3 former Pirates prospects who already look like disasters since leaving Pittsburgh

The Pittsburgh Pirates have dealt away a handful of prospects over the last few years. While many will criticize the Pirates for trading prospects just for them to develop elsewhere (which has happened on multiple occasions), there are still many times when the player they traded likely peaked in value with the Bucs.

So far, these three former Pirates prospects haven’t just struggled, but have been outright disasters since getting traded.

3 former Pirates prospects who've been outright disasters at their new homes

Charles McAdoo

Charles McAdoo was selected in the 13th round of the 2023 MLB Draft. Initially, the Pirates looked like they pulled off an absolute heist by taking the utility infielder that late in the draft. Between his late-season debut in 2023 and his strong start in 2024, McAdoo was batting .312/.398/.512 with a .420 wOBA and 155 wRC+ in 490 plate appearances between Bradenton and Altoona.

McAdoo hit for a good amount of power, smacking 19 home runs with a .220 isolated slugging percentage. He also walked at a strong 11.6% rate, with a strikeout percentage of just 21.8%. Due to that level of production at the plate and the Pirates’ system lacking a ton of offensive upside, many Pirates fans weren’t thrilled when the Bucs traded him to the Toronto Blue Jays for infielder Isiah Kiner-Falefa. It gives us no pleasure to report, though, that McAdoo has looked horrible since the trade.

After getting sent to Toronto, McAdoo hit just .185/.287/.323 with a .287 wOBA and 80 wRC+ through his final 143 plate appearances for the Jays’ Double-A team in 2024. He only hit three home runs with an ISO of .137. At the very least, he walked 9.8% of the time, but this was overshadowed by a huge uptick in strikeout rate at 30.7%.

McAdoo has gotten off to an even worse start to 2025. It’s only been 86 plate appearances, but he is only slashing .200/.256/.288 with a 59 wRC+. Mcadoo has only hit one home run and has a walk rate of just 7%, and strikeouts have overwhelmed McAdoo in the batter’s box. With a whopping 40.7%, he currently has the eighth-highest strikeout rate of any batter at Double-A. He has a lot of work to do, and his numbers in the lower levels of the Pirates’ system look more like a fluke right now.

Jun-Seok Shim

The Pirates signed Jun-Seok Shim out of South Korea during the 2022-2023 offseason. At the time, Shim was projected to be one of the top picks in the KBO draft, but opted to head stateside instead and signed with the Bucs. Shim was the second-best pitcher in the international class, according to MLB Pipeline.

At just 19 years old, Shim was already sitting mid-90s with his fastball, and was topping out at triple-digits. He also paired that with a curveball, slider, and changeup. Shim became one of the highest-ceiling prospects in the Pirates’ system after the ink dried. He also looked good in his pro debut, pitching 8.1 innings in the Florida Complex League, striking out 13, and only allowing three walks.

Unfortunately, 2024 was a lost season for Shim. He was placed on the 60-day injured list to open the year and never returned to action. The Pirates then sent him to the Miami Marlins in a package deal that netted the Pirates Bryan De La Cruz. So far, it looks like an ill-fated trade for both teams.

Shim has yet to appear in a game for his new organization. He was healthy enough to return to action in the Arizona Fall League, but struggled mightily. He allowed 11 earned runs in only five innings, walked 12, and struck out five. Sure, it was in a very hitter-friendly league, but more worrying than the results was Shim's velocity; he sat in the low 90s and topped out at 93.5 MPH.

Shim may still not have been at 100%, for what it's worth. We’ll see how he does if/when he finally gets back into action, but so far, it’s been a rough go of things for Shim.

Rodolfo Nolasco

Rodolfo Nolasco showed off a ton of power potential in the low levels of the Pirates’ minor-league system. In 2023, Nolasco batted .215/.351/.440 with 20 home runs in 444 plate appearances at A-Ball Bradenton. Nolasco walked at an outstanding 16% pace, ending the year with a .372 wOBA and 114 wRC+.

But one thing that always held Nolasco back was his strikeouts. Even though Nolasco went yard 20 times with a 114 wRC+, he also struck out in over a third of his plate appearances with a 34.2% K%. The Pirates likely hoped the young outfielder (in just his age-21 season) could cut down on the strikeouts, which would make his plus power play up even more.

Unfortunately, 2024 instead started out very rough for Nolasco. He opened the year at High-A Greensboro, but only collected 13 hits, two of which were home runs, in 87 plate appearances. Strikeouts became even more common, as Nolasco racked up 38 Ks. The Pirates then traded Nolasco to the SF Giants in exchange for pitcher Daulton Jeffries.

Nolasco did better with the Giants’ High-A team, turning in a .234/.331/.418 line and 113 wRC+ in 275 plate appearances, but he still struck out 35.3% of the time. His walk rate clocked in at 10.9% and he went yard ten times, but it was obvious the flaws in his game were not close to being resolved.

Nolasco opened 2025 with the Giants’ Double-A team. He appeared in 11 games before being released at the end of April and for a good reason. Nolasco had just a singular hit with 13 strikeouts across 32 plate appearances. Nolasco’s career may not be over, given he’s still only 23, but we’ll probably see him in the independent circuit or Japan or Korea before we see him back in affiliated ball.