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Pittsburgh Pirates: The Team Can Improve By Selling
The Pittsburgh Pirates are currently six games under .500 and even further away in the playoff standings. Still, the team can actually improve by selling at this year’s deadline.
The Pittsburgh Pirates are in a similar position that they have been in over the last two seasons. The team has played some really good baseball this year, but they also have played some really bad ball as well. With that, they are just six games under .500 and could make a push to climb back into the playoff hunt if they start playing closer to the way the did in April. However, that needs to happen sooner rather than later. The MLB Trade deadline is just three weeks away and the team needs to figure out what they will do. Will they sell off veteran pieces or look to bring in proven talent to help the current team? A lot of that will depend on what they do over the next two weeks or so.
With that being said, the team could actually improve by buying or selling. While the Pittsburgh Pirates lack a current front of the rotation starter, there is really not obvious positions of need in the field other than two spots, shortstop and second base. Jordy Mercer and Josh Harrison are fine ball players. They have done a lot of good things for the Pittsburgh Pirates over the last half-decade or so. However, they are two of the slugs in the current lineup. When Mercer comes up to bat he often does not inspire anyone watching. Meanwhile, Josh Harrison seems disgruntled and is allowing it to affect his performance.
Jordy Mercer
Right now the Pittsburgh Pirates starting shortstop is hitting for an unspectacular slash line of .245/.307/.383. All of those numbers are below league average and has given him a negative WAR of -0.5. He also does not exactly bring much to the table defensively anymore either. While he still makes the routine plays that are expected, he is never going to make the play deep in the hole. His metrics suggest that he is below league average with a UZR of -1.1 and a UZR/150 of -1.9. Even worse is his defensive runs saved, which is sitting at -10 for the season. While Jordy Mercer has been one of the steadier shortstops in the National League over the last five years, his time should be coming to an end.
He could be a valuable back up infielder to a team. If not that, there is always the possibility of a contending team losing their shortstop to injury who needs a proven stopgap. Also, he is on an expiring contract so a team will not be locked into him for the next season. For the 2018 season, he is making $6,750,000. Obviously, an acquiring team will not be taking on a lot of payroll by acquiring him.
Josh Harrison
Then there is Josh Harrison. Harrison has long outperformed his initial expectations. At one point, Harrison looked like he was going to be a AAAA player. Instead, he produced an all-star season in 2014 and has turned into a respected well-rounded player who can play multiple positions. That was his making being a super utility player, but slowly he developed into the Pittsburgh Pirates everyday second baseman. While Harrison is not a high OBP guy, he still has done enough to be an effective player. His career batting average is .280 and he is good for 25 plus doubles and at least 10 plus stolen bases per year.
Harrison Already Wants Out
However, this past offseason Harrison stated that he wanted to be traded if this team was not going to contend. Here the Bucs are sliding out of contention so he may get his wish. However, the team may not completely miss him. First off, he is injury prone. Harrison has not played more than 140 games since 2014 (the year he became a starter). Also, his numbers at the plate are not meeting the expectation for him. He is batting .256/.292/.350 through 55 games. Of course, Harrison missed time this year with an injury so his sample size is somewhat small. He still grades out relatively well in the field with a 7.6 UZR/150.
With all of that being said, there are many teams in contention who could use a second baseman or third baseman. These are two positions that Harrison has played the most at. He also is still viewed by some as being a super utility player, so any team looking to improve their bench could have interest in him. He also has a friendly contract that has a club option for 2019 and 2020 at $10.5 and $11.5 million respectively.
The Seinfeld Duo
So who will replace these two? While Triple-A Indianapolis is not the most loaded minor league affiliate in the organization, their top two offensive prospects are a shortstop and a second baseman. The Indians shortstop is Kevin Newman, the Pittsburgh Pirates first round pick in 2015 and a top 10 prospect. Newman is having a really nice season and has had a pretty solid minor league career.
The Triple-A leadoff hitter is batting .207/.355/.393. While his slugging percentage is not very impressive, he is doing other things to make up for it. First off he is batting over .300 which is always great to see. However, he also is getting on base at a .355 clip thanks to his 24 walks while only striking out 37 times in 78 games. Furthermore, he has stolen 21 bases this year. His base running has always been noted. He is exactly what the Pittsburgh Pirates could use at shortstop and at the top of their lineup.
Then, on the other side of the infield in Indianapolis is a second base prospect in Kevin Kramer. Kramer, like Newman, is a top 10 prospect in the organization and was drafted in 2015. The former UCLA Bruin was taken in the second round. He is a little different style of player than Newman however. Kramer brings a little more power to his game. This year, he has 11 home runs in Triple-A. Those home runs go along with his slash line of .277/.341/.474. So one can see that he still gets on base at a respectable clip, but hits for more extra-base hits. All in all, he has 20 doubles and three triples. He also has stolen seven bases, showing that he has decent speed.
Trades Need to Happen
The question should not be will the Pittsburgh Pirates trade veterans Jordy Mercer and Josh Harrison. It should be when. Both players can bring back some minor league talent, with Harrison likely to gather a better return than Mercer. Still, that should not even be part of the equation about what the Bucs would get in return. By trading these two Pittsburgh Pirates veterans, the team actually will not be missing much.
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Meanwhile, it will allow the team to call up two of their top middle infield prospects who are being very productive at Triple-A. What is the worst that happens, they perform similarly to the level of the current two? At least with Newman and Kramer, they are young, have upside, and could gain valuable experience to get them ready for 2019. Even more so, what if they come up and burst on the scene and help this team start winning games. Meanwhile, the team gets some pieces back for the other two that they can put into the organization. Albeit, it would likely be prospects that they would get back in a trade. As of now, the team is not going to turn it around due to Jordy Mercer or Josh Harrison, however, a youth change could provide a valuable spark and valuable experience going forward.