Pittsburgh Pirates: A Look Back at Prospect Erik Gonzalez

The Pittsburgh Pirates have a potential new shortstop on their club for 2019.  Let’s take a look at who he was as a prospect.

Just a few days ago, the Pittsburgh Pirates completed a five player trade to bring in a new infielder and a couple of prospects.  The team sent out infielder Max Moroff and outfielder Jordan Luplow to the Cleveland Indians.  In return, the Pittsburgh Pirates got infielder Erik Gonzalez, and two pitching prospects in Tahnaj Thomas and Dante Mendoza. Gonzalez, of course, was the centerpiece of the trade as the Pittsburgh Pirates needed to bring in a new infielder after losing Jordy Mercer and Josh Harrison.

Gonzalez has been in the big leagues for parts of three seasons so far, originally getting a call-up in 2016. He was a prospect in the Indians system since 2008 when he signed with the Cleveland Indians.  Meanwhile, Thomas, from the Bahamas, ranked inside the top 30 on MLB Pipeline’s top 30 prospect list for the Indians.  The last piece, Mendoza, did not rank on any major site’s lists but, was just drafted in 2017.  So the Pittsburgh Pirates gave up two fringe major league players for two intriguing prospects and an MLB infielder.