Pittsburgh Pirates Rumors: More Chatter On Francisco Cervelli

The Pittsburgh Pirates have not had much in the way of rumors since the Winter Meetings.  However, there has been a recurring rumor about one particular player.

The Pittsburgh Pirates along with all other 29 teams in baseball are in the midst of another really slow offseason.  This marks two years in a row that the Winter Meetings were not exactly exciting like many fans are used to seeing. However, there was one rumor that came out of the Winter Meetings in regards to one of the Pittsburgh Pirates player that is still relevant here over 3 weeks later.

During the Winter Meetings, it was reported that teams such as the Mets, Astros, and Dodgers had interest in Pittsburgh Pirate catcher Francisco Cervelli.  Cervelli’s availability makes sense with Elias Diaz‘ breakout campaign last season along with Cervelli having one year of control left at 11.5 million dollars.  So, it makes sense that the Bucs could look to trade him.

Well, since then, the New York Met’s added catcher Wilson Ramos who will be their starting catcher next season.  Meanwhile, there has not been any rumors of Cervelli to the Astros.  However, the Dodgers keep popping up as the team showing the most interest in the Pittsburgh Pirates’ backstop.  It was reported by Rob Bietermpfel of the Athletic and Ken Gurnick of MLB.com that the Dodgers and Bucs have had some dialogue about the Cervelli.

That all came last week and while there is still no real reported progress on a deal, it seems the Dodgers are still keeping Cervelli in their plans.  Michale J. Duarte a writer for NBC LA who covers the Dodgers, reports that the Dodgers are still showing interest in Cervelli.  Duarte tweeted:

"“Source: #Dodgers have checked back in with the #Pirates on catcher Francisco Cervelli. LA discussed a trade for the #Bucs veteran during the Winter Meetings. Nothing is imminent however as #Dodgers will await to see what #Marlins decide to do with Realmuto.”"

How reputable is Duarte?  Really, it’s hard to say as he is not an insider per say, but could very well have sources working for NBC.  Regardless, part of what he is saying is the biggest issue in any potential Cervelli trade and that is the J.T. Realmuto situation. Both the Astros and Dodgers have interest in Realmuto, so until something happens on the front it is unlikely Cervelli would be moved.

Of course, unless one of those teams decide to move on from Realmuto.  It seems that the Dodgers very well could be as they keep checking in on Cervelli to make sure that he is still available.