Pittsburgh Pirates Swing Minor Trade With the Baltimore Orioles

SARASOTA, FLORIDA - FEBRUARY 18: Taylor Davis #37 of the Baltimore Orioles poses during Photo Day at Ed Smith Stadium on February 18, 2020 in Sarasota, Florida. (Photo by Julio Aguilar/Getty Images)
SARASOTA, FLORIDA - FEBRUARY 18: Taylor Davis #37 of the Baltimore Orioles poses during Photo Day at Ed Smith Stadium on February 18, 2020 in Sarasota, Florida. (Photo by Julio Aguilar/Getty Images) /
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Tuesday afternoon the Pittsburgh Pirates swung a minor trade with the Baltimore Orioles to add to the organization’s catching depth

The MLB trade deadline is just a little over a month away. Leading up to the trade deadline the Pittsburgh Pirates are expected to be one of the most active teams in baseball. Players such as Adam Frazier, Jacob Stallings, Richard Rodríguez and Tyler Anderson, among others, are all expected to be shopped and possibly traded.

Tuesday afternoon the Pittsburgh Pirates went on to swing a trade, albeit this trade was one that was not as big as some of the others that are likely looming later this summer. In the trade, the Pirates acquired catcher Taylor Davis from the Baltimore Orioles in exchange for minor league outfielder Jose Berroa.

While this trade is not one that will move the needle it does add to the organizational catching depth of the Pirates. This is something that could prove to be important if the Pirates do indeed trade Stallings before the July 30 trade deadline.

This season Davis has hit for a .289/.372/.368 slash line in 43 plate appearances across 12 games plated at the Triple-A level. This includes a 11.6% walk rate, 11.6% strikeout rate and a wRC+ of 106.

Davis has seen MLB time with the Chicago Cubs in 2017, 2018 and 2019. In these three seasons the right-handed hitting Davis has hit for a .222/.256/.333 slash line, to go with a 51 wRC+, 5.1% walk rate and a 23.6% strikeout rate in 39 PAs across 20 games at the Major League level.

Next. Three Pitchers Breaking Out at Double-A. dark

When Davis officially joins the Pirate organization he will likely report to Triple-A Indianapolis. This offseason Davis signed as a minor league free agent with the Orioles before playing 20 games with the Triple-A Norfolk Tide this season.

As for Berroa, he has not played in any professional games since the 2019 season. He failed to crack the top 51 Pirate prospects according to FanGraphs this past spring. Berroa is already closing in on 20-years-old, which is not promising for a player who has yet to play above the Dominican Summer League.