Pirates stun fans, trade Ke’Bryan Hayes to NL Central rival

Noah Hiles of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette wrote last week that the Pirates had a "notable desire" to dump the contract of third baseman Ke'Bryan Hayes. The remaining five years of his extension are relatively team-friendly, as he'll make no more than $8 million in his highest-earning seasons, but he's far from exceeded or even matched the offensive bar he set for himself in the first few years of his career.

Hayes has been a popular name on the trade market for teams itching for a third baseman, with the Tigers, Cubs, and Yankees among the reportedly interested teams (before the Yankees pivoted to Rockies infielder Ryan McMahon).

However, on Wednesday, Jeff Passan reported that a dark horse had come out of the woodwork. Hayes will go to the Cincinnati Reds in exchange for shortstop prospect (Reds' No. 9 per MLB Pipeline) Sammy Stafura and pitcher Taylor Rodgers, who's been having a rather decent under-the-radar season in Cincinnati.

The Pirates are now (most likely, unless they're still on the hook for some of his money) free of their $30 million obligation to Hayes through 2029 (he also has a $12 million club option for 2030). The Reds were previously rumored to be interested in a reunion with former Cincy slugger Eugenio Suárez, but a hard pivot to Hayes definitely takes them out of that sweepstakes.

Reds come out of nowhere to take Ke'Bryan Hayes' contract off Pirates' hands

Rogers should be immediately helpful to the Pirates' bullpen; he has a 2.45 ERA over 33 innings this season. The Pirates are widely expected to lose David Bednar and/or Dennis Santana before the Thursday trade deadline, and while Rogers doesn't have the same swing-and-miss stuff, he's still a decent arm to eat a few innings.

The key to trading Hayes was always going to be his defense. He continues to be one of the best, if not the best, defensive third baseman in the game. Pirates fans know well that his bat is nothing to write home about — .236 average, .569 OPS at the time of the trade — so the defense and relatively cheap contract were going to be the biggest sells.

The Reds have a promising young bat at third base in Noelvi Marte, but he just made his first career start in the outfield against the Mets on July 21, indicating that the Reds were prepared to make a deal at third. Reds fans were desperate to see Suárez come back, but they'll have to settle for Hayes.