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Pittsburgh Pirates: Ben Cherington's Top 3 Trades Thus Far
By Kody Duncan
Ben Cherington has made plenty of trades during his time in Pittsburgh, but these 3 trades have stood out among all others. Here are Cherington's top 3 trades thus far with the Pittsburgh Pirates.
No. 3 - Joe Musgrove Trade
One of Ben Cherington's first, but best trades was a 3-way trade with the San Diego Padres and New York Mets. The Pittsburgh Pirates traded Joe Musgrove, one of their best starting pitchers to the Padres in exchange for David Bednar, Hudson Head, Drake Fellows, and Omar Cruz. The New York Mets traded Endy Rodriguez to the Pirates to acquire pitcher, Joey Lucchesi from the Padres.
At first this seemed like bad deal for the Pirates because Cherington traded away one of their best starting pitchers to make this all happen. However, Rodriguez is now considered one of the best prospects in Major League Baseball, while Bednar is one of the top closers in the game.
Rodriguez's first season in the Pirate system was very good. He slashed .294/.380/.512 and had 15 home runs in Low-A. In his second season, he moved up three levels and slashed a combined .323/.407/.590 and had 25 home runs. This year he started out slow with Triple-A Indy, but has been on a tear as of late. He is on a 10 game hitting streak batting .372 with two doubles, a triple, and four walks.
Bednar was named an All-Star in 2022 with the Pittsburgh Pirates and finshed with a 2.61 ERA. He also finshed with 19 saves during that year. 2023 may be his best season yet, becasue now he has pieces around him to help his work load. So far, he has a 1.78 ERA with already 14 saves. The most impressive thing about Bednar this season is that he has only allowed one walk in 25.1 innings pitched. Pirates fans have to give Cherington a lot of credit with the addition to Bednar. He has been a great find.
With Bednar and Rodriguez in this trade, it definitely qualifies to be in the top 3 trades made by Cherington during his time as general manager with the Pittsburgh Pirates. This trade is looking more and more promising as the days go by, but we still need to see if Rodriguez can be an above average player on the major league level. The reason why this is number 3 on the list is becasue they had to still trade away one of their best players to do it.