Trade Analysis: Pirates add depth option in Enmanuel Valdez
Pirates add infielder Valdez from the Red Sox
The Pirates made another trade on Sunday, sending Joe Vogatsky to the Boston Red Sox in exchange for Enmanuel Valdez, who had been designated for assignment a few days ago.
It’s not a big move that some had been hoping for, but it adds another hitter to the upper levels with an option remaining (according to FanGraphs).
Here’s a breakdown of the move from both sides:
Red Sox get Joe Vogatsky
Drafted in the 19th round as a college senior signing, Vogatsky equates to basically a lottery ticket. He put up some solid numbers his senior season with James Madison and was the team’s closer.
Vogatsky has a fastball that has gotten up to the mid 90s that he also releases from a sub-five foot release height. He mixes in a cutter and change-up as well.
He has a funky delivery that goes with the low-arm slot and was probably a guy who was going to be in the Bradenton bullpen to start the 2025 season.
Pirates add Enmanuel Valdez
This trade isn’t something that is going to light the world on fire if that wasn’t obvious by the cost, being a 19th-round college senior who signed for $25K (no disrespect to Vogatsky, who I was excited to see pitch in 2025 after reading up on some data on him).
Valdez has some interesting data points when digging deeper into him, but the base numbers have not been pretty in the short time he’s seen in the majors.
He has hit .235/.286/.400 with 12 home runs in 372 plate appearances in the majors. The home run total isn’t horrible for what is basically a second baseman who’s had a tad more than half a season's worth of plate appearances.
This is a look at his player card from TJStats, trying to look beyond the base numbers. The xwOBA (.318) was better than his actual number (.273), which is a positive sign. He also hit the ball fairly well while making consistent contact.
The exit velocity numbers aren’t horrible, considering he’s on the smaller end and likely limited to second base.
His metrics give off a gap-to-gap hitter who could turn some singles into doubles if he had the speed.
However, Valdez ranked in the 21st percentile in sprint speed this past season.
40-man roster fit
To try and find his fit on this roster, first, you’d have to figure out where he will play. Looking at his minor league career, he’s played nearly all over the field—2B, 3B, SS, 1B, LF, RF.
He’s logged over 1,000 innings at second and third, with just two games (both in 2021) at shortstop.
If he were taller and had better results in the majors, you'd probably slide him to first base, as he was one of the worst second basemen in the league defensively last year.
He was tied for the third worst Outs Above Average (OAA) mark among all second basemen.
So, he’s likely limited to second base, although I’d assume the Pirates move him around in Spring Training to see if anywhere sticks.
In theory, this gives Nick Gonzales more competition for the starting job, although Valdez wouldn’t be in line for everyday at-bats.
He has a career 99 wRC+ against righties and a -10 wRC+ when facing lefties.
Gonzales is better against lefties (124) than he did versus righties (84), but not so bad that you’d need to set up a platoon option with him.
Also, you can’t platoon every position, and giving up a bench spot that can only play second and only hit righties doesn’t seem like good roster management.
Final Analysis
This isn’t the trade that people should be up in arms about. While an outfielder is still at the top of the priority list, this is the kind of low-risk move you can make in the offseason that is easily fixable (DFA) if something else comes along.
I’ll give the Pirates some credit, there are some little things to like here, as compared to someone like Bryan De La Cruz, who didn’t have any analytical data to back up the acquisition other than ‘he had 18 home runs.’ at the time of the trade.
If this is a move they made because someone from the analytics department went to Ben Cherington and said, ‘Hey, we should take a flyer on this guy,’ I’m okay with that.
This becomes a different conversation if this is any more than that.
Until then, the Pirates have three open 40-man roster spots and a few other pitchers they could leverage in trades before the ‘depth’ takes a true hit.
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Acquiring a lot of high in-zone contact guys
He who dies with the most middle infielders wins.