Pirates Trade Rumors: Ian Kennedy Sure Looks Tempting

July 12, 2014; Los Angeles, CA, USA; San Diego Padres starting pitcher Ian Kennedy (22) pitches the seventh inning against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Dodger Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports

Pirates trade rumors Ian Kennedy Sure looks tempting.

The Pittsburgh Pirates scouted San Diego Padres starter Ian Kennedy Friday night as reported by Ken Rosenthal.  It’s easy to see the allure with Ian Kennedy.  The Pirates love peripheral statistics and the Friars right hander has them, although he only lasted five innings in front of Pirates scouts.

The 29 year old has a 3.62 ERA with a 2.57 BB/9 in 129.1 innings over 20 starts.  The xFIP of 3.24 is better than the Cardinals Adam Wainwright, San Francisco’s Tim Hudson, Oakland’s Jeff Samardzija, and the Tigers Max Scherzer.

Think about that for a moment.  Despite an awful month of June in which he gave up about five and a half runs a game, Kennedy has had a solid season.  He has allowed just six runs in 26 innings this month while striking out 26.  So if you loved the strikeouts that A.J. Burnett brought to the club last season, Kennedy is your type of guy.  The righties K/9 sits at 9.53 which is good for ninth in the big leagues.    The Pirates current K/9 leader is Charlie Morton who is just over seven strikeouts per nine.

The one thing that must catch the eyes of the Pirates would be his contract which pays him only $6.1 million this season.  It’s hard to imagine the Pirates not doing a double take when they see that salary–just $6.1 million this season, and he is arbitration eligible in 2015.  The Pirates could make a move and he wouldn’t become a free agent until after next season.  Talk about a stop-gap until the calvary of right-handed arms including Jameson Taillon, Nick Kingham and Adrian Sampson start feeling their way in the big leagues–Kennedy makes sense for the Bucs.

The only question is just how much is it going to take to get a deal done? Follow all the Pirates trade rumors that are flying around the Federal Street offices in Pittsburgh.