Morning Rundown: Pirates make a trade, sign a free agent, draft lottery results
Pirates make a trade with the Guardians while signing a free agent. Draft lottery results announced
The Pittsburgh Pirates made a trade on Tuesday, sending Luis Ortiz, Josh Hartle, and Michael Kennedy to the Cleveland Guardians in exchange for Spencer Horwitz.
Cleveland had acquired Horwitz in a trade with the Toronto Blue Jays earlier in the day.
Horwitz, 27, worked with new hitting coach Matt Hague in Toronto and hit .265/.357/.433 with 12 home runs and 40 RBI to go along with a 127 wRC+ and 1.9 fWAR.
It was three pitchers the Pirates traded, highlighted by Ortiz, who posted a 7-6 record this past season. He also put up a 3.32 ERA (4.59 xFIP) with 107 strikeouts and 42 walks in 135.2 innings pitched.
Kennedy pitched most of the season in Bradenton, finishing the year in Greensboro with the Grasshoppers. He struck out 95 batters in 83.2 innings while posting a 3.66 ERA as a 19-year-old.
Drafted in the third round of the 2024 draft, Hartle entered this past season as the top college pitcher available. He struggled with his control, which caused his stock to drop. Hartle pitched once for the Marauders to close out the season, allowing four runs (three earned runs), walking one, and striking out two over 1.2 innings pitched.
I’ll have more on the trade later today.
The Pirates signed right-handed reliever Elvis Alvarado to a major league split deal. He pitched in the Marlins organization during the 2024 season, posting a 3-4 record with 11 saves.
He also had a 2.66 ERA with 40 walks (17.8%) and 74 strikeouts (33%) in 50.2 innings pitched. Alvarado was a former outfielder who began pitching in 2018.
The Pirates will have the sixth overall pick for the 2025 draft after the lottery on Tuesday. They had a 5.31% chance of jumping to the first overall pick.
With a 10.2% chance, the Washington Nationals jumped to get the first overall pick. The Mariners and Cardinals were the big movers, jumping into the top six. The Cardinals will be one spot ahead of the Pirates for the second straight year.
MLB Pipeline and Baseball America released their initial mock drafts after the results. Pipeline had the Pirates taking SS Kayson Cunningham from Johnson High School in Texas. BA went with Cam Cannarella from Clemson in theirs.
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A good night for Pirates
So with Spencer Horwitz stats from last year compared to the Pirates. He would have been 1st(OBP) 2nd(SLG) 2nd(OPS). and that is with only 367 at bats.