End of the Season, and Beginning of the Off-Season: Part Three
Quickest path would be acquiring bats that have shown MLB success
Considering the Pittsburgh Pirates’ developmental shortcomings over the past five years, acquiring position players who may still require a little more polish may not be their best bet. Trading for established everyday players would be useful, players whose numbers are mostly backed by promising data.
Colorado Rockies
If you read Part Two, then this one should come as no surprise. Once again, I think that they would make a perfect trade partner for the Pirates, whether that’s for an established young, defensively gifted outfielder in Brenton Doyle, a just-got-his-feet-wet Jordan Beck, or if the teams agreed on one of the upper-level excelling outfield bats. For the purpose of this article, we’ll focus on Doyle.
Doyle had an interesting age 26 season, finishing with 4.0 bWAR and 3.7 fWAR. He finished tied for third in Outs Above Average among all outfielders at 16 OAA, along with 11 DRS. In his two MLB seasons, he has amassed 30 DRS and 31 OAA.
His full season wRC+ was a tick below average at 97. That came with a 120 wRC+ at home and 76 wRC+ on the road. The first half of the season was a 112 wRC+, and 73 in the second half. Most important, he’s controlled through the 2029 season. An exceptionally gifted outfielder defensively that finished with 23 home runs to go with 72 RBI and 30 stolen bases to pair with Oneil Cruz in the outfield? Yes, please. Center field and the wide-open left field would be locked down from flyballs.
Los Angeles Angels
Now, you may have heard this one before. In fact, according to some very (not) bright local radio personalities, his acquisition was imminent. That said, Taylor Ward was, in fact, not acquired, although a quick look at his post-trade deadline numbers, and it would have made a huge difference. Maybe not a 13-game difference, but possibly if he helped boost the vibes.
Ward finished the season with 25 home runs and 75 RBI, good for a 111 wRC+, with a 2.5 bWAR and 2.7 fWAR. From August 1st through the end of the season, he amassed a 135 wRC+ with 9 homers and 21 RBI. He also comes with quality outfield defense. Now, he’s not Brenton Doyle, but his metrics come in light years ahead of where most of the Pirates outfielders fell in 2024.
Earlier in his career, Ward saw limited time at catcher, first base, and third base. He has nearly 4,000 innings played in the outfield. In 2024, he has 1 DRS and 4 OAA. He only comes with control through the 2026 season, but he would be a much “cheaper” option for the Pirates. Though, the Angels would be rather difficult to parse with their direction. They would seem to be in some kind of rebuild mode, but also not, as they love promoting almost straight from college to the majors. They could likely use some pitching regardless.
Oakland Athletics
(Although they played their final game in Oakland, we’ll still refer to them as such.)
In what is keeping with a theme, we can talk about the Athletics in the same fashion as the Colorado Rockies. Mentioned in Part Two as well, Oakland may be willing to part with an outfielder for MLB ready or experienced pitching. It’s hard to say, but I’d be willing to bet the Athletics would be more willing to part with JJ Bleday than Lawrence Butler.
Bleday was given primary center field time but didn’t grade out very well, carrying a -19 DRS and -3 OAA. Butler spent most of his time in right field, with -1 DRS and 0 OAA. Butler is nearly three years younger, and controlled through 2030, where Bleday is controlled through 2029. Bleday had a breakout year, with 120 wRC+ to Butler’s 130. Bleday was worth 3.1 fWAR and 2.2 bWAR in almost 200 more at-bats than Butler, 3.2 fWAR, and 3.0 bWAR.
We could even throw in another name, considering their current roster construction. Brent Rooker likely wouldn’t be available, although he’d have fewer years of control, and the Athletics may want to capitalize now, but with all of their outfield options and drafting Nick Kurtz fourth overall, that may leave Tyler Soderstom as a man without a position in a year’s time. Still, with less than 400 MLB plate appearances, he had a 114 wRC+ in 213 plate appearances in 2024.
Drafted as a catcher 26th overall in 2020, Soderstrom has spent minimal time behind the dish over the years due to questions about his defense (not dissimilar to Henry Davis) and has seen a lot of time at 1B. So, as with Colorado, I think it’d be worth seeing Oakland’s intentions going into 2025. The Pirates have some arms that would be beneficial for their near and long term.
It’s hard to say — given the sample size — if Billy Cook will become a stable regular come 2025, but he showed exceptional defensive aptitude and some pop in the bat. I think it’d be worth exploring Bryan Reynolds to first base and acquiring another controllable outfielder to pair with Cook and Oneil Cruz.
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Power on suckas. Day 9. Kids are singing in the shower. Have a great day.
As president of the BCFC (Billy Cook Fan Club), I loved what I saw out of his arm and glove in a short sample size. No reason we cant put BRey at first, Cruz in center, Cook in right, and find a controllable LF that even is average on both sides of the ball... thats a lot of holes filled for cheap with likely significant improvement from last year. I will accept no slander of Cook in response to this post :)