Pirates make their first move ahead of Tuesday’s deadline.
The Pittsburgh Pirates have traded RHP Quinn Priester to the Boston Red Sox for INF prospect Nick Yorke. ESPN’s Jeff Passan had it first.
Trade news: The Boston Red Sox and Pittsburgh Pirates are finalizing a deal that will send right-handed starter Quinn Priester to Boston and infield prospect Nick Yorke to Pitttsburgh, sources tell ESPN.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) July 29, 2024
We have acquired INF Nick Yorke from the Red Sox in exchange for RHP Quinn Priester. pic.twitter.com/czVOv5JzVJ
— Pittsburgh Pirates (@Pirates) July 29, 2024
Priester, 23, was the 18th overall pick of the 2019 draft, the last overseen by then General Manager Neal Huntington. He made his MLB debut last season and has worked in a variety of different MLB roles in 2024. He had a 5.04 ERA in 44.2 innings.
Yorke, a late first round pick the following year, going 17th overall to the Red Sox in 2020. In 38 games at AAA this season Yorke has hit .310/.408/.490 with 6 home runs at AAA Worcester.
Editorializing for a bit here, this is in all likelihood a lateral move. It makes sense, but surface level it seems rather dull. Priester had his moments but underwhelming primary offerings that had a bad tendency to be left up out over the plate and somewhat inconsistent breaking pitches led to the body of work for Quinn being what it was. Even with the likely departures of Martin Perez and Marco Gonzales this offseason, Quinn wasn’t in a great position to earn a spot in the starting rotation next year. I do worry a little about what Boston might see in him that the Pirates didn’t. Pitching coach Andrew Bailey has done some fantastic work in his first year for the Sox.
Yorke doesn’t have any tools that really jump off the page at you. Power is a little underwhelming, he doesn’t have exciting speed, and he won’t be winning any gold gloves at second base. He really has to hit to provide value at the next level. So, the $64,000 dollar question is ‘Can he hit?’ and I think the jury is still out on that. But if the Red Sox thought he could hit at the level he would need to hit at to be a quality MLB player, would they be trading him for a spot starter with an ERA of five? His line at AA was significantly worse in more games before he got promoted. Hitting .251/.325/.366 in 45 games at AA. Still, with 2B Nick Gonzales looking at missing multiple weeks with a groin injury, Yorke is depth you may need. He has been assigned to AAA Indianapolis, but I wouldn’t be shocked at all to see him sooner rather than later.