Pittsburgh Pirates: Offseason Trade with New York Yankees Keeps Looking Better

The Pittsburgh Pirates took a chance on dealing ace pitcher Jameson Taillon before the 2021 season, now the prospects who the Pirates got in return are performing well

Outfielder Canaan Smith-Njigba was acquired by the Pittsburgh Pirates from the New York Yankees in the trade that sent pitcher Jameson Taillon to the Bronx in early January. Smith-Njigba was a 4th round pick in 2017 and worked his way into the lineup as an everyday player in 2019 with New York’s High-A team. Canaan was the Yankees’ 25th ranked prospect in 2019 and was atop most of the statistical categories amongst his team.

This season, Smith-Njigba did miss a little bit of time because of a leg injury but did return on August 5th. Smith-Njigba, 22, is Pittsburgh’s 19th ranked prospect according to FanGraphs, and is slashing .286/.403/.830 and hitting the ball 59 times, 6 home runs, 40 RBIs, and stealing 13 bases over 61 games with Double-A Altoona. So far, Canaan Smith-Njigba is looking like he will make it to the show and he might even be an answer in the outfield when Gregory Polanco leaves.

Another prospect the Pittsburgh Pirates received was right-handed pitcher Miguel Yajure, who FanGraphs ranks as Pittsburgh’s 5th best prospect and the 80th best prospect in baseball. In 2019, Yajure was the 26th ranked prospect in the Yankee farm system and reached their Double-A team.

After he was traded, Yajure made his Pittsburgh Pirates debut in April against the Detriot Tigers and surrendered four runs in 4.1 innings pitched. Miguel suffered a strained forearm that ended him up on the 60-day IL and has just started his rehab assignment with the Bradenton Marauders, he pitched 1.2 innings and threw 31 pitches, 24 of them being strikes. Marauders broadcaster Spencer Smith tweeted that Yajure looked happy when he came off the mound and that his cutter and curveball looked great.

Shortstop Maikol Escotto was a standout with the DSL Yankees when he was just 17-years-old and was an on-base machine. After coming to Pittsburgh, Escotto started the season in Low-A with the Marauders and so far leads the team in on0base percentage and is amongst the top of each stat category. Escotto is a part of the abundance of shortstop and second baseman talent that the Pirates have stashed away in their farm system. The 19-year-old is batting .254/.382/.780 with 7 HRs, 32 RBIs, and 57 hits with 13 stolen bases in 2021 and is an exciting prospect to watch over the next few years.

Pitcher Roansy Contreras was the last player the Pirates acquired from the Yankees during their winter trade. Contreras was New York’s 12th ranked prospect and is now ranked by FanGraphs as the 3rd best prospect in the Pirate farm system, and 59th overall in baseball.

Contreras is one of the more exciting pitching prospects in the Pittsburgh organization but has had a little injury trouble. Before his muscle strain, Roansy started in 9 games and during that time he was 3-1 with a 2.35 ERA and 65 strikeouts over 46 innings pitched. Contreras is a strikeout machine, in his first two starts of the season he threw a total of 22 strikeouts over 11 innings, he threw 11 in each game and threw 6 innings of no-hit ball and earned the win. The 21-year-old is currently rehabbing in Double-A and has resumed throwing a baseball, which is a sigh of relief for everyone.

What makes the trade in the Pittsburgh Pirates favor is that Taillon hasn’t pitched well this season, he has an ERA of 4.04 in 107 innings. He has recently seemed to have found his groove though because Taillon is giving up fewer runs while keeping opponents’ hits on the lower side. Taillon will turn 30 in November and the oldest player that came out of the trade is Smith-Njigba, who is 22. The Pirates got players that will help them in the next couple of years and for many years after.