 trade deadline is imminent, even as the league has generally gravitated towards making the bulk of its major summer transactions in the days and hours leading up to the deadline in recent years. As noted by , the clubs owner suggested that the Pirates could have opportunities well in advance of the deadline this year. I think we should be prepared to move early, Nutting told reporters (as relayed by Hiles). I think we should be prepared to take advantage of opportunities when they arise. I know [club GM Ben Cherington] has that flexibility to look acro s a broader range of alternatives, options but also a timeline of when it makes sense to strike. Hiles goes on to note that Nutting reaffirmed his past remarks that more funds would be made available to the baseball operations department now that the club is, in his view, in a position to contend for a spot in the postseason. Thats good news for Pirates fans, as the clubs current payroll of just over $86MM is already the highest payroll theyve posted since 2017 according to . The following offseason saw the departures of key players like and that served as a clear sign the club was entering the rebuild theyve only just now begun to fully come out of. The club has a strong starting pitching apparatus with and offering top-of-the-line stuff at the front of the rotation while and serve as solid mid-rotation arms behind them. Between that strong pitching staff and the clubs aforementioned difficulties on offense, its hardly a surprise that recently reported that the Pirates are expected to making buying offense a high priority this summer. As things stand, the only clubs that are currently clear sellers are the White Sox, Rockies, Marlins, Angels, and As. Those clubs certainly have some interesting potential targets available, ranging from Chicagos star center fielder to late-blooming As slugger . Either of those targets make sense on a speculative level for a Pirates club that has clear room for improvement in the outfield, and its also certainly po sible to imagine the club having interest in adding at first base, where has a 71 wRC+ in 61 games this year. Star first basemen and have both found in the rumor mill fairly frequently this winter, although even a smaller acquisition such as long-time Pirate (and currently Marlin) or recently DFAd As corner bat could potentially constitute an upgrade for the club over Tellez. Dougie Hamilton Jersey