Pittsburgh Pirates: Two Hypothetical Richard Rodriguez Trade Proposals

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS - MAY 09: Richard Rodriguez #48 of the Pittsburgh Pirates pitches against the Chicago Cubs during the ninth inning at Wrigley Field on May 09, 2021 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by David Banks/Getty Images)
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS - MAY 09: Richard Rodriguez #48 of the Pittsburgh Pirates pitches against the Chicago Cubs during the ninth inning at Wrigley Field on May 09, 2021 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by David Banks/Getty Images) /
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SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA – JULY 15: Abiatal Avelino #46 of the San Francisco Giants slides under the tag of Luis Toribio of the San Francisco Giants during an intrasquad game at Oracle Park on July 15, 2020 in San Francisco, California. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA – JULY 15: Abiatal Avelino #46 of the San Francisco Giants slides under the tag of Luis Toribio of the San Francisco Giants during an intrasquad game at Oracle Park on July 15, 2020 in San Francisco, California. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images) /

Proposal #1

The first trade proposal would be just a one-for-one swap for third baseman Luis Toribio. Toribio was outstanding in 2019. The slugger hit .296/.433/.454 with 3 home runs, 16 doubles, and a .394 wOBA. Toribio walked at an eye-popping 19% rate. He wasn’t an all-or-nothing hitter either with a solid 23.9% mark.

Toribio’s 2021 season hasn’t gotten off to the greatest of starts. Through his first 102 plate appearances, he has a .230/.333/.379 line with a 97 wRC+, and .332 wOBA at Low-A. He’s still walking quite frequently with a 13.7% BB% but is striking out 29.4% of the time. His power has decreased as well with an ISO of just .149. Much of his struggles have come from his extremely poor 56.9% ground ball rate and line-drive rate of just 8.6%.

However, things are looking up for the slugger. Since the beginning of June, he’s been on fire, hitting .290/.395/.613 with a .434 wOBA and 160 wRC+. His ISO at this time is an outstanding .323 mark. Plus remember, he’s only had 102 plate appearances this season. Not every player is going to shake off the rust from losing an entire minor league season immediately.

Toribio has massive potential with his bat. He’s considered a 55-future grade hitter with 55-future grade game power. However, he has more power potential than his game power suggests. His 60-future raw power grade stems from his 93 MPH exit velocity and 50% hard-hit rate from 2019. Toribio didn’t hit too many ground balls and hit a ton of line drives. He has the power to be a future consistent 30-home run hitter.

Though his long-term home likely isn’t going to be third base. Though he has the arm strength to remain there, he’s only considered a 40-grade fielder at the moment, and a 45-grade fielder in the future. Plus, as he fills out his 6’1″ frame, he’ll lose a step or two. He’s only seen as a 30-grade runner. However, his fielding and bat would be beyond adequate for first base. He’s in a similar vein to Vladimir Guerrero Jr. The potential with the bat is beyond there, but a move across the diamond is in his future.

The Pirates do have Mason Martin as their top first base prospect, but there is some risk with Martin, more than Toribio. Toribio would give this club another power-hitting prospect. Though the likes of Nick Gonzales, Liover Peguero, Hudson Head, Maikol Escotto, and Endy Rodriguez will develop power as they age, Toribio’s power ceiling is already very high.