5 former Pirates the team could reunite with at the 2024 MLB Trade Deadline

Carlos Santana, First Base

Carlos Santana is a very interesting candidate for this situation. Ben Cherington decided to sign Rowdy Tellez instead of Santana this offseason and that decision has not worked out for the Pirates. It is not too late to get Santana to Pittsburgh, as he is on a one-year deal, and the Minnesota Twins are playing good baseball but barely holding onto a Wild Card spot.

The Twins may not really be interested in selling this trade deadline, but they also are not interested in becoming one of the big-time buyers either. Santana will be a free agent after the season, making him an ideal trade candidate. They also have a key player returning from injury in third baseman Royce Lewis, so trading Santana would allow them to slide Jose Miranda over to first base to keep his bat in the lineup.

Santana has been around average offensively this season, but also has a very impressive glove at first base. His offense is better than Tellez's, and his defense is better than that of any first baseman on the Pirates. Through 56 games, Santana has a .217 batting average with nine home runs and 24 runs batted in. He also has an OPS of .693, which includes an on-base percentage of .302 and a slugging percentage of .392. His wRC+ is average at 99 and his strikeout percentage is solid at 16.5%.

Statcast metrics show that he should be better statistically, but not by a wide margin. His expected batting average is .240 and his expected slugging percentage is .404. Both are solid and would make him much better if he could produce that.

Rowdy Tellez has not been good for the Pirates and Santana would easily replace him. Not only would he replace him, but he would help put more runs on the board and prevent runs with his spectacular defense. It may be tough to get Minnesota to trade him, but it is not unrealistic.