Grading the Pirates' trade deadlines under Ben Cherington

2022: A-

The 2022 trade deadline was excellent for the Pirates. They only made two trades, but both deals worked out well. They traded three total players, all veterans with expiring contracts.

The first of the two deals involved sending designated hitter Daniel Vogelbach to the Mets in exchange for Colin Holderman. Holderman developed into one of the best relievers in the Pirates' bullpen, and all it took to obtain him was someone who couldn't play the field.

With the Pirates, Vogelbach had an OPS of .768 with 12 home runs and 34 runs batted in. He also had a solid on-base percentage of .338 and hit 10 doubles. He did even better with the Mets, increasing his OPS on the year to .793 with 18 total home runs. Although he did well for the Mets in 2022, he followed it up with a tough year in 2023; Vogelbach was not re-signed when he reached free agency.

The Pirates won this trade handily, as they received a solid reliever in return with lots of control on his contract. Holderman quickly became a setup man to David Bednar and is also having his best year in 2024. This season, Holderman has a 1.72 earned run average with a WHIP of 1.20 in 36.2 innings pitched and has struck out 45 batters. This was an excellent acquisition in 2022.

The other trade at the 2022 trade deadline was sending Jose Quintana and Chris Stratton to the Cardinals in exchange for Johan Oviedo and Malcom Nuñez. The Pirates found success with Oviedo, but Nuñez has not really developed and remains in Triple-A.

Quintana was very good with Pittsburgh prior to being dealt. Quintana had a 3.50 earned run average and a WHIP of 1.27. Stratton, on the other hand, had an earned run average of 5.09 and a WHIP of 1.55. The Pirates packaged these arms together to get two new players.

Oviedo was a great pickup by Cherington, as he was one of the best pitchers for the Pirates in 2023. He went 9-14 with an earned run average of 4.31 in 177.2 innings pitched and struck out 158 batters. After the season, he did have to get Tommy John surgery, which represents a big loss to the Pirates in 2024.

Nuñez, the second player in this deal, hit 17 home runs in the first half before coming to the Pirates, but has yet to hit double-digit homers in a season in the Pirates' organization. This year in Triple-A, Nunez has a .256 batting average with nine home runs and 43 runs batted in.

Overall, this trade deadline was very good for the Pirates. Holderman and Oviedo are big pieces to the Pirates' future, and all they cost were rentals.