If the Pirates were going to make a splash at the 2024 MLB Trade Deadline, my preference would have been for them to acquire Jazz Chisholm Jr. The New York Yankees ended up landing Chisholm, in a deal that likely would have cost the Pirates at least one top prospect like Termarr Johnson.
The Pirates ended up making several smaller deals, saving their top prospects in the process, while increasing their depth of options on offense.
Outfielder Bryan De La Cruz and utility infielder Isiah Kiner-Falefa were the biggest additions to the offense. They added a second left-handed reliever in Monday’s Jalen Beeks trade. The Pirates also boosted their depth in Triple-A with the addition of infielder Nick Yorke, utility player Billy Cook, and left-handed reliever Josh Walker.
Martin Perez was traded in a salary dump move, which offsets almost all of the salary the Pirates took on with De La Cruz, Kiner-Falefa, and Beeks.
On the prospect front, the Pirates dealt five players in my July top 50 rankings update. Infielder Charles McAdoo (9th) was the most significant player on the move, joined by RHP Patrick Reilly (11th), RHP Jun-Seok Shim (24th), LHP Luis Peralta (37th), and infielder Garret Forrester (50th). They also traded RHP Quinn Priester, who isn’t a prospect.
In total, the Pirates made seven trades over the last two days, boosting their offensive depth at the Major League and Triple-A levels, while breaking even on the salary front, and not losing much overall on the prospect front. To make sense of the flurry of trades, let’s break them down one at a time.
Bryan De La Cruz Added to the Outfield
If there’s one thing Bryan De La Cruz can bring to the Pirates’ lineup, it’s power.
The outfielder hit 18 home runs with the Marlins this year, though the power was empty, with a .245 average and a .289 on-base percentage. His wOBA is .305 and his wRC+ is 96, which are in line with the career totals for the 27-year-old outfielder, and slightly below MLB averages. Those numbers would rank sixth among this year’s Pirates’ offense.
De La Cruz essentially gives the Pirates an outfielder on par with Jack Suwinski’s career numbers, before Suwinski’s struggles this year.
Under team control through the 2027 season, De La Cruz will become arbitration eligible for the first time in the coming offseason. If the Pirates can get more from his offense, there’s some long-term upside here.
I’m not a fan of the offense under hitting coach Andy Haines, but the trends could be beneficial to the new outfielder. De La Cruz swings at 53.7% of pitches, which is above-average. This comes with above-average chase rates, and well-above average swings in the zone. He’s below-average on contact in the zone, while making average contact on chases. The strategy from Haines typically leads to hitters eliminating pitches and reducing their swing rate. This could work well for De La Cruz, to strategically cut down on his above-average 13.1% swinging strike rate, along with his 26% strikeout rate.
Defensively, De La Cruz has horrible range, but a plus arm. He’s been a poor defender in left and center field, but could fit well in the smaller right field at PNC Park, allowing his arm strength to provide value.
The Pirates sent RHP Jun-Seok Shim and infielder Garret Forrester to Miami in the deal. I like this return for both sides.
Shim has a lot of upside, with a big time arm from the 20-year-old who signed out of Korea for $750,000 in January 2023. I’ve heard nothing but great things about Shim, which made him a top 20 prospect in my rankings heading into the year. He dropped to 24 in my latest update, due to being out all season with a shoulder injury. This was related to a thoracic muscle injury that limited him to eight innings in rookie ball last year.
At this point, Shim is nothing but upside, and there’s a lot of upside. The question is whether he can stay on the field long enough to capitalize on that. He’s one of the higher ceiling guys the Pirates had in the lower levels, but also one of their riskiest pitching prospects. For a system so rich in pitching, with no real need at the Major League level in the near-future, this is exactly the type of player you deal away.
I wasn’t a big believer in Forrester, who was drafted in the third round last year out of Oregon State. Selected as a corner infielder, the Pirates were converting him to catcher this year in Single-A, where his hitting profile plays better. Forrester doesn’t hit for power, and gets value at the plate from his swing decisions and plate patience. This led to a .273/.413/.382 line in Bradenton, with Forrester being limited to 138 plate appearances after an injury.
