3 bold mock trade proposals that would fix the Pittsburgh Pirates’ outfield

The Pittsburgh Pirates need to make a move for some hitters soon. Their pitching has been great, and they have plenty of depth for their rotation. Many of their relievers are even stepping up, including some unlikely names like Kyle Nicolas and Dennis Santana. But while the Pirates’ pitchers have held up their end of the bargain, most of the Pirates’ bats haven’t. This is especially true in the outfield.

The outfield has by far been the roster's biggest disappointment, as well as where most of their struggles have stemmed from. At the time of writing this, Edward Olivares has an OPS below .700, Jack Suwinski has an OPS below .600, and Michael A. Taylor’s OPS is below .500. The Pirates need to shake things up. While there are a few internal options worth believing in, like Ji Hwan Bae and Joshua Palacios, the Pirates should still make a trade.

Luckily for them, the trade market for outfielders has an abundance of options this year. The Pirates could certainly find someone to help solve their outfield woes. These three bold mock trade proposals just might fix the Pirates’ outfield.

3 bold trade proposals that would fix the Pittsburgh Pirates' outfield

The Houston Astros aren’t in the position many expected them to be at the midway point of the 2024 season. Because of that, they might look to move shorter-term players. The Astros aren’t going to completely tear it down, but it’s possible they’ll look to retool while adding depth at positions of need. One player they could move for pitching is outfielder Jake Meyers.

Meyers is in the midst of a breakout year with the bat. He is slashing .251/.317/.423 with a .325 wOBA and 112 wRC+. While his 6.8% walk rate is a career-low, his 24% strikeout rate is a career-best. Last year, he struck out just over a quarter of the time. It’s not as if Meyers is way overplaying his expectations, either. Meyers has a .257 expected batting average, .425 expected slugging percentage, and .327 expected weighted on-base average.

Along with providing good hitting, Meyers has always been a great fielder. This year is no exception, as he has +2 defensive runs saved and +8 outs above average all out of center field. Throughout his career, he has +15 DRS and +29 OAA in 2,071 innings. Almost all of his playing time has been in center field, but he also has some playing time in both left and right field. Another thing that makes Meyers valuable, aside from his Gold Glove caliber defense and well above average hitting, is his contract. Meyers is still controlled for three more seasons via arbitration. 

Pitching is something the Astros have said they’re on the lookout for, and that’s something the Pirates have a lot of. The Pirates have multiple pitching prospects who are at Double-A or higher currently in the farm system. Getting a Gold Glove-caliber CF isn’t going to be cheap, so the headliner of this deal is Braxton Ashcraft.

Ashcraft had a massive breakout 2023 campaign spread across three levels of the minor leagues. He’s only continued to build his workload up while still performing at a high level. Between Double-A and Triple-A, Ashcraft has pitched 69 innings with a 3.00 ERA, 3.05 FIP, and 1.07 WHIP. Ashcraft hasn’t been home run prone, with just an 0.78 HR/9. He also carries a solid 25.8% K%, but the most impressive part of his last two seasons is how well he’s been able to locate. His walk rate last year was 5.2%, but he’s trimmed that down even further to just 4.3%. Since the start of May, he has an ERA below 2.00 with a sub-5% BB%, but a K% above 25%.

One thing that has been important for Ashcraft is his increased ability to carry his velocity deeper into games. There were questions about Ashcraft’s long-term role entering the season, given that he barely pitched from 2020-2022, but he’s put most of those questions to rest. Since the start of May, he’s averaged nearly 5.2 innings a start, tossing 6+ frames on five different occasions.

The second part of this deal is Quinn Priester. Priester, a former first-round pick, has looked better in 2024 compared to his poor 2023 debut. His 4.83 ERA, 5.72 FIP, and 1.55 WHIP aren’t good on paper, but he’s cut his walk rate down from 11.5% last year to just 6.9% in 2024. His 1.99 HR/9 rate isn’t sustainable, either. His ground ball rate is 60% and his fly ball rate is well below 30% at 25.1%. Both SIERA (4.29) and xFIP (4.17) paint Priester as more of a middle/back of the rotation-type arm.

