Pirates News: Bailey Falter returns, Michael A. Taylor surges, Konnor Griffin signs

The Pittsburgh Pirates front office was busy making moves leading up to Tuesday's 6 p.m. trade deadline, sending a message of belief in the club and their ability to accomplish more moving forward.

General manager Ben Cherington didn't make any huge splashes on the trade market, but he did make seven total trades leading up to the deadline. The moves were headlined by the additions of big-league bats Bryan De La Cruz and Isiah Kiner-Falefa to the team's struggling offense.

The club responded in kind to the vote of confidence from the front office, cruising to a 6-2 victory over the Houston Astros Tuesday at Minute Maid Park. Even without De La Cruz and Kiner-Falefa, the Pirates earned their third consecutive win with an 11-hit effort that included three knocks from right fielder Connor Joe and a homer from center fielder Michael A. Taylor in a second straight game.

Pittsburgh's win also featured the return of starting pitcher Bailey Falter (5-7), who had spent most of the past month on the injured list recovering from tendinitis. Against the Astros, Falter allowed a pair of runs, one of which was earned, in 5 1/3 innings pitched. The left-hander allowed six hits, didn’t walk a batter, and struck out three. It was his first start with the Pirates since July 6, and he now has a 3.95 ERA and 1.19 WHIP through 95 2/3 innings over 18 starts this season.

Pirates sign first-round draft pick Konnor Griffin to over-slot bonus

The Pirates also signed first-round draft pick Konnor Griffin to a lucrative deal Wednesday morning. Pittsburgh signed the top high school player in this year's class for $6,532,025, which is above the slot value for No. 9 overall at $6,216,600.

Griffin was the Gatorade National High School Player of the Year and an LSU commit before the Pirates signed him to the over-slot deal. Griffin was the final player from the top 10 rounds to sign, and his bonus put the Pirates $680,025 over their draft pool. Because they went over their bonus pool by less than 5%, they’ll be fined an additional $510,019 for the overage amount.

The Pirates now have four players from their bottom 10 picks in this year's draft who remain unsigned. Teams have until Thursday at 5 p.m. EST to get the players to put pen to paper.

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