Over the last week, Ben Cherington has been slowly turning over the roster. The impact of the moves thus far is likely to be very minimal.
Things were kicked off when Kevin Newman was traded to division rival, the Cincinnati Reds, for RHP Dauri Moreta. Tim Williams detailed the new Pittsburgh Pirates acquisition in his article The Mystery of Dauri Moreta’s Sinker.
My personal feelings about the trade are that it’s a bit of a head scratcher. It isn’t that I have a personal attachment to Newman. My issue is with the trading of a player with value — even if minimal in relation to rest of league — for the equivalent of another waiver wire pickup. I have a hard time calling middle infield a position of depth for the Pirates until it’s true. Until there are surefire starters, with an excelling prospect banging on the door, I personally can’t call it a position of depth. They have a lot of middle infield capable players, but none that have risen above everyone else yet.
A couple days later the Pirates added a right-handed reliever Nate Webb, who touches 100, but has battled injuries and control. It was a Minor League Deal, so it doesn’t have any implications on the 40-Man roster.
Then another couple days later, the Pirates added Lewin Diaz who had been placed on waivers by the Miami Marlins. This was then followed by Hoy Park being designated for assignment, who was subsequently traded to the Boston Red Sox for LHP Inmer Lobo — an 18 year old left-handed pitcher out of Venezuela.
So, the Pirates have made some moves, but none of them could be considered needle movers. There is still a strong possibility that the Front Office will roll into the 2023 season without any ground shaking moves, in which case some of the prospects picked for Thursday’s Second Half Surge Roundtable could be some names to keep an eye on for next year.
It has been strenuous following the Pirates, and we really have no other choice than to trust the process and hope it all pans out. The Prospect’s also need to trust the process, as Anthony Murphy writes about Jared Jones’ development.
Hopefully everyone had a great Thanksgiving and has recovered from their food coma. We’re only a couple weeks away now from the draft lottery, as well as the Rule 5 draft.