It’s a long-shot that Forrester could provide more than a serviceable depth option in the majors. He’d either need to develop power to have value at the corners, or would need to develop as a Major League catcher, with his contact and on-base skills playing up.
Quick Trade Recap: The Pirates traded two long-shot prospects — one with a high ceiling and high risk, another with a low ceiling and a higher floor — and got a power hitting outfielder who can upgrade their offense, with three more years of control beyond 2024.
Isiah Kiner-Falefa Added to the Infield
With Nick Gonzales going down with a groin injury last week, the Pirates’ offense had even more of a need for an upgrade. In the biggest move ahead of the deadline, the Pirates traded for Blue Jays utility player Isiah Kiner-Falefa. They sent away Charles McAdoo, one of their biggest rising prospects this year.
Kiner-Falefa is currently on the injured list, out since July 2nd with a right knee sprain. He was set to begin his rehab work this week, and was expected back as soon as Friday.
Signed to a two-year, $15 million deal this past offseason, Kiner-Falefa is having the best offensive season of his career. He was hitting .292/.338/.420 in 281 plate appearances for the Blue Jays, with his best power numbers of his career, but a reduction in steals. What really stands out is his plate patience, with just a 4.8% swinging strike rate and a 13.2% strikeout rate.
Defensively, he’s played all over the field, getting most of his time between second base, shortstop, and third, with positive defensive value at each infield position. He’s also played all three outfield spots over the last two seasons, showing passable defense. He’s better as an infield option.
If the offense holds up, Kiner-Falefa could be a useful bench player on a playoff contender. His .331 wOBA and 116 wRC+ would rank top four among Pirates hitters this year. His career .295/85 ranks below-average, but would still rank 8th among 2024 Pirates hitters with 100+ plate appearances if he were to regress. Those career numbers are in line with what Gonzales was doing in 267 plate appearances this year.
The 1-for-1 swap sent Charles McAdoo to Toronto, in the biggest prospect loss the Pirates paid at the deadline. McAdoo was my early pick for the Minor League Player of the Year award over at Baseball America, after combining for a .315/.394/.538 line with 14 homers, 21 doubles, and 17 stolen bases between High-A Greensboro and Double-A Altoona.
Drafted in the 13th round last year out of San Jose State, McAdoo has done nothing but hit in pro ball. His offense has declined a bit since the move to Double-A, with a .269/.347/.490 line and five homers in 118 plate appearances. Those are still promising numbers for a 22-year-old who was also learning third base this season.
In my latest prospect rankings, I had McAdoo ranked as the ninth best prospect in the system. The grade assumed his hitting was legitimate, profiling him as a future Major League starter who could arrive in late 2025 or 2026. The arrival would be earlier if he stuck to right field and maintained his hitting consistency. For a system thin at position player talent, especially in the upper levels, the loss of McAdoo hurts more than the loss of the upside from a pitcher like Shim.
That said, the Pirates may have replaced McAdoo in an earlier trade, which I’ll detail below.
Quick Trade Recap: IKF gives the Pirates a super-utility player through 2025, while giving the Pirates a replacement for Gonzales at second base in the short-term. They gave up their biggest breakout prospect this year in McAdoo, but may have found a way to replace him in another deal.
Martin Perez Salary Dumped
Over the last month, there was some public debate played out in the Pittsburgh media questioning whether Pirates General Manager Ben Cherington had money to spend at this deadline. Pirates owner Bob Nutting said that the team had resources to spend, and I question what that means. Did Cherington have continuous resources in 2024 and beyond, or did he have limited long-term resources that he could choose to spend in 2024?
The trades at the deadline point to the likely reality that Cherington was financially hamstrung. This is shown with the Martin Perez deal.
Perez was dealt to the San Diego Padres in a move that was little more than a salary dump. The Pirates added 18-year-old Dominican lefty Ronaldys Jimenez, who has pitched all of six innings at the lowest rookie level. The real benefit is the salary relief from Perez.
