DALLAS -- The state of the Pirates this offseason is about as cut-and-dry as any team. They have one of the best young rotations in the game. They need to score more runs to support that staff.

And when it comes to scoring more runs, their greatest areas of need are also pretty cut-and-dry. They¡¯ve cut ties with the players who had the most defensive innings in right field (Bryan De La Cruz, Edward Olivares and Connor Joe), and the two who had the most at first base (Rowdy Tellez, Joe). Given the below-league-average offensive production at those positions, too, it¡¯s a good place to start.

"We'd like to add to the offense, and the most obvious places to do that would be corner outfield and first base,¡± general manager Ben Cherington said at the Winter Meetings in Dallas Monday. ¡°It doesn't mean it's the only places we can do that, but we have a fair amount of positional flexibility with our current group where, if there are opportunities with position A, there is a good chance a player could move to position B. We can move guys around.¡±

A lot of that flexibility lies with Isiah Kiner-Falefa and 2024 Gold Glove winner Jared Triolo, but it could also apply to one of the faces of the franchise: Bryan Reynolds.

Reynolds was spotted taking reps at first base several times down the stretch of the season, with the club playing it off at the time. Nothing happened in-season, but bench coach Don Kelly is putting a program in place for Reynolds to follow. Manager Derek Shelton still wants Reynolds to rest after he played in 156 games in 2024, but Kelly is going to follow up with the 29-year-old later this offseason.

¡°He'll start his offseason program, but the idea is that we're going to see what it's like at first base,¡± Shelton said. ¡°To see if he is going to play there full-time, I wouldn't say that. He's a good athlete. He likes taking ground balls. The initial stuff that he did, the initial work that he did at the beginning -- or end of the offseason into the season -- was very positive. We'll see how it goes. Then we'll see how the rest of our club plays out.¡±

It¡¯s way too soon to pencil Reynolds into first base -- Cherington reiterated he is an outfielder during his media availability -- but there¡¯s a case to be made for exploring the move. Reynolds was an All-Star at the dish this past season, but struggled in the field, finishing with -12 fielding runs, according to Baseball Savant, which put him in the bottom 1% of position-players. The free agent and trade markets are a bit more robust for outfielders than first basemen, too.

There¡¯s plenty of offseason to go, but having Reynolds be able to moonlight at first base only helps the defensive versatility that should help with roster construction this winter.

¡°I think he's willing to do whatever it takes to help the team win, and that's part of what we love about him so much and respect about him so much,¡± Cherington said. ¡°I think it's early in the offseason and this will come down to what our roster opportunities are. Right now, he's an outfielder, is what we would say right now. If there is ever a reason that we felt like the team was better with him trying to do something else, I know he's open to doing that. As we envision it right now, he's an outfielder on the team. He's a really important part of the team."

Cue Renegade?
Another franchise face with perhaps a less-than-cemented role is David Bednar. The two-time All-Star was moved out of the closer role for the final month of the season, and while the early parts of his offseason work have been encouraging, Shelton opted not to declare him the closer Monday.

¡°If I'm going to bet on anybody bouncing back, I'm betting on David Bednar bouncing back,¡± Shelton said. ¡°He started the year, it was abrupted. Shorter Spring Training, kind of was behind the 8-ball a little bit. Had some really good stretches where he threw the ball well, just wasn't consistent.

¡°I'm betting on David Bednar bouncing back and having a good year. To pencil in anybody right now, I'm not doing that because I want to make sure we get to Spring Training, but I'm really happy that he's with us.¡±