3 Pirates prospects who will be traded by the end of the offseason

The Pittsburgh Pirates have already made one big splash this offseason, sending right-hander Luis Ortiz, along with two left-handed pitching prospects in Michael Kennedy and Josh Hartle, to the Cleveland Guardians for infielder Spencer Horwitz. The Pirates likely are far from being done, either. They still have a lot of offseason left and holes in the lineup to fill.

On top of that, they still have a handful of top prospects they could ship out the door. This is especially true for pitching prospects, of which they still have a ton, even after trading a pair of top-20 prospects by sending Hartle and Kennedy out the door. By the end of this winter, the Pirates might not have these three prospects left in their system.

3 Pirates prospects who'll likely be traded before 2025 season begins

Braxton Ashcraft

The Pirates originally drafted Braxton Ashcraft in 2018. It’s been a long, winding road with many injuries in between, but Ashcraft is on the front porch of making an impact at the MLB level. Still, he is certainly a risky prospect, and the Pirates should take advantage of Ashcraft now, as he is at his peak value before making his MLB debut.

Last season, Ashcraft pitched 73 innings between Double-A and Triple-A, working to a 2.84 ERA, 2.92 FIP, and 1.07 WHIP. He struck out just over a quarter of his opponents, with a 25.8% K% and a quality 0.84 HR/9 rate. Ashcraft was elite at limiting walks. He had just a 4% walk rate, which was the 15th lowest among minor-league pitchers who made at least a dozen starts in 2024.

Ashcraft has a four-pitch mix. His four-seam fastball sits in the mid-90s and has shown a lot of life over the past two seasons. The right-hander’s slider is an upper-80s pitch with plus potential. He’ll also fold a curveball into his pitch mix, which gives him a third offering with above-average projection. The only pitch in his arsenal that doesn’t project as average or better is his changeup. Ashcraft has displayed outstanding control and is one of just seven minor-league pitchers with a sub-5% walk rate over the last two seasons (min. 30 starts).

Ashcraft is ranked as a top five prospect in the Pirates system by both MLB Pipeline andBaseball America. Pipeline even ranks him as the 85th-best prospect in baseball. But Ashcraft hasn’t been able to stay healthy consistently. His 2024 innings total was a career-high, and he was both limited due to workload and injured for most of the second half of the season. The Pirates should capitalize on Ashcraft now, especially given the strong depth they possess at the position.