Pittsburgh Pirates have a chance to redeem atrocious 2024 trade deadline swap

A former Pirates prospect was recently released, giving them the opportunity to redeem a bad trade.
Pittsburgh Pirates v Milwaukee Brewers
Pittsburgh Pirates v Milwaukee Brewers | Jeff Haynes/GettyImages

One trade the Pittsburgh Pirates made at the 2024 trade deadline was acquiring outfielder Bryan De La Cruz from the Miami Marlins. The trade looks like an ultimate lose-lose for both organizations involved. However, with the Marlins recently releasing Jun-Seok Shim, one of the two prospects the Bucs sent to Miami for De La Cruz, the Pirates now have an opportunity to recuperate some of their losses by giving Shim another chance.

At one point, Shim was considered one of the Pirates’ highest-ceiling pitching prospects. The right-hander was their top international signee in the 2022-2023 offseason. MLB Pipeline ranked him as the tenth-best international prospect of his class. Heading into 2023, Baseball America ranked him as the Pirates’ 18th-best prospect. It’s not as if he gained this prospect notoriety for no reason, either.

Shim was topping out at 100 MPH and was just 18 at the time of the Pirates signing him. There was also potential for a four-pitch mix to develop, as he threw a curveball, slider, and splitter, all of which he showed a feel for. He also flashed good athleticism and fluid motions on the mound, which could help him develop his command further. At the time, Shim had an opportunity to enter the KBO draft (Korean Baseball Organization), where he likely would have been one of the top picks. The Pirates’ $750K was enough to convince him to head to the United States.

Unfortunately, Shim’s professional career has been completely marred by injuries. He has pitched just 21.1 innings since getting signed. He threw eight innings at the Pirates’ Florida Complex League affiliate in 2023, but didn’t throw a single pitch in 2024. Prior to getting released, he tossed 13.1 more innings for the Marlins’ FCL team, allowing 16 earned runs on 23 free passes.

Pirates need to give Jun-Seok Shim a shot at redemption after Marlins release

Meanwhile, De La Cruz only played 44 games with 168 plate appearances after the Pirates acquired him. He slashed a meager .200/.220/.294 with a .223 wOBA and 38 wRC+. He walked at a lowly 2.4% rate, and struck out nearly a third of the time with a 31% K%. Despite being considered a power bat, De La Cruz hit just three home runs with a .094 isolated slugging percentage in a Pirates uniform.  De La Cruz provided negative value with the glove as well. He had zero outs above average, but -3 defensive runs saved.

This isn’t to say that the Pirates would immediately turn Shim around if they re-signed him. But their track record of pitching development over the last few years has been pretty good. There would be zero risk for the Pirates to sign him to a minor league contract and stash him at A-Ball to see what he can do. The worst-case scenario is that the trade remains a lose-lose.