Pirates can make a blockbuster trade without touching their best prospects

The Pittsburgh Pirates are in an interesting position as we approach the 2026 trade deadline. With no veterans expected to be on the move, the Pirates are firmly in the buyers category. But as a small-market team, they have to be careful not to completely drain a farm system that has already taken its lumps thanks to the graduations of highly-touted youngsters like Konnor Griffin and Bubba Chandler.

So when it comes to trade negotiations, Seth Hernandez is as untouchable as they come. It would take landing a massive star to convince Ben Cherington to part with Edward Florentino, and after a power bonanza that has carried over to Altoona, Murf Gray is looking harder and harder to part with.

Still, you have to give something to get something, and the folks over The Athletic point out an underrated Pirates' trade chip that can help the team acquire pretty much anything it needs by August 3. That chip would be Hunter Barco.

"Frankly, I doubt other GMs are falling over each other to acquire the position-player prospects the Pirates would be most willing to move. But clubs’ seemingly insatiable appetite for controllable starting pitching makes Barco a nice fit in any trade," Stephen J. Nesbitt wrote in the piece.

Hunter Barco could be the ace up Ben Cherington's sleeve as the Pirates look to add at the trade deadline

Nesbitt also noted that top-100 prospects rarely get moved at the deadline, unless part of an absolute blockbuster, and he's also extremely right about the value that Barco holds.

That might sound surprising at first. The southpaw hasn't posted gaudy numbers in Indianapolis this season, and his big league experience has been defined by his ability to be the sacrificial lamb. But that's only part of the story.

Barco was a second-round pick in 2022 for a reason. He has talent, but despite his age — turning 26 in December — he's a bit less refined than one might think. His first season at the University of Florida was erased by the COVID-19 Pandemic, and then his 2022 season was cut short when he suffered an elbow injury and underwent Tommy John surgery. That impacted his 2023 campaign, too, and he also missed time in 2024 with a left shin injury.

Still, he's not that far away from being ready for a shot at a major league job as a starting pitcher, and young starting pitchers with loads of team control are literally the most valuable commodities on the trade market.

The Mike Burrows trade over the offseason was just one of many examples of the value these hurlers have, even without long track records of success.

In the context of the trade deadline, we can see this phenomenon in action with Reid Detmers. Detmers finished 2024 fighting for his big league life after finishing 2024 with a brutal 6.70 ERA as a starter. He was bumped to the bullpen as a last-ditch effort to get him on track last year, and now this year he's been moved back to the starting rotation and done relatively well, posting a 4.05 ERA through 21 starts and 120 innings pitched.

With two years of team control beyond 2026, some folks believe that Detmers could fetch a larger return package than Tarik Skubal if moved at the deadline. Sounds insane, but that's how much value teams are assigning to cost-controlled starters.

Barco's service time clock hasn't even started yet, but his ceiling as a more-than-competent rotation building block for six years puts Cherington in an enviable position. He can trade the lefty, haul in a pretty big fish, and not have to worry about his pitching depth falling off any time in the near future. That's exactly the path he should take, too.

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