Signed to a one-year, $8 million deal this past offseason, Perez was due about $2.6 million for the remainder of the season. The financial additions of De La Cruz and Kiner-Falefa amount to about $2.7 million for the remainder of the season. The Pirates did take on $7.5 million for Kiner-Falefa in 2025, but that’s part of next year’s budget.
Alex Stumpf reports that the Pirates sent cash in the deal for Perez, but received cash for Kiner-Falefa. Dejan Kovacevic reports the Pirates are paying half of his remaining salary, because their scouts wanted Jimenez in the deal.
Without any financial moves, the Pirates would have been taking on no more than $600,000 for the remainder of the season, after all of their trades. It’s likely that they managed the financial side to be a wash, with no added payroll at the deadline.
Perez was signed to give the 2024 rotation a veteran lefty, but he was expendable by the time the deadline rolled around. The Pirates’ rotation has been led by rookies Paul Skenes and Jared Jones, who have joined emerging top-25 starter Mitch Keller to frontline a trio that could look dangerous in the playoffs. Perez spent time on the injured list this year, and in his absence, 25-year-old Luis Ortiz has emerged as another rotation option.
In addition to Perez, the Pirates added lefty Marco Gonzales over the offseason, who remained with the team through the deadline. They also have left-hander Bailey Falter, added at last year’s deadline, and putting up a great season this year in the rotation. Their depth options from Triple-A include right-hander Jake Woodford, who was called up before Tuesday’s game, along with right-hander Domingo German.
At best, Perez ranked as the number seven option in the Pirates’ rotation this year going forward, with his value being that he could provide innings and leadership. This young rotation doesn’t look like it needs the leadership, and they still get that from Gonzales. The best thing the Pirates could do with Perez at this deadline was offload his salary, with hopes of getting a lower level flier they really liked. That’s what they did.
Quick Trade Recap: The Pirates traded from their rotation depth, getting salary relief that helped to offset the financial additions of their other deadline trades. They also got a lefty in the Dominican Summer League, who might be a footnote in future Pirates Prospect Watch updates.
Cooking Up Some Depth
In a rare prospect-for-prospect deal, the Pirates traded right-handed pitcher Patrick Reilly to the Orioles, adding upper-level utility player Billy Cook.
Reilly was drafted in the fifth round in 2023 out of Vanderbilt, and was making his pro debut in the Pirates’ system at High-A Greensboro this year. He was leading the minor league system in strikeouts, with 108 in 88 innings, in which he had a 3.30 ERA.
Throwing a mid-90s fastball and two variations of a slider, Reilly did well to control his pace on the mound and mix his pitches up to keep hitters guessing. The stuff and early results had him rated as the number 11 prospect in my latest update, though he needs to be tested in the upper-levels. Reilly did improve his control as the season went on, which was a big thing holding him back.
Cook gives the Pirates some upper-level depth, with a chance to boost a banged up outfield. He’s spent time this year at first, second, third, and all three outfield spots. Cook was hitting .279/.372/.485 with 11 homers and 12 stolen bases in Triple-A for the Orioles.
Prior to the season, Cook was rated a top 30 prospect in the Baltimore system by MLB Pipeline. He has plus raw power potential, and showed that last year with 24 homers at the Double-A level. He’s also a plus runner, stealing 30 bases last year. Cook has the potential to be an average fielder, with a plus arm that could play anywhere in the outfield. His lowest marks come from the hit tool, which grades below-average due to historical swing and miss. He was improving in that area, dropping from a 31.8% strikeout rate in 2022, to a 25% rate last year, and 22.7% in Triple-A this year.
Drafted in the tenth round in 2021, Cook is in his age-25 season, which is older than the 22-year-old Reilly. Cook has shown improvements to his game, with all of his tools showing up in the stat line in the upper levels. Reilly has also improved, but is untested in the upper levels.
The Pirates sent Cook to Triple-A, where he will give them a depth option going forward.
Quick Trade Recap: Reilly was one of the biggest breakouts in the system on the pitching side, but the Pirates have a lot of pitching prospects. What they don’t have is quality upper-level depth for the outfield. Cook might be able to provide that, with an intriguing power/speed combo, defense in the outfield, and the hope that he’s figuring out the swing-and-miss to elevate his hit tool.
