Pittsburgh Pirates Rumors: Another Team had Interest in Quintana

The Pittsburgh Pirates had a relatively quiet Trade Deadline compared to some others.  They only made one significant deal, trading away a pitcher.

It is always interesting to see division rival teams in Baseball make trades with one another. This is exactly what happened Monday night with the Pittsburgh Pirates, who have never been shy about making inter-division trades,  dating back through Neal Huntington’s tenure.  The most recent inter-division trade that comes to mind is when the Bucs sent pitcher Jordan Lyles to the Brewers for then pitching prospect Cody Ponce.

This time around the Pittsburgh Pirates linked up with the St. Louis Cardinals on a 4 player deal.  The Bucs sent Jose Quintana and Chris Stratton to the Cardinals in exchange for pitcher Johan Oviedo and prospect Malcom Nunez. Overall the deal looked to be pretty solid for the Pittsburgh Pirates as they dealt away players who did not have much of a future left with the team.

The expectation is for Johan Oviedo to join the team at some point.  As of now he is in Triple-A and is being stretched out to start.  It is worth a look. The hard-throwing right-hander has had success out of the bullpen but was never given a real chance to stick in the Cardinals’ rotation.  Worst case scenario you let him start for the last two months or so and then can move him back into the bullpen if it doesn’t feel right.

Obviously, this move has some weight to it.  The Pittsburgh Pirates are sending one of the better rental pitchers to a division rival.  They are helping them, but that also means the Bucs would expect to also expect more in the return being they are negotiating with a rival club. If the trade did not work out with the Cardinals, then the Bucs may have had another team who was ready to make a deal: