2 trade deadline deals that should inspire the Pirates' future Andrew Heaney trade

The Pittsburgh Pirates have a rental starting pitcher who will likely be highly sought after at the trade deadline in veteran lefty Andrew Heaney. Heaney has had a strong season, as he entered Thursday's start in Chicago with a 3.24 ERA, 4.37 FIP, and 1.15 WHIP. He hasn't struck out many batters, with a 17.5% K%, but he has a respectable 8.1% walk rate and a 1.12 HR/9 ratio. The veteran lefty's ERA estimators aren't great, with a 4.27 xFIP and 4.51 SIERA. Both his 90.7 MPH exit velocity and 8.7% barrel rate are below average. However, that doesn't mean the Pirates can't get something good out of Heaney. There are two trades they should use as the framework for a potential trade involving him.

Both trades happened at the 2023 deadline. One involved Jordan Montgomery. The left-hander was traded to the Texas Rangers from the St. Louis Cardinals after putting up a 3.42 ERA, 3.73 FIP, and 1.25 WHIP in 121 innings of work. He had better peripherals than Heaney does now, including a 21.2% strikeout rate, 6.9% walk rate, and 0.69 HR/9. However, he was similar in the eyes of both xFIP at 4.12 and SIERA at 4.31. Montgomery also had an 88.5 MPH exit velocity and an 8.6% barrel rate, both of which are comparable to Heaney's at the moment.

The Cardinals ended up getting a trio of players, all of whom could be worthwhile contributors to the Pirates' NL Central rival by the end of this year. Thomas Saggese is currently a top-five prospect in the Cards' system and has hit over .340 with an .876 OPS in a small sample size of 44 plate appearances this season. Tekoah Robby is also one of the Cardinals' better prospects. While he struggled last season, he now has a sub-3.00 ERA and FIP with a K% above 30%. Last but not least is John King, who has been a solid left-handed bullpen arm for the Cards since his acquisition.

It is worth noting that the Cardinals also included former Pirates reliever Chris Stratton in this deal. However, he was only a rental reliever who was not regularly used in high leverage. This would be akin to the Pirates having to include Caleb Ferguson alongside Heaney to obtain a similar package. They would be missing out big time if they didn't acquiesce.

Tigers-Phillies trade from 2023 can inspire Pirates in Andrew Heaney trade talks

The second trade saw Michael Lorenzen go from the Detroit Tigers to the Philadelphia Phillies. The right-hander had a 3.58 ERA, 3.83 FIP, and 1.10 WHIP in his first 105.2 innings of the season. Lorenzen also had a sub-20% K% at 19.6%, albeit with an 0.94 HR/9 ratio and 6.5% walk rate. But his 90.1 MPH exit velocity was closer to Heaney, even if he was better in barrel rate at 7.5%. Lorenzen's ERA estimators were almost identical to Heaney's right now, with a 4.47 SIERA and 4.23 xFIP.

The Tigers ended up getting infield prospect Hao-Yu Lee. Lee is currently a top-10 prospect in their farm system. He is posting above-average numbers while only being in his age-22 season. He is the 14th-youngest player to have a qualifying number of plate appearances. Only 10 of the 14 players who are in their age-22 season or younger have a better-than-average wRC+ as well. 

The Pirates should base an Andrew Heaney trade around these deals. The similarities are very apparent: veteran pitcher on an expiring contract with a good bottom line, but unimpressive peripherals and slightly worrying ERA estimators. Even if the Pirates can get something half as good as these two deals, they're still going to make a strong trade this summer.