At this year’s trade deadline, the Pittsburgh Pirates paid half of Martin Perez’s remaining salary to get LHP Ronaldys Jimenez back in the trade.
The 18-year-old Jimenez was signed by the Padres last June, and had three starts in his pro debut this year. Spanning six innings in those three starts, he allowed one run on two hits, with two walks and eight strikeouts. One of those outings came on July 17th against the DSL Pirates Black, when Jimenez tossed two perfect innings, striking out three. The Pirates paid half of Perez’s salary because they liked what they saw from the young lefty.
On Friday night, Jimenez made his debut in the Pirates system, tossing three no-hit, shutout innings, with four strikeouts and three walks. Stats in the Dominican league shouldn’t be treated as gospel, especially across nine innings. Scouting metrics aren’t readily available. This is a case where the Pirates liked a player, and the early numbers back up their interest. All we really have to go on is that interest.
There is the concept of “sunk cost” with Perez’s salary. The Pirates were going to be paying him anyway, so covering half of his salary to get a long-term guy they liked isn’t the same as signing Jimenez to a seven-figure deal. That said, if the Pirates signed Jimenez for $1.3 million, he’d be getting a lot of attention for this early start.
Above all, the Pirates got a lottery ticket type player to develop, in a trade for a big league starter who had no trade value.
This isn’t the first time this has happened.
It’s not even the first time this has happened with the Padres.