Priester has gained either movement or velo on all of his pitches this year. He’s also pitched extremely well in the minor leagues, with a 3.22 ERA, 2.88 FIP, 1.07 WHIP, a 5.2% walk rate, 26.7% K%, and more realistic 0.53 HR/9. That’s pretty good considering the league average ERA, walk rate, and strikeout rate in the International League is 4.93, 11.2%, and 23.3%, respectively. 

The Pirates would be trading away a decent amount of pitching depth. Both Priester and Ashcraft are on their 40-man roster, with the former already having major league experience, but Meyers could be a +3.5 fWAR player with his current pace. Ashcraft has gotten better and better, and will definitely intrigue many teams. He’s arguably the Pirates’ second best pitching prospect behind Bubba Chandler. Priester is an arm that could slot into the back of any rotation right now.

Pirates add JJ Bleday amidst rebound season in Oakland

Of all potentially available options, the Pirates would be best suited to go after JJ Bleday of the Oakland Athletics. Bleday is having a nice breakout season and is hitting .239/.319/.433 with a .327 wOBA and 117 wRC+ through 352 plate appearances. Bleday once struggled to keep his strikeouts under control, but now he’s putting up a K% below 20% at 18.8%. He’s still walking at a quality 10.2% rate as well. Bleday’s power has also been on display. He has 22 doubles, 11 homers, and a .192 isolated slugging percentage.

While many projected Bleday as a corner outfielder, he’s been able to hold his own in center this year for Oakland. He only has -2 defensive runs saved and -1 outs above average in 700.2 innings. That’s a massive step up from last year when he had -8 DRS and -2 OAA in less than half of the innings played at the same position (236 frames, to be exact). If he has to move to an outfield corner in the future, he has the arm to do so. He’s in the 80th percentile of throw velocity.

On top of all that, Bleday is young at 26 years old and under control for four more seasons after 2024. His first year of arbitration won’t be until 2026. He has one more whole season of pre-arb left. With his production, age, and control remaining, this would be a prime target for the Pirates to go after.

The headliner of this package is Thomas Harrington, as we attempt to suss out what, exactly, the A's would want in exchange here. While the top prospect missed the first month of the year, he picked up right where he left off and then some. He’s tossed 45.2 innings (mostly at Double-A, plus one rehab stint at Bradenton) and owns a 2.96 ERA, 3.03 FIP, and 1.07 WHIP. Harrington has struck out nearly a quarter of opponents with a 24.7% K% and a respectable 0.79 HR/9, but he has a nanoscopic 2.7% walk rate on the year. He has the lowest walk rate among Double-A pitchers with at least eight outings this year.

Harrington obviously has good command. You don’t post a sub-3% walk rate on the basis of good control alone. He’s not a hard thrower, only sitting 92-94 MPH, but it plays up because of its ability ride through the zone. His sweeping slider has been a major improvement to his arsenal since leaving college. He also has an above-average changeup while mixing in a curveball and cutter.

The position player prospect in this deal is Lonnie White Jr. White Jr. is a pretty high-risk prospect, and that’s been displayed in his game this year. He is only hitting .190/.294/.410 with a .323 wOBA and 97 wRC+ on the year. While he has walked at a 9.1% pace with 11 homers in 231 plate appearances and a .220 isolated slugging percentage, he’s also struck out over 30% of the time (31.6%, to be exact). To White Jr.’s credit, he has been hitting much better as of recently, with a .823 OPS, .372 wOBA, and 127 wRC+ since the start of June. He’s also cut his K% down below 30% at 27.7%.

White has 20/20 potential, with his ceiling being a 30/30 threat. He’s a double-plus runner and uses that speed to track down fly balls deep in the gaps in center field. The former 2021 draft pick is also someone who could compete for the Gold Glove in the future. Even if he has to play some corner outfield, his arm can work in both left and right field. White Jr. is a pretty high-risk but high-reward prospect, and teams will be intrigued by his potential.

The fact that Bleday is still a whole year away from arbitration is valuable. Add on that he can hit and play a solid center field, and it doesn't seem likely a deal will come at a cheap price, even if his price tag is lower than initially expected. Harrington and White Jr. are both very good prospects, the former being a borderline top 100 guy and someone who could break onto most top 100 lists with his current trend line, and the latter maintaining a sky-high ceiling. That's the price to pay, however, for a good center fielder with four more years of control remaining.