Three Possible Pittsburgh Pirates Trades With The New York Yankees

The Pittsburgh Pirates have made a couple of solid moves this off-season.  However, they still have a few holes to fill going forward.

The Pittsburgh Pirates have answered a few questions so far this off-season.  They were aggressive and able to retain Ivan Nova.  They also felt that they needed to bring in a back-end of the bullpen righty arm, which they did with Daniel Hudson.

However, the Bucs still have a couple of holes on their roster that they need to fill.  Also, they have players who they could move in a trade to clear up some roster space.  There is one particular team that the Pittsburgh Pirates could deal with to help fill out some of the remaining roster questions this off-season.

The Pittsburgh Pirates and the New York Yankees have a history of making trades together. Specifically, Pirate’s General Manager Neal Huntington seems to have a strong, working relationship with Brian Cashman.

This history dates back as far as the Xavier Nady trade in 2008 and the AJ Burnett trade before the 2012 season.  There have been several recent trades also.  Those trades include when the Pittsburgh Pirates acquired Francisco Cervelli (2014-15) and Ivan Nova (2016).  The Bucs and Yankees always seem to be a good match for a trade.

The New York Yankees are looking for low-cost upside players.  The Bucs have a few players to help fill the needs of the Yankees.  Meanwhile, the Bucs would be able to move some of their more expensive, expiring contracts.

For the Pirates, clearing some of the money would be good, while for the Yankees these contracts are below their typical spending amount.  What are the three trades that could happen between the two franchises?

The Pittsburgh Pirates acquire Michael Pineda from the New York Yankees for Lefty Reliever Tony Watson.

Michael Pineda’s 2016 line consisted of a 6-12 win/loss record, 4.82 earned run average, 3.79 FIP, and 207 strikeouts in 175.2 innings pitched.  He averaged 10.2 strikeouts per nine innings pitched but gave up 27 home runs in his 32 starts.

The Pittsburgh Pirates took on a Yankee pitcher who struggled in the AL East in Ivan Nova and could again.  Michael Pineda has never lived up to the hype that he received as a promising rookie back in 2011.  In fact, over the last two seasons with the Yankees Pineda has posted earned run averages over 4.25.

So why would the Pittsburgh Pirates want him?  First off, the Bucs have had success working with struggling pitchers who have dominant stuff, see Aj Burnett, Edison Volquez, and Ivan Nova.  Secondly, like Nova, Pineda was bitten by the home run ballparks the AL East last year giving up 27 bombs.  What is telling is that Pineda gave up 20 of his home runs at Yankee Stadium.  Apparently, his style of pitching will not work in Yankee Stadium.

Ivan Nova had home run issues last year before joining the Pittsburgh Pirates.  At first, we saw why as he gave up a lot of flyballs.  However, the National League stadiums are much more spacious than Yankee Stadium, and the fly balls were held inside the park.

Pineda would receive the same benefit and would see his poor numbers improve. Pineda also sported a solid groundball rate of 45 percent last year, proving that he can not only strike hitters out.  This is something the Bucs look for.   In general, Pineda has also been struck by bad luck, pitching in a launching pad stadium, and having poor defense behind him.  His results would immediately improve as a Pirate and his numbers would likely be closer to his 2016 FIP of 3.7.

For the Yankees, they would receive the last piece of their bullpen.  It has been well publicized that the Yankees want their bullpen to have a dominant last three like they did in 2016.  With a tighter budget, acquiring Watson would allow them to have a dominant three as well as saving the club money.  Watson is going to make a modest six million dollars or so, and he has been one of the most effective lefty relievers in baseball over his career.

Meanwhile, this would open up an opportunity for one of their younger arms to get a chance to start like Bryan Mitchell or allow them to sign a free agent starter.  The Yankees would save some money also as Watson projects at about 5.9 million while Pineda projects to get around 7.8 million.

New York Yankees acquire left-handed reliever Antonio Bastardo from the Pittsburgh Pirates for catching prospect Donny Sands (#26 prospect in Yankee’s system).

As mentioned earlier, the Yankees are trying to complete their bullpen.  On one had the Yankees would love to acquire a big time arm to give them a dynamic back-end.  However, on the other hand, the Yankees may have an internal candidate who can be useful in that 7th inning spot.

The Yankees do have reliever Tyler Clippard already under contract for next season.  Just a few seasons ago Clippard was the top reliever available at the trade deadline. The two-time All-Star could be paired with the left-handed Bastardo to form solid 7th inning team.

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Obviously, the Yankees would play the match-up to determine who they would go with.  Also, both are free agents at the end of the season which then would allow them to go after a bigger name next off-season when they have a more realistic shot at an American League East Championship.

On the other side of things, the Pittsburgh Pirates benefit in a couple of different ways.  First, they trade away from a current logjam of left-handed relievers. Second, they dump an expiring contract of a reliever who is average.  This would clear some money up to reallocate to maybe bringing in an effective fourth outfielder.  Lastly, the Bucs get a solid prospect back at a position that is not very deep in the organization.

The Bucs need to clear one of their lefty relievers.  Bastardo makes the most sense as he is a proven veteran, but is relatively expensive compared to the other Pirate lefties.  Also, the Pirates could use a future catching prospect.

Sands was 8th round pick in 2015.  His ETA according to MLB Pipeline is 2019.  Francisco Cervelli’s contract expires that year.  With the Bucs trading away Reese McGuire the only legitimate catching prospect left in the system in Elias Diaz, who is MLB ready.  This trade is good on the Pirates side, and the Yankees get a solid reliever for a low price compared to the current market.

New York Yankees acquire lefty reliever Tony Watson from the Pittsburgh Pirates for Yankee prospect Drew Finley (#18) and prospect Tyler Wade (#15).

Once again the Yankees get the last piece of their big three here.  Watson would give the Yankees a lefty option to play matchups with Dellin Betances late in games.  Watson has pitched successfully in the 7th and 8th innings in his career and had some closing experience.

Last year, the Yankees moved forward with two lefties in Andrew Miller and Aroldis Chapman.  It will be impossible to replicate that sort of production, but Watson gives them a high-upside reliever that will give them well above-average production.

On the Pittsburgh Pirates side of things, it helps them in a few ways.  First off, they trade away from their overabundance of lefty relievers.  Second, it clears about six million dollars that will allow them to find another starting pitcher.

Lastly, they get a couple of quality prospects in return that could give them the flexibility to make another trade.  The Pirates have seen plenty of the top pitching prospects graduate to the majors over the last two seasons.

Drew Finley was a third round pick in 2015.  He was considered one of the most polished pitchers in the 2015 draft class.  He would be a top 20 prospect for the Pittsburgh Pirates right off the bat, and likely would be close to a top 10 if his career continues the way scouts expect.  His ETA according to MLB Pipeline is the end of the 2018 season.  His fastball sits in the lower 90s and has a good sinking action to it.  He projects to be a number three type starter.

The other prospect is more intriguing.  Tyler Wade is projected to be called up this season.  He can play shortstop, but it the Yankees system seems more likely to be at second base.  Well, that would be the case here as well.

The Bucs currently are trying to trade second baseman Josh Harrison.  Also, the team seems to want to keep Adam Frazier as a super utility player.  Wade, on the other hand, is considered a plus defender.  Add that defense to his ability to get on base (.352 last year), and the Pirates might have their legitimate future second baseman.  He at least will give some insurance behind Alen Hanson also.