How Pirates can pull off Quinn Priester trade 2.0 this summer with NL partner

The Pittsburgh Pirates must get creative to solve their poor offensive situation in the organization. The MLB trade deadline is going to be where Ben Cherington does his best work to save his job, and he must do more than just sell off all of the Pirates' top players.

One way he can preserve the major league talent, while still making trades in a "non-buying" way, is by modeling the Quinn Priester deal from the last deadline.

In the Priester trade, Pittsburgh flipped the young right-hander for a Nick Yorke, a solid hitting prospect blocked in the major league organization. Losing Priester did not impact the pitching depth by much and the Pirates got a hitting prospect that could soon contribute to the big leagues. It was the right move to make and it's just a matter of time until Yorke gets his chance in Pittsburgh.

Pirates should mimic the Quinn Priester trade in this proposal with the Diamondbacks

The opportunity to do this again is right in front of Pittsburgh now that Arizona is reportedly after young pitching this deadline. That likely relates to possibly selling rentals such as Zac Gallen and Josh Naylor. Regardless of that, if the Diamondbacks are going to explore young pitching, they will likely examine any possible way to do that, and a trade with the Pirates could solve their needs.

This mock trade is a simple one-for-one deal that gives Arizona a top-10 former top-100 prospect in Thomas Harrington in exchange for LuJames Groover, the Diamondbacks 10th-ranked prospect, according to MLB Pipeline.

Harrington has struggled in Triple-A following his first two major league outings. Nonetheless, the 24-year-old right hander is still very valuable with a strong pitch arsenal. He limits the hard contact (39.4% rate in Triple-A this season) and has generated an average whiff rate (23.2%).

Groover is blocked off in Arizona by a strong major league infield of Ketel Marte, Geraldo Perdomo, and Eugenio Suarez. Even while Suarez could be gone at the deadline, other prospects such as Jordan Lawlar and Blaze Alexander also are ahead of him on the depth chart.

It's going to be very tough for him to make it past all of them, so Arizona would be wise to utilize his value in a deal for Harrington. Groover is the perfect target for Pittsburgh too, bringing great hit tools while nearing a promotion to Triple-A. This season, Groover is batting .312 with 10 home runs and 37 RBI. He has a 127 wRC+, an .855 OPS, and an 18.2% strikeout rate.

If the Pirates proceed to trade Ke'Bryan Hayes, they will need an answer at third base. Groover could do just that and Pittsburgh would give up a pitcher that is also blocked in this system. This trade makes a lot of sense for both sides. Cherington has shown willingness to make deals like this in the past, so it couldn't hurt to do it again if it helps the Pirates in the near future.