Grading the Spencer Horwitz trade for the Pittsburgh Pirates

Final Thoughts

It’s hard to be upset with getting a first baseman who just put up a wRC+ above 120. There have only been four seasons in the 2000s where a Pirates’ first baseman has put up a wRC+ greater than Horwitz’s last year in 350+ plate appearances, and only one of those instances has happened since the start of the 2010s.

A lot of Pirates fans loved the strides Ortiz made last year, including me. But his season still wasn’t perfect, and there were still some red flags that could have led to him moving back into the bullpen in 2025. Hartle has just one game under his belt as a professional pitcher and was not trending in the right direction when the Pirates drafted him. Kennedy has a ton of upside, like Ortiz, but he’s barely played above A-Ball. He just turned 20 as well.

The one thing to note is that this seems a bit light, especially given what starting pitchers are going for right now. Ortiz is a young and controllable arm who made some promising improvements on the field that translated into good results. Back-of-the-rotation arms are making upwards of $15+ million. The Pirates also included two other pitchers with upside, even if they don’t have as high of a ceiling as Ortiz and are still years away from being ready.

Still, that doesn’t change the fact that Horwitz was one of the best-hitting rookies last year. Horwitz and Jackson Merrill had nearly identical wRC+ marks. The Pirates needed to move some of their pitching depth for a bat that could make a real impact, and that’s exactly what they did.

Final Grade: B+