Pittsburgh Pirates Offseason Simulation: Two Signings and a Trade

The first signing of the day was left-handed reliever Tony Sipp.  Sipp got a deal that was worth $1.75 million for just one year; he was someone to target for multiple reasons.  First off, he is a left-handed reliever, something that the team could really use in the bullpen.  The Bucs are short on lefties at this point and Sipp is a veteran with a solid track record.  He could also be used as a lefty relief rental at the trade deadline if the team decides to sell.  Teams are always looking for relief help that time of year.

Last year Sipp pitched in 36 games for the Washington Nationals.  He had an ERA of 4.71 but continued to shut down left-handed hitters.  In 2019, lefties only batted .255 against Sipp and slugged under .400 and getting on-base under .300.  For $1.75 million, Sipp could be a very sneaky lefty specialist.

The other signing was a move that is a bit of a precursor to another move.   There has been plenty of interest in outfielder Gregory Polanco, to the point where a deal seemed likely.  While I acquired Adam Haseley to replace Marte, losing Polanco would open up another vacancy.  I extended a contract offer to power-hitting corner outfielder Kole Calhoun.  Calhoun took a two-year deal worth $13.5 million, or $6.75 million per year.

Calhoun is a 32-year-old left-handed hitting outfielder who has played his whole career for the Los Angeles Angels.  The Angels declined Calhoun’s option so he was eligible to be signed.  Now he did only bat .233 last season, but his value lies in his power.  The outfielder belted a career-best 32 home runs along with a career-best .467 slugging.  With that lefty power swing, he would fit really well at PNC Park.

There is also a lot of trade talks between me and other GM’s.  When I looked at the Pittsburgh Pirates roster as it currently stands, I figured out that I needed to cut some money to help offset some of the free-agent contracts.  The most obvious player that had a contract that was not matched by his performance was Chris Archer.

For Pittsburgh Pirates fans Chris Archer represents the old regime.  He was finally the move that caught headlines, only to be questioned not long after.  Even after the excitement of when the trade originally broke, people started to look at his recent numbers and question if he was worth the package that was given up.  However, there was optimism that like many pitchers before him that the Pittsburgh Pirates would be able to “fix” him.

Well, it did not work out as all Pittsburgh Pirates fans know.  Before it would have been hard to trade Archer, at this point the team would get pennies on the dollar for him.  On top of that, Neal Huntington would have looked even worse for the minimal return he would get back.  The best bet was to hope he would show some progress and at least get a decent haul back.

Now that the Pittsburgh Pirates have a new General Manager it seems more likely that a deal could happen.  Cherington wouldn’t face much backlash for trading Archer because he was not the one who traded for him to begin with.  It would be viewed as just trying to fix the mistake and moving on from the previous regimes’ “worst move.”

There actually was quite a bit of interest for Archer.  The teams that showed the most interest were the Phillies and the Mariners.  In the end, the Mariners offered up the best package, which was an expanded deal with five players total.

With so much young infield talent and a down year in 2019, Kevin Kramer became a potential DFA candidate.  However, the Mariners are looking to move second baseman Dee Gordon, so they would have potential playing time for Kramer.  I was more than willing to make him a part of the deal to help acquire a  better return.

Coming back for Archer and Kramer are three prospects.  Starting pitching prospect Juan Then was the primary prospect that I wanted in return.  He ranks as the Mariners’ 18th best prospect, per Fangraphs, but projects to be a top 10 prospect down the road being just 19 years of age.  In 48.1 innings last year across three levels, Then owned a sub 3.00 ERA.

The other two prospects coming back are pitching prospects as well.  One of them was right-handed pitcher Natanael Garabitos.  He ranks as the Mariners number 37 prospect but is a rising one in their system.  He has only pitched in one professional season and is just 19 years of age, so chances are he has a much higher ceiling.  Last year he posted a 3.10 ERA in 20.1 innings of relief.

The last prospect in the deal was right-handed pitcher Devin Sweet.  Sweet ranks as the Mariners 27th best prospect and is closer to being MLB ready.  He is 23 years of age and will start the year in Double-A this year.  Sweet has been used as a starter and a reliever and he had a really nice year in 2019 posting an 8-5 record with a 2.76 ERA.  Also, he struck out over 10 batters per nine innings pitched last year at both Low-A and High-A.

The last few days have been relatively busy between negotiating with free agents and other General Managers.  This very well could be the case for new Pittsburgh Pirates General Manager Ben Cherington as he looks to reconstruct the organization.  While it has been a complete fire sale thus far, I feel like I have done a good job of bringing in MLB ready talent along with some rising talent in the lower minors.

While the Chris Archer trade will always be a tough pill to swallow, it was important to get as much talent back as possible and clear his salary for other moves.  While the Pittsburgh Pirates would not be getting the talent that they gave up, they still would be a couple of top 20 type prospects and a relief prospect with back of the bullpen type stuff.

Meanwhile, both free agent signings have a lot of upside for a good price.  Sipp will not make a huge difference on this team in terms of making them a contender, but for the right price he could be a valuable lefty asset.  Calhoun, on the other hand, could make a big impact on this team.  He would bring a much needed home run threat to protect Josh Bell.

While these deals are all simulations, it is still interesting to see how other team’s fans are thinking.  Coming into the offseason I would not have guessed that multiple teams would be trying to acquire Chris Archer.  It will be interesting to see how Ben Cherington’s offseason will play out and how much change he actually will make to the team.