Former Pirates castoff played a surprising role in Dodgers' deadline success

Jack Suwinski was known by Pittsburgh Pirates fans as a lot of things. A positive trade asset was certainly not one of them.

So, leave it to the Los Angeles Dodgers to turn that into a reality. There was always a fear that Suwinski would turn things around with baseball's bad guys, though it was hard to foresee just how well things would turn out for him. Stashed in Triple-A as reserve outfield depth, Suwinski hit 21 homers in 93 games, posting a 134 wRC+ and .947 OPS with the Dodgers' affiliate.

Because they have all the outfield depth in the world, they were able to place the 27-year-old on the trade block. And, right at the deadline buzzer, they flipped him (and international bonus pool money) for backup catcher Hunter Feduccia and well-regarded pitching prospect Jacob Kmatz.

It really is true that one team's trash is another's treasure.

Pirates' previous development failures return to spotlight as Dodgers flip Jack Suwinski for an impressive trade deadline haul

It's almost too poetic that the Dodgers were able to bring in a quality reliever in Kmatz while using a spare part from the Pirates. The 23-year-old pitcher is still a little ways off from the big leagues, but he has a 2.89 ERA and 35.7% strikeout rate this year between High-A and Double-A. He could be a future bullpen ace in Los Angeles.

The Pirates did properly address their own bullpen needs at the trade deadline. Between Kirby Yates, Camilo Doval, Lake Bachar, and especially Luke Weaver, they completely overhauled their leverage group ahead of a playoff push. However, their inability to develop quality relief prospects like Kmatz internally is why they had to be so aggressive in their pursuit of outside help.

That's not to suggest that holding onto Suwinski would have yielded the same results; he clearly ran out of runway in Pittsburgh, and it was for the best when the two sides parted ways. Rather, it's a reflection of how the front office handled the recent rebuild. Although they've done excellent work in acquiring players like Weaver, Brandon Lowe, Jake Magnum, and Jhostynxon Garcia, it's still frustrating that they weren't able to fill more spots with prospects they developed.

Alas, Suwinski is now in Tampa Bay, with a Rays team that will assuredly find the best way to deploy him in the outfield. The Dodgers basically got another quality prospect and a replacement for the recently injured Dalton Rushing for free. And the Pirates, though a better team than they were a few days ago, having nothing to show for Suwinki's up and down tenure with the organization.

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