Grading the Pittsburgh Pirates’ end of the Johan Oviedo trade

The Pittsburgh Pirates made their first big move of the offseason, sending starting pitcher Johan Oviedo, minor league reliever Tyler Samaniego, and 2025 fifth-round pick catcher Adonys Guzman to the Boston Red Sox for top outfield prospect Jhostynxon Garcia and pitching prospect Jesus Travieso. The Pirates finally acquired a power-hitting outfielder who they can slot into the lineup next year, and do so while trading pitching depth. So, how did the Pirates do overall in this trade?

Garcia is currently one of the best outfield prospects in baseball, and for good reason. He finished off his 2025 season batting .267/.340/.470 with a .360 wOBA and 116 wRC+ over 489 plate appearances. 2025 marked the second season in a row he hit at least 20 home runs and posted an isolated slugging percentage of .203. He walked at a respectable 9.2% rate, but also struck out at an unimpressive 26.8% of the time. 

Most of Garcia’s playing time in the minor leagues has come from center field, where he has the fielding prowess to stick. Baseball America projects his fielding as a 55. However, with Oneil Cruz up the middle, he’ll likely land in an outfield corner, which may only make his defense play up. There’s no question that Garcia has a strong enough arm to play any of the three outfield positions.

There are still questions about his hit tool. It projects as fringy at best, and his K% rose from 21% at Double-A to 29.1% at Triple-A. While there is a learning curve to Triple-A, given that the level has used the fully automated ball-strike system since the start of the 2024 season, the rise in K% is worth noting. Still, even a fringy hit tool will lead to 20+ home runs. 

Garcia was the main prize the Pirates got, but don’t sleep on Jesus Travieso. The right-hander pitched 64 1/3 innings between the Florida Complex League and A-Ball, where he put together a 3.06 ERA, 3.15 FIP, and 1.44 WHIP. Obviously, the bottom line numbers for an 18-year-old pitching prospect who split his year at the second-lowest level of the minor leagues aren’t the most important thing here, but there are still plenty of notable things to bring up regarding Travieso.

He dramatically improved his walk rate from 15.3% at the FCL to 9.2% at A-Ball, while maintaining a 31.9% and 31.7% K% at both levels, respectively. Travieso already sits mid-90s and can hit triple-digits with his four-seam fastball. He’ll also utilize a slider in the low-to-mid-80s, and occasionally mix in a changeup. Travieso is an interesting player for the Pirates to get in this trade.

How did the Pirates do in their first big splash of the offseason?

Oviedo is the obvious headliner of the return for the Red Sox. Acquired by the Pirates at the 2022 trade deadline, Oviedo immediately slotted into the Pirates’ rotation, and his first full MLB season was promising. He tossed 177 2/3 innings in 2023 with a 4.31 ERA, 4.49 FIP, and 1.37 WHIP. Oviedo only carried a 20.2% K% and a 10.6% BB%, but he excelled at limiting hard contact and home runs. The right-hander held opposing hitters to an 88.5 MPH exit velocity, 7.6% barrel rate, and 0.96 HR/9 ratio.

Oviedo was expected to play a significant role in the Pirates’ rotation in 2024, but was sidelined for the entire season in December 2023 with Tommy John surgery. He was then expected to return in 2025, but suffered a setback with a lat injury. He finally returned at the start of August, and the results were mixed. Let’s first start with the good: Oviedo had a 3.57 ERA, struck out 24.7% of batters, and had a 29.9% whiff rate. He also made some mechanical changes, lowering his arm angle and adding some extension on the mound to help make his stuff play up. This helped him go from a 93 Stuff+ to a 102 Stuff+ between 2023 and 2025.

Now let’s move on to the bad. Oviedo still walked 13.5% of the batters he faced. His Location+ went from 97 to 91. While his four-seam fastball improved in terms of vertical movement, it lost horizontal break. His 4.90 xFIP and 4.73 SIERA aren’t good, but it is in a relatively small sample size. However, what is worrisome is his 4.87 xFIP and 4.92 SIERA he had in 2023. Just how effective Oviedo is after missing all of 2024 and four months of the 2025 season is up for debate.

Samaniego is an MLB-ready relief prospect the Pirates recently added to their 40-man roster to protect him from the Rule 5 Draft. The left-hander was the Pirates’ 15th-round pick in 2021, and he put up a 3.99 ERA, but with a strong 3.08 FIP, and 1.04 WHIP in 38 1/3 innings. Most of his playing time came at Double-A Altoona, but he also had rehab stints at A-Ball Bradenton and High-A Greensboro. Overall, Samaniego struck out 27.8% of batters with a 7% walk rate, and induced a healthy amount of grounders with a 48.4% GB rate. He’ll utilize a low-to-mid-90s sinker and four-seamer, along with a mid-80s slider and an upper-80s changeup.

Guzman was the Pirates’ fifth-round pick from this past season. He is a catcher from the University of Arizona. He slashed .328/.411/.496 with a 10% walk rate and 11.8% K% over 271 plate appearances. However, Guzman did not hit for much power, with only nine home runs and a .168 ISO. According to Baseball America, he was the 314th-best draft prospect available in the 2025 class, as they praised his defensive skills behind the plate, and especially his strong arm, which they state is the best in his class. 

For the Pirates, they did not give up very much for Garcia. Oviedo has mostly been on the shelf the last two seasons. While the changes he made make him more interesting, he isn’t a long-term piece and becomes a free agent after 2027. Samaniego can slot into the Red Sox’s bullpen this year, and Guzman is a recent early-ish round draft pick, but neither is a high-ranking prospect. There definitely is some risk regarding Garcia, however, the fact that they got him (a consensus top-100 prospect), and an interesting young pitching prospect for a short-term starter with a deep injury history and two non-factors to the Pirates’ system makes this a great deal for them.

Final Grade: A