End of the Season, and Beginning of the Off-Season: Part Two

Which market should the Pittsburgh Pirates specifically target

Photo Credit: Ryan Palencer

In Part One, we discussed how the Pittsburgh Pirates’ largest asset pool is their pitching. Everyone needs pitching, the Pirates included. The tough aspect is trying to determine which teams may require it the most — with aspirations of competing — while also having an area of depth themselves to trade from.

For this part, I’m going to focus primarily on the area of excelling upper-level prospects who may not have a clear path in their current organization. Think Michael Busch, who the Los Angeles Dodgers traded along with Yency Almonte to the Chicago Cubs for OF Zyhir Hope and LHP Jackson Ferris. Or position players from the Baltimore Orioles, who they have been handing out like candy on Halloween for upgrades over the last year. There was the Quinn Priester for Nick Yorke trade that I was particularly fond of, particularly given the nature of this topic.

If we start with needs, there are plenty for the Pirates. As it stands, four players are easily penciled in as starters: Oneil Cruz in CF, Bryan Reynolds, who is either LF or makes the move to 1B, Joey Bart at C, and can probably assume Andrew McCutchen at DH. From there, the Pirates have many options for utility infielders, with Nick Gonzales standing out the most in 2024 and Jared Triolo having a much better second half than his first. It’s hard to say anyone is assured a spot from the group, but it’s an area where they should tighten the race by shrinking the available playing time rather than just relying on Gonzales, Triolo, Liover Peguero, Isiah Kiner-Falefa, and the oft-injured Ke’Bryan Hayes to all click and magically be better in 2025.

The market will ultimately dictate things, and it’d be hard to see it being as fruitful for pitching as it was during the past trade deadline, but let’s have some fun with it.

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Los Angeles Dodgers

The Dodgers are interesting in that they generally succeed in all facets of the game. They generally develop well but are also willing to use cash or prospects to upgrade. Jack Flaherty will be headed to free agency and looking to capitalize on a successful season. Shohei Ohtani should be returning to the mound, but Tyler Glasnow got hurt again. Walker Buehler and Yoshinobu Yamamoto spent a good portion of 2024 on the injured list, along with a handful of their younger pitchers seeing IL time: Gavin Stone, Kyle Hurt, River Ryan, Bobby Miller, etc.

This will largely rely on the market and the Dodgers’ desire to upgrade their pitching, but Dalton Rushing (C/OF) or Alex Freeland (SS) would be interesting targets with Triple-A experience.

Rushing has seen time in the OF, as the Dodgers recently signed Will Smith to a long-term extension to go with backup MLB catcher Hunter Feduccia. There’s also prospect Diego Cartaya, who has slipped down rankings after two straight subpar seasons. The issue would be that OF, and SS are areas of need for the Dodgers, with Teoscar Hernandez set for free agency and them currently relying on 35-year-old Miguel Rojas having a career year.

That said, the Dodgers could go out and spend even more money on the free agent market, or they may want to take a most cost-conservative approach after the previous off-season. This is also where, if the Pirates are serious, it might be worth considering upping the ante on who is available.

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Colorado Rockies

Here is one that makes a lot of sense, depending on the Rockies’ desire to improve and compete. Their pitching is really bad, and the Pirates’ outfield is really bad. The Pirates have a lot of upper-level pitching depth, and the Rockies have a lot of upper-level outfield depth.

Brenton Doyle had a breakout year due in large part to exceptional defense. His offense was night and day, from the first to the second half, and home vs. road splits. Jordan Beck was a top 100 prospect who mashed in Triple-A but struggled initially in the majors. Nolan Jones had a big 2023 but slumped hard in 2024. It would depend on how the Rockies feel about Doyle or Beck, but that is just the tip of the iceberg.

Stationed in Albuquerque at the moment are top 100 prospects, Zac Veen and Yanquiel Fernandez. A level down in Hartford, but not ranked as highly, is 2021 first-rounder Benny Montgomery and 2022 competitive balance pick Sterlin Thompson. If that’s not enough, down in High-A is 2024 third-overall selection Charlie Condon, along with 2023 second round competitive balance pick I was personally interested in, Cole Carrigg.

Colorado could use a controllable starter and have a wide range of potentially expendable outfielders to use as bait.

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Arizona Diamondbacks

This one may not make as much sense, as a key target could be Adrian Del Castillo, who is blocked by Gabriel Moreno. Del Castillo has played almost primarily behind the dish, which wouldn’t be the biggest of needs for the Pirates. Del Castillo had a huge year, amassing a 1.002 OPS in Triple-A while slashing .313/.368/.525 in 80 big league at-bats. He was sent back down since there was little to no playing time (wink wink).

If we want to get crazy, what would it take to pry Jordan Lawlar? It’s likely the Diamondbacks pick up Eugenio Suarez’s option. They have Ketel Marte and Geraldo Perdomo. Though it’d probably be more likely they would trade Perdomo to open a spot for Lawlar, but another area similar to the Dodgers where if the Pirates are serious, they could open up who all is available.

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Oakland Athletics

Now, for the fun one, I personally like a lot. Leading up to the trade deadline, there were fewer names mentioned more than Brent Rooker. He isn’t the target here, though, but Max Muncy. It's not that Max Muncy, but 2021 first-rounder Muncy.

2023 first-rounder Jacob Wilson has already made it to the majors, seemingly the Athletics shortstop for the long term. Seconder rounder in 2021, Zack Gelof, is finishing off his first full season in the majors at 2B after a strong 2023 campaign. Then there is young infielder Darell Hernaiz, acquired from the Orioles for Kyle Virbitsky and Cole Irvin.

Truth be told, the Athletics could very well favor Muncy over Hernaiz or Gelof and prefer to trade one of those two and open up a spot for Muncy. Hernaiz profiles right up the Pirates’ alley, so that kind of scares me that he’d be an intended target, though still interesting.

Additionally, the Oakland Athletics have a slew of interesting outfield options, similar to the Rockies. They have two young breakout outfielders from 2024, JJ Bleday and Lawrence Butler, in the majors. In Triple-A along with Muncy, they have 2022 third rounder Colby Thomas. In Double-A, 2022 second rounder Henry Bolte, as well as 2021 fourth rounder Denzel Clarke, and there is also 2018 international free agent Brayan Buelvas.

It’s time the Pirates got to drink from the Oakland (soon to be Sacramento, then Las Vegas) well, after some odd trades they have made.

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Cleveland Guardians

Cleveland has been known to have an endless pitching pipeline, but it has actually begun to run dry a bit. As of late, they have actually developed quick a stock of middle infielders. At the major league level, they have just missed 40/40/40 (40 HR, 40 2B, 40 SB) season Jose Ramirez at 3B, recently extended Andres Gimenez at 2B, and current starting SS finishing his first full season in MLB Brayan Rocchio. The Guardians had the first overall pick in 2024 draft, which they used on Oregon State 2B Travis Bazzana who will possibly move very quickly through the minors, and then Angel Genao, 20 year old 2021 international signing quickly rising up rankings had a quality showing in High-A. That would leave switch hitting shortstop Juan Brito as a potential target.

There are questions on whether he could stick at shortstop, but has seen time at first and in the outfield. There’s also the fact Cleveland has a capable MLB SS in Rocchio. Brito finished his 2024 Triple-A season with a 113 wRC+, including 21 home runs, 84 RBI, and 13 SB. He could be acquired and given a shot to take SS, or the Pirates themselves could see how he fares in the outfield.

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