The Major League Baseball trade deadline is tomorrow (July 30th) at 6:00PM Eastern. Normally, at this time of year, the Pittsburgh Pirates are expected to look to the future, to trade current assets for prospects that are a couple years away from hopefully contributing positively to the product on the field. I say hopefully, of course, because prospects in baseball are often a crapshoot, and the Pirates are generally pretty bad at developing them.
To be honest, though, I expect[ed] this season to be slightly different. The Pirates are 53-52 and a mere two games out of a playoff spot at the time of writing. This is with Jared Jones and Bailey Falter spending extended periods of time on the injured list, an outfield that consistently has had permutations of Jack Suwinski, Connor Joe, Michael A. Taylor, Joshua Palacios, and Edward Olivares (who have a collective bWAR of -0.8), and a front office that has not shown a willingness to spend money in my lifetime. The team has been buoyed by Paul Skenes’ NL Rookie of the Year campaign, Rowdy Tellez and Bryan Reynolds getting hot as the weather warmed up (Tellez: .925 OPS in June and 1.014 in July, Reynolds: .992 OPS in June and .987 in July), and O’Neil Cruz’s post-all-star break heater (he has 9 RBIs and a 1.128 OPS in 39 plate appearances in the nine games since the break).
One would think that this would be the time for management to pounce. The Buccos’ best assets are all under team control for the foreseeable future: Reynolds is signed through 2031. Mitch Keller and his 3.30 ERA is under contract through 2028. David Bednar, the two-time all-star at the back end of the bullpen, has two more years of arbitration left on his contract before it expires. Skenes has two years before he even gets to arbitration unless he wins an individual award, which would make him eligible for the process a year earlier. The same is true of Jones, but he will not be a candidate for ROTY. Cruz has one more year of pre-arbitration before he is eligible for the process. All of the major cogs in the Pirates’ success thus far (Rowdy Tellez and the occasional random savior notwithstanding) are set to be in Pittsburgh for next season and beyond, barring any trades.
Other teams in the NL Central have made big moves approaching the deadline. The Cubs acquired third-baseman Isaac Paredes from the Rays for Christopher Morel and two prospects, and the Cardinals received utility man Tommy Edman and resurgent pitcher Erick Fedde from the White Sox in a three-team deal. The Cubs are tied for last place in the division, three games behind the Pirates.
Look, I understand that the prices for some players may be too high. The Rays received three top-15 prospects from the Padres in return for relief pitcher Jason Adam. But, if the Pirates are looking to improve their outfield–which, if Bryan Reynolds is excluded, has a collective wins above replacement of -0.8–they do not have to acquire a superstar. The Mets acquired Jesse Winker (who has a bWAR of 2.0 ON HIS OWN) from the Nationals for the 17th-ranked prospect in their own organization. Coming into the season, the Mets’ organization was ranked 13th by MLB Pipeline, below the 9th spot that the Pirates held. Are you telling me that Cherington and his lackeys could not meet that asking price???
That is not the only example of an immediate upgrade not costing much. Randy Arozarena (0.7 bWAR) was traded from the Rays to the Mariners for the latter’s 12th and 22nd-ranked prospects. The Mariners’ farm system is also worse than that of the Buccos, weighing in at 18th on MLB Pipeline’s pre-season rankings.
As of right now, the only trade the Pirates have made is trading former first-round pick Quinn Priester, who has struggled since being promoted to the major leagues last year (-1.3 career bWAR, 6.46 career ERA, 1.585 career WHIP) for the Red Sox 6th-ranked prospect, infielder Nick Yorke, who has a 0.898 OPS in AAA in 38 games. While I do not dislike the trade, it is hardly a move that makes the team better this season.
I implore you, Mr. Cherington–either buy, or sell. Standing pat is the worst possible thing you can do. It accomplishes NOTHING. It does not help you build for the future–which seems to be all that you care about, by the way–nor does it help this current team make a playoff push in 2024. Wake up and read the room. This is year five, and it is about time that you accomplish something in your tenure besides reciting platitudes on 93.7.