The1986 Pittsburgh Pirates season was the 105th season of thePittsburgh Pirates franchise; and their 100th in theNational League. This was their 17th season atThree Rivers Stadium. The Pirates finished sixth and last in theNational League East with a record of 64–98. This was also the rookie season ofleft fielderBarry Bonds, who led the Pirates with 36 stolen bases and finished second on the club with 16 home runs.
April 4, 1986 – Traded Jason Thompson to the Montreal Expos. Received players to be named later. The Montreal Expos sent Ben Abner (minors) (April 7, 1986) and Ronnie Giddens (minors) (April 7, 1986) to the Pittsburgh Pirates to complete the trade.
April 24, 1986 – Signed U.L. Washington as a free agent.
May 1, 1986 – Released Ravelo Manzanillo.
May 8, 1986 – Released Steve Kemp.
June 2, 1986 – Drafted Jeff King in the 1st round (1st pick) of the 1986 amateur draft. Player signed July 10, 1986.
June 2, 1986 – Drafted Mike Walker in the 2nd round of the 1986 amateur draft.
June 2, 1986 – Drafted Scott Ruskin in the 3rd round of the 1986 amateur draft (June Secondary).
June 2, 1986 – Drafted Archi Cianfrocco in the 4th round of the 1986 amateur draft (June Secondary), but did not sign the player.
June 2, 1986 – Drafted Tom Goodwin in the 6th round of the 1986 amateur draft, but did not sign the player.
June 2, 1986 – Drafted Tony Longmire in the 8th round of the 1986 amateur draft.
June 2, 1986 – Drafted Stan Belinda in the 10th round of the 1986 amateur draft. Player signed June 5, 1986.
June 2, 1986 – Drafted Keith Shepherd in the 11th round of the 1986 amateur draft. Player signed June 28, 1986.
June 2, 1986 – Drafted Tommy Shields in the 15th round of the 1986 amateur draft.
June 2, 1986 – Drafted Jeff Banister in the 25th round of the 1986 amateur draft.
June 2, 1986 – Drafted Rick Reed in the 26th round of the 1986 amateur draft. Player signed July 2, 1986.
June 2, 1986 – Drafted Mike Mordecai in the 33rd round of the 1986 amateur draft, but did not sign the player.
July 13, 1986 – Signed Willie Smith as an amateur free agent.
July 23, 1986 – Released Lee Mazzilli.
July 23, 1986 – Traded José DeLeón to the Chicago White Sox. Received Bobby Bonilla.
July 30, 1986 – Signed Julio Peguero as an amateur free agent.
September 30, 1986 – Traded Jeff Zaske to the Texas Rangers. Received Randy Kramer.
October 11, 1986 – Signed Mike York as a free agent.
October 15, 1986 – Trench Davis granted free agency.
Johnson, Lloyd; Wolff, Miles, eds. (2007).The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball (3rd ed.). Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America.ISBN978-1-932391-17-6.