Morning Rundown: Pirates trade for Marco Gonzales, sign Ben Heller, draft lottery results

Pirates signed a free agent pitcher to a minor league deal, draft lottery results.

The Pittsburgh Pirates traded for Marco Gonzales of the Atlanta Braves Tuesday night, which was first reported by Jeff Passan. The Pirates will also receive cash in the deal send a player to be named later to the Braves.

Gonzales was acquired by the Braves in the same trade that sent Jarred Kelenic and Evan White from the Mariners to Atlanta in exchange for two prospects.

Turns out the Braves never planned on keeping Gonzales, and he was shipped out just two days after acquiring.

For the Pirates, it’s their biggest move to date this off-season, as they were in dire need of pitching, even more so after losing Johan Oviedo for the upcoming season due to Tommy John surgery.

Gonzales, 31, pitched in only 10 games last year and had surgery this off-season to deal with a nerve issue he was having in his forearm.

He won 16 games and pitched over 200 innings in 2019, and when healthy put in a solid season in 2022.

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Late Monday night, a report came out that the Pirates were signing free-agent pitcher Ben Heller, which was confirmed Tuesday.

The 32-year-old Heller pitched for the Atlanta Braves this past season and spent time in the Tampa Bay Rays organization. He’s struggled to stay healthy, as this was his first appearance in the majors since 2020.

He’s put up solid numbers in his brief time in the majors, posting a 3.06 ERA in 50 total innings pitched, striking out 46 batters while walking 26.

Heller was a nice story last year, returning from all the injuries and pitching well in the majors. There’s some stuff to like there, so he will certainly be a player to watch during Spring Training.

I’ll have more info on him later today, including his fit on the team, should he make the roster.

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Major League Baseball used a lottery on Tuesday to decide the first six MLB draft picks for the second time, with the Cleveland Guardians winning and getting the right to select first overall in 2024.

The Cincinnati Reds ended up with the second overall pick, with the Colorado Rockies, Oakland Athletics, Chicago White Sox, and Kansas City Royals rounding out the top six.

Showing the chaos potential that the lottery system provides, the Guardians (2.0%) and Reds (0.9%) had two of the lowest odds of moving up, and they still did.

The Pirates had a 3% chance of winning the lottery and ended up with the ninth overall pick.

Pittsburgh will also get an additional pick in the Competitive Balance A Round. They will pick fourth in that round, coming directly after the first.

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