Pittsburgh Pirates Offseason Simulation: Two Signings and a Trade

The Pittsburgh Pirates have a lot of action already this offseason with trying to find a new front office.  What could they look to do with the roster this offseason?

For the last few years, the MLB Division at FanSided has put together an offseason simulation with the sites playing General Manager.  I am in charge of the Pittsburgh Pirates offseason simulation this year.  Each team has been able to submit trades to one another as well as trying to bid on free agents.

Thursday was a very busy day in terms of getting deals done and making progress on some fronts.  I was able to bring in two free agents as well as make a trade.  This was after I traded Starling Marte and Keone Kela to the Phillies and brought in starting pitcher Wade Miley on a two-year contract.

Friday was just as busy with a lot of trade talks and free agent bidding.  I was able to make multiple deals which included two free agent signings and a multiplayer trade.  I continued to try to deal away players who have two or less years of control left while also trying to find buy-low, upside veterans who could provide similar production.  First, let’s break down the two free agent contracts.

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 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.