Pirates trade pitching depth to Red Sox amid bullpen collapse

As the Pittsburgh Pirates continue searching for answers in a bullpen that has become one of the team's biggest weaknesses, they have now traded away a second relief pitcher in the span of four days.

On Thursday, the Pirates sent left-handed reliever Joe La Sorsa to the Boston Red Sox for cash considerations after the veteran triggered an upward mobility clause in his minor league contract. Earlier this week, Pittsburgh also shipped right-hander Justin Lawrence to the Minnesota Twins for cash.

Neither move is likely to generate much outrage on its own. Lawrence struggled badly before being designated for assignment, and La Sorsa wasn't exactly pounding down the door for a major league opportunity. But taken together, the transactions paint an interesting picture at a time when the Pirates desperately need bullpen help.

La Sorsa, 28, had quietly put together a solid season at Triple-A Indianapolis, posting a 3.46 ERA across 26 innings while demonstrating strong command and generating plenty of ground balls. He wasn't dominating hitters, but he was providing stability.

Meanwhile, the Pirates' relief corps has been anything but stable lately. Since late April, Pittsburgh's bullpen has ranked near the bottom of baseball in ERA, repeatedly turning comfortable leads into nail-biters and, in some cases, outright losses. Wednesday's collapse against the Houston Astros served as the latest example, as the Pirates watched a five-run lead disappear in an ugly six-run eighth inning.

Pirates trade minor league reliever Joe La Sorsa to Red Sox amid major league bullpen collapse

Would La Sorsa have magically fixed everything in the Pirates' bullpen? Almost certainly not.

He isn't some hidden star being stashed in Triple-A. There's a reason all 29 teams passed on him when he first triggered his upward mobility clause at the end of spring training. There's also a reason the Pirates never felt compelled to add him to their own 40-man roster.

Still, depth matters. It especially matters for teams with postseason aspirations and teams whose bullpen has become one of the roster's most glaring weaknesses.

The reality is that the Pirates likely viewed this as a simple asset-management decision. Rather than lose La Sorsa for nothing, they collected some cash and moved on. But as Pittsburgh's bullpen continues to unravel, fans are left wondering whether the organization can really afford to keep subtracting relief options — even marginal ones — while searching for solutions to a problem that grows more obvious by the day.

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