The MLB Trade Deadline is Tuesday, July 30th at 6:00 PM EST.
On Saturday, some of the biggest hitters went off the board, led by the Jazz Chisholm Jr. trade to the New York Yankees. Chisholm would have made a lot of sense for the Pittsburgh Pirates, as a guy who can play center field with plenty of offensive potential, and control through the 2026 season.
Based on the return that the Marlins got from the Yankees, a trade from the Pirates would have likely needed to include Termarr Johnson. The Marlins got three position players back in the deal, and the headliner of the trade had similar value to Johnson. The Pirates may have also needed to give up a Charles McAdoo type hitter, along with one other player lower in the rankings.
The Pirates don’t have a lot of hitting prospects in their system, with their strength being pitching. You can question the logic of trading multiple position player prospects to add one hitter to a bottom-five offense.
What you can’t question is that the Pirates need help for their offense.
Randy Arozarena went off the board in a trade to Seattle earlier this week, in a deal that included one position player, one pitcher, and a PTBNL. Because of the third part of that deal, it’s difficult to evaluate comparable trades today. As of now, Arozarena doesn’t look like he would have cost any of the top five prospects in the Pirates’ system.
On Saturday, outfielder Jesse Winker also went off the board, going to the Mets for pitching prospect Tyler Stuart. In Baseball America’s recent prospect ranking update, Stuart was ranked 23rd in the Mets system, with a 45/High grade. This type of prospect is right in the Pirates’ wheelhouse of depth.
Winker is batting .257/.374/.419 this year, but has taken a step forward since June, batting .287/.405/.456 over the last two months. He’s also on a one-year deal for $2 million. Between the salary and prospect return, Winker didn’t cost much. He wouldn’t have solved the center field issue, but he would have added a bat to the mix.
The Pirates have less than 60 hours to add a hitter from the outside to this offense. And this offense needs help, especially with injuries creeping up.
Nick Gonzales Goes Down
The Pirates are being hit with the injury bug lately. Rowdy Tellez went out with a back issue in Friday’s game against the Arizona Diamondbacks. On Saturday, Nick Gonzales left the game due to left groin discomfort, after pulling up in pain while running down to first base.
The team earlier this week lost Bryan Reynolds to the bereavement list, and prior to that, Reynolds missed a game with a back injury.
Reynolds has been the team’s best hitter all season. Tellez has been one of the best hitters since the start of June. Gonzales has been slumping since his early start, but still grades well as a clutch hitter in big situations.
For a team that needs offensive help, being without these three hitters is a big blow, especially when going up against a Wild Card contender in Arizona.
Trading From the Pitching?
The Pirates have opened the second half almost showcasing Martin Perez and Marco Gonzales. Perez started the first game of the second half, and will likely make his third start on Monday, ahead of the deadline. Gonzales started the third game, and made two starts before the deadline, including Saturday’s game against the Diamondbacks.
It’s unlikely the Pirates would get anything for either pitcher, other than salary relief and a minor return.
They might be able to get a bigger return by dealing from their bullpen. Aroldis Chapman would allow them to land a decent prospect or two, while unloading a few million in salary relief. Colin Holderman might have the most value.
Yesterday, the Rays traded Jason Adam to the Padres, getting back three players. All three ranked in the top 12 of the Padres updated farm system at Baseball America. The three players were RHP Dylan Lesko (55/Extreme), catcher JD Gonzalez (50/Extreme), and outfielder Homer Bush (45/High).
If the Pirates were to put together a similar package for a reliever with multiple years of control, they’d likely have to trade one of Braxton Ashcraft/Thomas Harrington, plus a Zander Mueth/Lonnie White/Keiner Delgado type prospect, and another pitcher inside their top 20.
Obviously the Pirates don’t need a reliever with multiple years of control. They do have such a reliever in Holderman, and could boost their farm system if they could find a similar return. This might also make it easier to trade from the farm to add offense.
The most long-term value that could come from this deadline would be trading from the bullpen. The short-term need is offense. The Pirates are going to have an interesting decision ahead of them in the next two days.
Draft Signing Deadline
The Pirates have signed 15 of their 21 draft picks from the 2024 MLB Draft. The deadline for teams to sign draft picks is on Thursday, August 1st at 5:00 PM EST. This comes two days after the MLB Trade Deadline, so this will be a busy week.
Among the players who have yet to sign are first rounder Konnor Griffin and second rounder Wyatt Sanford. Both are prep hitters who could boost the offensive talent in the Pirates’ system.
The Pirates have $150,600 to go over-slot without incurring a penalty. They can spend $850,625 over their bonus pool without losing a future draft pick. The Draft Pick Signing Tracker keeps account of all of the signings and bonus information.
Pirates Prospect Watch
The FCL Pirates won their semi-final game on Saturday in comeback fashion, advancing to the FCL Finals. They’ll play a best-of-three series against the FCL Tigers beginning on Sunday. Read about the game and all of Saturday’s minor league action in the latest Pirates Prospect Watch:
Pirates Prospect Watch: FCL Pirates Advance to the Championship Series
