Pittsburgh Pirates: Three More Change-of-Scenery Trade Targets

The Pittsburgh Pirates should be quite active between now and Tuesday’s 6 PM ET trade deadline. If they have the opportunity, they should consider these three change of scenery candidates.

Earlier this month, we looked at some change-of-scenery prospects who could be included in a trade. The trade deadline is almost upon us, and the Pittsburgh Pirates should be looking to sell as many short-term veterans as possible. Players such as Jake Marisnick, José Quintana, Ben Gamel, and even look to move a guy like Kevin Newman, among others.

If the Pittsburgh Pirates can, they should try and pry one of these prospects from their respective teams. Most of these guys were upper-tier prospects at one point but have fallen for a few reasons. Maybe they’ve suffered multiple injuries. Perhaps they just haven’t fulfilled the hype, and maybe they just haven’t been given a chance to prove themselves yet because they’ve been blocked at the major league level.

So who are some of these change-of-scenery prospects, and why should the Pirates show any interest in a trade?

Deivi Garcia

Deivi Garcia looked like he might be part of New York’s long-term rotation plans back in 2020. Fast forward to 2022, and he looks like he could be a throw-in to a larger package or for a low-cost rental. Garcia is a former top 100 prospect and, at one point, was the Yankees’ best prospect.

A few things have gone sour for Garcia. Last year, he spent most of the season at Triple-A but struggled. Garcia finished the 2021 campaign with an abysmal 6.48 ERA, 4.85 FIP, and 1.88 WHIP. Garcia’s walk rate sat at an unmanageable 15.6%, while his strikeout dropped to just 22.2%. While those aren’t good numbers, the worst peripheral number was Garcia’s 2.03 HR/9.

This season Garcia has spent most of his time on the minor league injured list, pitching just 25.2 innings between Double-A and Triple-A. When he has been healthy, there’s no one for the Yankees to push out of the rotation. Their worst pitcher has been Jameson Taillon, but even then, he’s been a roughly league-average arm with a 103 ERA+. Luis Severino might currently be on the injured list, but Clarke Schmidt is serving well as a swingman.

Garcia’s slider, curveball, and changeup all project as possible 55-grade offerings. His fastball can range anywhere from the low-90s to the upper-90s. He has topped out at 97 MPH before. Garcia stands at a stout 5’9″, 195 pounds. He doesn’t necessarily have a pitcher’s build, but he can make it work. The issue has been unreliable and inconsistent command.

I wouldn’t mind seeing Garcia as a second or third piece to a more extensive package. The Yankees are on the starting pitching market, and Jose Quintana is arguably the best rental starter out there (second best if you want to count San Francisco’s Carlos Rodon). Maybe a package centered around right-hander Yoendrys Gomez with Garcia as the second piece to the puzzle.