3 outfield prospects the Pittsburgh Pirates should target in trades

The Pittsburgh Pirates did essentially nothing this offseason to amend their lack of corner outfield depth, only signing Tommy Pham ,and the lack of care shows. Pirates left fielders have hit a putrid .192/.252/.222 with a .218 wOBA and 32 wRC+ this year. They’ve struck out 32.1% of the time with an impressive 7.1% walk rate. They rank last in batting average, slugging percentage, wOBA, wRC+, and fWAR (-1.8), along with the game's highest strikeout rate. The only stats they aren’t dead last in are walk rate (which they still only rank 22nd in) and on-base percentage (where they come in 29th place).

While the Pirates are going to be selling off their short-term pieces this deadline, they should be on the lookout for outfield prospects that could make an impact as soon as sometime next season.

They don’t have much in terms of young outfield talent in the system. The closest is Konnor Griffin, but he is seeing more time at shortstop than outfield these days. However, they have plenty of pitching talent to goa around, and should target these outfield prospects in trade this year to supplement their current core.

3 outfield prospects Pittsburgh Pirates should target at MLB trade deadline

Jhostynxon Garcia

Of all teams, the Boston Red Sox should be the first team the Pirates go to if they want to trade for an outfield prospect. Boston currently has Jarren Duran, Wilyer Abreu, Ceddanne Rafalea, and consensus number one prospect Roman Anthony in the Major Leagues. Kristian Campbell was another high-end prospect heading into this season who can also play the outfield, and they acquired yet another high-end outfield prospect in James Tibbs in the Rafael Devers blockbuster deal.

With that much young outfield talent, a trade for more pitching seems inevitable, and Jhostynxon Garcia could be one of the odd men out. Garcia is following up his extremely promising 2024 campaign with another strong year, batting .282/.364/.476 through 236 plate appearances between Double-A and Triple-A. His 22.5% K% may not jump off the page, but he is counteracting that with an 11.4% walk rate and a .194 isolated slugging percentage. Overall, he has a .376 wOBA and 132 wRC+.

Garcia already projects as an above-average defensive center fielder, so moving him to a corner could potentially make him a plus fielder. His arm is plus and will play wherever needed. Garcia has above-average power, but his hit tool is more on the fringy side. He’s also a decent runner, giving him range in the outfield and the ability to swipe a bag when he needs to.

The only outfielder-capable players on the Red Sox’ roster who aren’t arbitration eligible yet are Rob Refsnyder, who has been a solid platoon outfielder and is a free agent after this year, utility man Romy Gonzalez, whose first year of arbitration is this offseason, and Masataka Yoshida, who was signed as an international professional free agent in the 2022-2023 offseason. Although the Red Sox acquired a talented pitcher in the Devers deal, they could still look to acquire more pitching by moving some young outfield talent, like Jhostynxon Garcia.