Pirates busy at MLB Trade Deadline, ready for playoff push

I’m still waiting for the team to trade Rowdy Tellez… but at least we can be happy about Bryan De La Cruz.

The MLB Trade Deadline has come and gone, and this year saw the Pirates make several moves to build upon the team that is currently sitting two games over .500, and is just two games back in the NL Wild Card race. Moves were made to further ensure the team’s bullpen, while also adding some bats to help bolster what has been an overall weak team at the plate.

Perhaps the biggest move came in the waining hours of the deadline when the Bucs acquired Bryan De La Cruz from the Miami Marlins. The Pirates are getting a quality corner outfielder who is under team control for the next three seasons, which could prove to be a pivotal move as Pittsburgh looks to continue building upon the team that they have now. De La Cruz is currently hitting .245/.289/.419 with a .706 OPS, while also tallying 18 home runs, and 51 RBIs. A solid piece for the offense no doubt that ranks near the bottom of baseball in team batting average, the Pirates came up big with this move.

The Pirates continued to get younger as they traded away 33-year old starter Martín Pérez for the Padres 18-year old pitching prospect Ronaldys Jimenez. Perez has not lived up to the hype that came with the signing of a World-Series champion pitcher, but at the very least the team added yet another young arm to their Minor League system.

A lot of the moves that were made by the club during the deadline involved adding arms to their bullpen. In a deal with the Mets, they acquired lefty Josh Walker, who was just designated for assignment by New York. They added another lefty as a trade with the Rockies yielded Jalen Beeks.

In an effort to round out their lineup, Pittsburgh also looked to add to their offense by acquiring experienced hitter and superutilityman Isiah Kiner-Falefa. A .292 average with 7 home runs and 33 RBIs sees IKF having one of his best seasons as a pro and adds a lot to what has been at times a stale offense. Kiner-Falefa has experience playing in both the infield and outfield, which should help in the lineup as the Buccos aim to finish strong in the final two months of the season with a Wild Card spot in reach.

The team also moved on from former top prospect Quinn Priester, dealing him to the Boston Red Sox for one of their top infield prospects in Nick Yorke. Yorke has been assigned to Triple-A Indianapolis.

Overall as a fan, I am pleased with the moves that were made. I think it was a pipe dream to think that they could’ve gotten Jazz Chisolm Jr., but truth be told, I didn’t think he’d fit in with the Pirates anyways, so I’m not upset about that. I thought that Oakland was going to move on from Brent Rooker, which could’ve been an incredible move for the Pirates, but alas they could not come to terms on a deal.

That being said, it’s nice to see that the team was not stagnant as they were very much involved at the deadline. General Manager Ben Cherington has experience running a successful ball club, and it was encouraging to see that he went out and made the team better. I don’t wanna say the Buccos are quite marching towards a playoff berth, but I’d be willing to say that they’re crawling towards one. It’s moves like these that help a team get over the hump and take the next step, and Pirates fans everywhere should be thrilled that this is the culture that management is trying to create, one that involves wheeling and dealing to build a competitive ball club.