Today at 4 PM is the non-waiver trade deadline. We have seen a lot of big trades already around the majors, but today is usually the busiest day. I’d like to point out in advance that just because the deadline is 4 PM, it doesn’t mean that we will hear everything by that time. Plenty of trades get announced after the deadline, sometimes as late as 6 PM, so it’s best to wait for the team to actually announce that they are done before assessing what they did. (Update: I wrote this up before they decided to make a trade in the middle of the night, but that doesn’t affect a recap article)
I wanted to look over the trades made on July 31st by the Pittsburgh Pirates since 2008. I won’t go into a lot of detail because most people here remember the players involved. Plus there are a lot of trades to mention, so it would take forever if I dissected every deal now. Here’s the year-by-year breakdown of what happened on July 31st.
2008 – Jason Bay for Brandon Moss, Craig Hansen, Andy LaRoche and Bryan Morris. This trade certainly looked a lot better on the day it happened than it does now. Even with Moss having some big home run seasons after he left the Pirates, he still finished his career with 4.6 WAR over 11 seasons.
2009 – No deals on July 31st. They were busy with trades that year, but they were all done in the days before the deadline. Pirates got Josh Harrison that year and a bunch of other players who didn’t pan out, giving up Jack Wilson, Ian Snell, Freddy Sanchez and John Grabow.
2010 – Pirates made three deals at the deadline. Best one was Octavio Dotel for James McDonald and Andrew Lambo. Javier Lopez helped the Giants with the World Series, while the Pirates received almost nothing from Joe Martinez and John Bowker in return, but Lopez was a situational lefty and an upcoming free agent, so he didn’t have great trade value. The big deal, at least with the amount of players, was DJ Carrasco, Ryan Church and Bobby Crosby for Pedro Ciriaco and Chris Snyder. That turned out to just be a lot of noise for both sides.
2011 – The only deal on the 31st was purchasing Ryan Ludwick from the Padres. The day before they acquired Derrek Lee from the Orioles for minor league first baseman Aaron Baker, who was a marginal prospect at the time and never made it to the majors. Lee put up a .982 OPS, then never played in the majors again. Ludwick had a .671 OPS during his short stay.
2012 – The Pirates acquired Gaby Sanchez from the Marlins and Chad Qualls from the Yankees. They gave up Gorkys Hernandez and Casey McGehee in those deals. They also received minor league pitcher Kyle Kaminska from the Marlins. Sanchez stuck around for two more seasons, but never hit like he did in 2010-11, which was what made him intriguing at the time of the deal. Qualls was awful in his brief time with the team, posting a 6.59 ERA in 13.2 innings.
2013 – They got Robert Andino from the Mariners and he ended up playing exclusively in Indianapolis through the end of the 2014 season. They also released Brandon Inge the next day. Not exactly their best work, but they made the playoffs, so no one seemed to mind.
2014 – Another quiet 31st hidden by the playoff run. They got Angel Sanchez on waivers that day and he eventually played for them, just not in 2014.
2015 – JA Happ was acquired on the 31st for Adrian Sampson. This trade worked out great for the Pirates with Happ pitching well and Sampson blowing out his elbow while warming up for his second big league start. The Pirates also swapped bad contracts, Getting Mike Morse for Jose Tabata. They made two significant deals days before getting Joe Blanton and Joakim Soria. If you go back to eight days earlier, they got Aramis Ramirez.
2016 – Nothing happened on the 31st because the deadline was pushed back to the 1st due to the weekend. They traded Mark Melancon for Felipe Rivero, who eventually got them Felipe Vasquez. They also received Taylor Hearn. They traded for Ivan Nova, giving up Stephen Tarpley (who got injured) and Tito Polo. They also swapped bad deals with Jon Niese and Antonio Bastardo from the Mets.
Then they miraculously ended up not losing the Francisco Liriano/Reese McGuire/Harold Ramirez deal for Drew Hutchison. Liriano got paid a lot of money ($13.7 M) in 2017 to pitch poorly. Ramirez needed major knee surgery after getting hurt in his first game after the trade, and McGuire got injured right after the deal as well, then he had knee surgery in 2017. It took a lot of bad things to happen, but somehow the Pirates came out ahead in what looked like a horrible deal, even with getting almost nothing from Hutchison. McGuire is only 23, on the 40-man roster and could still eventually have value due to his defense, but I’m always leery about knee surgeries for young catchers.
2017 – Tony Watson for Oneil Cruz and Angel German could turn out great one day for the Pirates if Cruz continues to develop with the bat, regardless of what position he ends up playing. Joaquin Benoit for Seth McGarry will always be something that the human race can never explain.
TODAY’S SCHEDULE
Today’s Starter and Notes: The Pittsburgh Pirates had off yesterday. They now play a two-game series against the Chicago Cubs at PNC Park. Jameson Taillon will get the start, coming off of his last outing on July 25th when he gave up two runs over seven innings against the Cleveland Indians. The Cubs will counter with left-hander Jon Lester, who has a 3.06 ERA in 120.2 innings, with 96 strikeouts and a 1.23 WHIP. His last start against the Pirates was seven shutout innings on one hit back in June. Before that, Lester allowed eight runs over 11 innings in two starts versus the Pirates.
The minor league schedule includes Braxton Ashcraft, who is set to go today during the GCL Pirates doubleheader. It will be the pro debut for the second round pick. Clay Holmes goes for Indianapolis. He threw seven shutout innings last time out. Altoona’s Cam Vieaux has allowed 14 earned runs in his last 21.1 innings (four starts). West Virginia’s Hunter Stratton has allowed three runs over his last 12 innings. Sixth round pick Michael Flynn possibly goes for Morgantown tonight. He has allowed one run over his last nine innings. Their website had Flynn for yesterday and Zach Spears for today before Spears ended up starting yesterday. No starters are listed for Bristol (I left Sunday’s originally listed starter) or Bradenton, so MiLB is having some issues.