Offsetting McAdoo?
The first trade made by the Pirates ahead of the deadline might have been a precursor to the moves that followed. On Monday, the Pirates sent right-handed pitcher Quinn Priester to the Boston Red Sox, receiving 22-year-old infielder Nick Yorke in return.
Priester, like Perez, was a trade from the Pirates’ strong pitching depth. There’s a chance the Red Sox could turn Priester around, as they have had success improving pitchers with bad fastballs. Priester is also in his age-23 season, so he’s got plenty of time to improve.
For the remainder of this year, Priester would have been the eighth-best starting option for the Pirates, and likely not much better than Woodford or German. With the eventual return of RHP Johan Oviedo, and the presence of top pitching prospects Bubba Chandler, Braxton Ashcraft, and Thomas Harrington in the upper-levels, Priester would have been the seventh best rotation option on Opening Day next year, with a good chance of moving down on that list by next year’s trade deadline.
In return, the Pirates got 22-year-old infielder Nick Yorke, who you could argue is a similar value to Charles McAdoo. Yorke was rated as the 14th best prospect in the Red Sox system in the Baseball America deadline update, with the same 45/High grade they gave McAdoo — who they rated 12th in the Pirates’ system. Before today’s trades, my initial ranking of Yorke in the Pirates’ system had him slightly ahead of McAdoo, inside the top ten.
What I like about Yorke is that he’s made some positive adjustments to his swing and approach over the last two seasons. The biggest change this year has been a lowering of his hands, and an approach to focus on hitting the ball to right-center, rather than a pull-heavy approach.
Since those changes, Yorke is batting .310/.408/.490 in 169 plate appearances at the Triple-A level. He’s also cut down on his strikeouts this year, from 24% in Double-A to 18.9% in Triple-A. Furthermore, he’s putting up a 14.2% walk rate in Triple-A, which is the best mark of his career.
Another way of looking at the trades over the last two days is that the Pirates dealt Priester for Kiner-Falefa, while swapping the similarly-valued and same-age McAdoo and Yorke. The benefit to the prospect swap is that Yorke is already producing results in Triple-A, while McAdoo is just getting his feet wet in Double-A. For me, this eases and possibly eliminates the loss of McAdoo, who was the only prospect that it hurt to see on the move.
Quick Trade Recap: Before the Pirates added Kiner-Falefa, this move looked like more of a long-term move with some short-term potential. After the IKF trade, the Pirates can focus on the long-term with Yorke, which is similar upside to McAdoo, with an earlier ETA to the majors. Priester could have success in Boston, but the Pirates traded from strong depth to get this series of trades rolling.
Boosting the Lefty Relief Group
In the last week, the Pirates shut down the rehab work of left-hander Ryan Borucki, while outrighting Josh Fleming to the minors and watching him elect free agency.
On Monday, they acquired left-handed reliever Jalen Beeks from the Colorado Rockies. On Tuesday, they added lefty Josh Walker from the New York Mets.
The Pirates sent left-handed relief prospect Luis Peralta in the deal for Beeks, which was a high cost for such a rental. Peralta was having a breakout season in Greensboro and Altoona, combining for an 0.91 ERA in 39.2 innings, with a whopping 64 strikeouts. The younger brother of Freddy Peralta was in his first year as a reliever, looking like a future Major League option with a mid-90s fastball and a promising slider/changeup secondary combo.
The loss of Peralta hurts less in the aftermath of the trades. The relief market was expensive at the deadline this year, and the Pirates paid their price for Beeks, who will likely replace Borucki. The Pirates shut down Borucki with a complicated nerve issue, and there’s no telling when he could return.
Walker was a minor deal, with the Pirates sending out Dominican lefty Nicolas Carreno. The move replaces their lefty depth out of Triple-A, with a need created by Fleming electing free agency. They also replaced their lefty DSL pitcher in the Perez trade.
