At least the Pirates' trade deadline deal with the Red Sox is looking better by the day

It's generally difficult to determine winners and losers of trades in baseball – especially trades involving prospects – until years after they happen. That said, the Pittsburgh Pirates made a prospect swap with the Boston Red Sox just over five weeks ago that sure is shaping up to be their biggest win of the 2024 MLB trade deadline.

On July 29, the Pirates acquired 2B/OF Nick Yorke from the Boston Red Sox in exchange for right-handed pitcher Quinn Priester. Both teams took on risk while betting on high upside in this swap of former first-round picks, but both were dealing from areas of relative competitive advantage; the Pirates had plenty of young pitching, but needed bats, while the Red Sox had plenty of bats, but were desperate for young arms to mold.

Before the trade, Yorke was crushing it for Boston's Triple-A affiliate in Worcester, hitting .310 with an .898 OPS, six home runs, 19 RBI and six stolen bases in 38 games. He's been even better for Pittsburgh's Triple-A affiliate in Indianapolis since the trade, hitting .360 with a .912 OPS, one home run, 20 RBI and four stolen bases.

Yorke, the No. 6 prospect in the Pirates' system according to MLB Pipeline, most recently racked up three doubles in a win over Toledo on Wednesday. He has now started September with back-to-back three-hit games for Indianapolis.

Pirates' decision to trade Quinn Priester to Red Sox for Nick Yorke looking better by the day

Meanwhile, Priester hasn't looked quite as sharp in his first month with the Red Sox organization. His start on Wednesday, in which he allowed four hits and no walks and struck out eight over six scoreless innings against Rochester, was easily his best outing yet with Triple-A Worcester. Still, his season numbers with Worcester are far less impressive, including a 6.23 ERA, 1.308 WHIP and 26 strikeouts in 26 innings over six starts.

Of course, the trade will end up looking significantly less lopsided if Boston can end up getting more out of Priester than Pittsburgh did. But if the early returns are any indication, this looks like a rare trade deadline win for Pirates general manager Ben Cherington.

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