MLB: Pittsburgh (55-52) vs Cubs (61-44) 7:05 PM
Probable starter: Jameson Taillon (3.73 ERA, 114:32 SO/BB, 118.1 IP)
AAA: Indianapolis (59-48) @ Columbus (55-51) 7:05 PM (season preview)
Probable starter: Clay Holmes (3.36 ERA, 84:33 SO/BB, 80.1 IP)
AA: Altoona (56-47) @ Harrisburg (53-51) 6:30 PM (season preview)
Probable starter: Cam Vieaux (3.21 ERA, 41:11 SO/BB, 53.1 IP)
High-A: Bradenton (48-51) vs St Lucie (40-62) 6:30 PM (season preview)
Probable starter: TBD (0.00 ERA, 0:0 SO/BB, 0.0 IP)
Low-A: West Virginia (53-49) @ Columbia (49-54) 7:05 PM (season preview)
Probable starter: Hunter Stratton (5.05 ERA, 62:36 SO/BB, 67.2 IP)
Short-Season A: Morgantown (16-27) @ Auburn (22-19) 6:30 PM (season preview)
Probable starter: Michael Flynn (5.94 ERA, 17:4 SO/BB, 16.2 IP)
Rookie: Bristol (17-20) vs Bluefield (23-16) 7:00 PM (season preview)
Probable starter: Oliver Garcia (9.00 ERA, 15:19 SO/BB, 22.0 IP)
GCL: Pirates (13-18) vs Yankees East 10:00 AM DH (season preview)
DSL: Pirates1 (23-26) vs Red Sox2 10:30 AM (season preview)
DSL: Pirates2 (20-29) vs Giants 10:30 AM (season preview)
HIGHLIGHTS
From Saturday, highlights from Indianapolis and Morgantown. Here’s Jacob Stallings, who doubled twice in this game.
Here’s 25th round pick Luke Mangieri hitting his second homer.
RECENT TRANSACTIONS
7/29: Ben Bengtson and Rodolfo Castro placed on disabled list. Raul Siri and Jhoan Herrera added to West Virginia roster.
7/29: Erich Weiss activated from Indianapolis disabled list.
7/28: Pirates sign Justin Morris.
7/28: Josh Smoker claimed off waivers by Detroit Tigers
7/28: Josh Bell placed on disabled list. Jose Osuna recalled from Indianapolis.
7/28: Corey Dickerson placed on disabled list. Austin Meadows recalled from Indianapolis.
7/27: Pirates option Michael Feliz to Indianapolis. Recall Alex McRae
7/27: Jin-De Jhang assigned to Morgantown on rehab.
7/26: Deon Stafford placed on disabled list. Rafelin Lorenzo activated from West Virginia DL.
7/26: Francisco Cervelli activated from DL. Jacob Stalling optioned to Indianapolis.
7/25: Pirates recall Adam Frazier. Casey Sadler optioned to Indianapolis.
7/24: Erich Weiss assigned to Morgantown on rehab.
7/23: Cody Bolton placed on disabled list. Oddy Nunez demoted to West Virginia.
7/23: Pirates select contract of Casey Sadler. Max Moroff optioned to Indianapolis. Josh Smoker designated for assignment.
7/23: Nick Burdi assigned to Altoona on rehab.
7/23: Jacob Webb promoted to Bristol. Juan Henriquez assigned to GCL Pirates from Morgantown.
7/23: Will Gardner promoted to Morgantown.
7/22: Bralin Jackson placed on Altoona disabled list.
7/21: Christopher Bostick activated from Indianapolis disabled list. Alfredo Reyes assigned to Altoona.
THIS DATE IN PIRATES HISTORY
Seven former Pittsburgh Pirates players born on this date, plus 17 trades of note between 1987 and 2011. Also an impressive debut during a season the Pirates won the NL East. Because there are so many trades of note and they have all been covered before, I encourage you to check this link for the full rundown. I was going to copy and paste it, but it’s a long list.
First the game, and Tim Wakefield made his Major League debut on this date in 1992, defeating the Cardinals by a 3-2 score. He pitched a complete game, striking out ten batters. Wakefield threw 146 pitches, both runs were unearned and Barry Bonds hit a two-run homer. More on this game inside the link above, along with a boxscore.
The seven players born on this date include:
JJ Furmaniak, infielder for the 2005 club
Mike Bielecki, starting pitcher for the 1984-87 Pirates and the team’s first round pick in 1979.
Frank Brosseau, pitcher for the team in 1969 and 1971. Made one appearance during that World Series winning season.
Vic Davalillo, 1B/OF for the 1971-73 Pirates. Hit .285 in 99 games during the 1971 season.
Elmer Riddle, pitcher from 1948 until 1949. Won 12 games in 1948 and threw 191 innings, but a leg injury ruined his 1949 season. His brother Johnny was his teammate on the 1948 Pirates.
Erv Kantlehner, pitcher from 1914 until 1916. Threw a four-hit shutout in his pro debut, yet issued seven walks.
Joe Sugden, catcher from 1894 until 1897. Went nine seasons in a row without hitting a homer. Played in famous 1912 Tigers game, in which the team protested Ty Cobb’s suspension, so they filled out the lineup with amateurs and coaches. That game happened seven years after his Major League career ended. Tigers lost 24-2.
