Pittsburgh Pirates Offseason Simulation: Trade with the Phillies

Grullon may not have the prospect hype that Haseley and Medina have, but he was just as important to the trade.  As many fans are aware of, the Pittsburgh Pirates lack quality depth at catcher throughout their farm system.  Grullon could quickly help fill that need all the while giving the Pittsburgh Pirates some flexibility going into the season.

Grullon is ranked as the Phillies number 19 prospect but is one of the better MLB ready catching prospects in baseball.  Grullon’s best tool is his bat and last year at Triple-A he played in 108 games and hit .283/.354/.496 with 21 home runs.  Obviously these are really strong hitting stats, and like most offensive catchers, Grullon is relatively average behind the plate.  Still, pair him with Jacob Stallings and the team could have a really nice combination.

The last piece of the trade is a shortstop prospect by the name Kendall Simmons.  Simmons is a rising prospect in the Phillies farm system and would give the Bucs a legitimate shortstop prospect in the lower minors.  He was drafted in the sixth round of the 2018 Draft and is just 19 years of age.

So far across two years of experience, he has batted just .233, but he has shown the ability to get on base at a .338 clip.  Furthermore, his true value lies in his power.  Simmons hit 12 home runs in 51 games last year and has 15 over the course of the 83 total games he has played.  Overall, his slugging percentage sits at .477 which is impressive for a 19-year-old.