The best move the Pirates made is the one they didn’t make. They held onto lefty setup man Aroldis Chapman, maintaining their strong late inning trio of Chapman, Colin Holderman, and closer David Bednar. Chapman was the Pirates’ biggest offseason addition, receiving $10.5 million, which seems like a lot. Considering the cost of similar relief options at the deadline, the Pirates saved some serious prospect capital by spending money on a quality reliever before the season.
Quick Trade Recap: Jalen Beeks replaces Ryan Borucki. Josh Walker replaces Josh Fleming. And they’re both the second/third options behind the retained Aroldis Chapman. The Pirates might miss Luis Peralta long-term as an internal lefty relief option, but the hope would be that Borucki eventually returns healthy to maintain an above-average option beyond 2024.
Prospect Fallout
The biggest trend across the league was that zero of Baseball America’s top 100 prospects were traded.
There were a few guys on the fringe of the rankings who were moved. The Pirates could have likely had their pick of trade returns if they dealt Bubba Chandler, and that may also be true if they decided to trade Termarr Johnson, Braxton Ashcraft, or Thomas Harrington.
Instead, they kept their top prospects, like the rest of the league, while managing to add to their prospect depth.
The best prospect the Pirates traded was Charles McAdoo, but he was offset by the addition of Nick Yorke.
Patrick Reilly was traded for a lower-ranked and older Billy Cook, while transferring some of their lower-level pitching prospect depth to upper-level MLB hitting depth. They addressed a system need with this swap.
They traded a Dominican lefty to get a lefty relief depth option in Josh Walker, but got another Dominican lefty they liked in the Perez trade.
The net loss was Jun-Seok Shim, Luis Peralta, and Garret Forrester. None of them ranked higher than 24th in my rankings, and the highest ceiling of the group, Shim, wouldn’t have been in the majors until the end of the decade.
That’s good maneuvering to maintain the top prospects, and maintain the system depth, all while boosting the MLB and Triple-A hitting options.
An Overall Upgrade For the Pirates
The Pirates needed hitting. They didn’t just need one bat. They needed a lot of options. That’s what they got from this deadline, even if they didn’t add an impact hitter.
Bryan De La Cruz might just be power-only, and his defense could play up in the short right field at PNC Park. He’s still a better option than most of the outfielders the Pirates have put on the field, with three more years of control beyond 2024.
Isiah Kiner-Falefa is having a career year at the plate, and if he continues, he’ll be a huge boost to the offense. Even if he regresses, his career numbers would be a top nine result. He can fill in for Nick Gonzales in the short-term, and provide a contending-level bench option to pair with Connor Joe later in the season.
The upper level depth received a boost, with Nick Yorke and Billy Cook added to the Triple-A squad. Cook is three years older than Yorke, and will probably get the priority call-up if this year’s offensive surge continues to look real. With the addition of IKF, the Pirates don’t need to rush Yorke, but get an improved hitting infielder to provide an option at second over the next two years, in the event that Gonzales doesn’t work out while waiting for Termarr Johnson.
The finances were a wash, with the Pirates hardly seeing an impact to their payroll, after some crafty financial moves.
From a prospect standpoint, they didn’t see much of a hit to their system, helped by trading Quinn Priester from their MLB rotation depth to offset the later deal that sent away breakout hitter Charles McAdoo. The biggest long-term guy they traded was Jun-Seok Shim, but he’s an extreme risk guy, due to injury problems the last two years.
Finally, they boosted their left-handed pitching depth, while keeping the biggest option of all in Chapman. They also kept Michael A. Taylor, who is one of the best defensive outfielders in the game, and who has been heating up at the plate during the month of July. With the outfield additions, there is less pressure on Taylor to perform, which means any continued offense would be a bonus to boost the offensive depth.
If the Pirates made a splash for someone like Chisholm, it would have been easy to grade this deadline as a massive win. There would also be some discussion about the long-term impact they’d feel from the prospects they traded away.
Instead, they got crafty, upgrading the roster with several options for 2024 and beyond, while keeping the payroll at the same level, and hardly losing much from their prospect depth.
This overall approach is a win from me, as someone who believes that Ben Cherington is likely working with limited resources that he’d rather spend in future years. The Pirates got their upgrades this year, while saving money and prospects for upgrades to future teams.
