One point I've made for years, really, is that the last thing you'd want, as a Pittsburgh baseball fan is for Ben Charington to have more money at his disposal.

I don't think that the signing of Gregory Soto is bad in a vacuum.

I don't really understand it in context.

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And yes, there was activity. Had Major League Baseball's winter meetings yesterday in Orlando, Florida, related to the Pirates.

No, it wasn't signing a hitter, it was signing Soto, a lefty reliever who's 30 years old, to a one-year

deal worth $7.75 million.

Soto was a two-time all-star earlier in his career that was in Detroit,

and he finished the 2025 season, split between the Orioles and the Mets, the 4.18 ERA,

and most importantly given he's coming out of the pen, a 1.43 whip, that's walks and hits per inning pitched.

Struck out 70, walked 24, over 60 and a third innings.

Made 70 appearances, known for a long time, both for his velocity.

He'll sit around 96, 97, and his durability. He takes the ball.

So, all good, right? What's the problem? Well, maybe there's none. Maybe he combines with Dennis Santana, who's the presumed closer, going into next season. He's a vital lefty on a team that really doesn't have a whole heck of a lot of that, and the cost by market standards isn't all that high, and obviously neither is the term, at just a year.

About that context, though, see, we've gone over on this program many, many times how much money it looks like

Charrington will be able to spend.

And as I've laid it out, it would be around $25 million if payroll were to not increase

...