3 prospects the Pirates should trade this offseason as sell-high candidates

It’s time for the Pittsburgh Pirates to make some serious trades. After a horrendous late-season collapse this year, they need to make some improvements to the roster, especially with the offense.

And it's more than doable. They have prospects at their disposal they should trade. There are plenty of potential sellers that will be looking to move Major Leaguers for prospects. The biggest strength the Pirates could deal from is pitching talent, but there are definitely some position players they should consider moving if the opportunity arises.

Either way, the Pirates need to strike now while the iron is hot and part with younger talent while their value might be at its highest.

The Pirates should be willing to trade these prospects this offseason

Carlson Reed

Carlson Reed is certainly a promising talent. But given the ample amount of pitching in the system, one of the Pirates’ priorities this offseason should be to move pitching talent for hitting talent. Reed is coming off an extremely promising campaign, but there is reliever risk, and the Pirates should take advantage and sell high.

Reed pitched most of his season at Bradenton, where he had a 2.43 ERA, 3.49 FIP, and 1.25 WHIP in 77 1/3 innings. The right-hander induced a swing-and-miss rate of 32.2%, resulting in a strikeout rate of 29.7%. When opponents did make contact, they managed just an 85.4 MPH exit velocity, 3.3% barrel rate, and 55.7% ground ball rate. The only thing Reed struggled with was walks, with a 13% BB%.

Reed’s strong performance earned him a promotion to Greensboro, where he would work to the tune of a microscopic 0.87 ERA, 0.65 WHIP, and 2.75 FIP. Reed continued to strikeout batters at a very high rate of 29.7%. While his ground ball rate dropped from well over 50% to just 37.5%, his HR/9 also fell from 0.46 to 0.29. However, the most promising part of his season was his walk rate lowering to just 7.9%.

When the Pirates drafted Reed in the fourth round back in 2023, he was a reliever for West Virginia University. He has good stuff but lacks the command of it. While he did significantly cut down on walks after his promotion, the command was still spotty. That could be a major deciding factor for Reed moving forward.

Even though Reed pitched a full season as a starter, he’s yet to do it in the upper levels of the minor leagues. The jump between High-A and Double-A is the largest in the minor leagues. That jump could decide Reed’s fate as a starter or reliever. But that could mean Reed’s value is at the highest its going to be as a prospect. Yes, these are also reasons why another team might be put off by Reed, but again, his value as a prospect might not get any higher.

Jack Brannigan

The Pirates originally took Jack Brannigan as a two-way player out of Notre Dame in the third round of the 2022 draft. Brannigan has hit very well in his career thus far. He is certainly a risky prospect, but after coming off yet another strong season, the Pirates should try and capitalize on his value now.

Brannigan hit .238/.344/.490 in an injury-shortened 341 plate appearances at Greensboro. He projects to be a power hitter, and he definitely showed that off this year, blasting 18 dingers and posting a .252 isolated slugging percentage. He showed some prowess on the base paths as well, swiping 12 bags in 15 attempts. He struck out 26.1% of the time but walked at an 11.7% pace. Brannigan ended his year with a strong .378 wOBA and 135 wRC+.

Brannigan made a handful of improvements to his game. He struck out 29.9% of the time last year. The infielder also started to lift the ball more frequently, as his fly ball rate rose from 43.9% in 2023 to nearly 50% (49.7%) this season. Meanwhile, his grounder rate has dropped significantly from 31.1% to 25.6%. He hit nearly as many line drives as ground balls with a 24.6% LD%.

Some might point to Brannigan’s drop in batting average as a reason for decline. He batted nearly .300 for Greensboro last year to just .238 this season. But his performance for the Pirates’ High-A club this year was much closer to sustainable. His batting average on balls in play fell from .395 last year for Greensboro to .276 for the same team. Last year, he struck out over a third of the time at High-A but has cut that down to nearly 25%.

As a defender, Brannigan projects as an above-average shortstop. He originally was a third baseman, and while he still frequented the hot corner this season, his defensive ability is best used at short. Brannigan has the speed to play up the middle, as well as the arm to play anywhere on the left side of the infield. After all, he was hurling upper-90s fastballs as a two-way infielder/pitcher for Notre Dame.

Brannigan has the potential to be a power/speed threat with a strong glove up the middle. But that hit tool leaves some unanswered questions. Sure, he improved, but that part of his game still projects as fringy at best right now. Like Reed, Brannigan has yet to be challenged at the upper levels of the minor leagues, and the jump to Altoona is big.