Pittsburgh Pirates: Five Potential Inter-Division Trade Targets

The Pittsburgh Pirates should be aggressive on the trade market, and while these five players may be division rivals, they also may end up on the trading block, and ones the Pirates should consider.

The Pittsburgh Pirates are likely going to be aggressive in acquiring players this off-season. However, multiple other teams in the National League Central may also be aggressive and try and sell off some of their players as well to bolster their rosters. While inter-division trading is always going to be met with questions among fans, there are certainly some potential trade targets in the NLC.

And that’s what I want to look at today. Who are some potential players the Pirates could go after in the National League Central? These players have had some rumors swirling around them already, and the Pirates should, at the very least, consider them and put them on their radar for the off-season.

RHP Freddy Peralta

From most accounts, the Milwaukee Brewers are going to go into a complete teardown, as they are open to moving nearly all veterans on the team. That includes right-handed starting pitcher Freddy Peralta. Since the Pirates are now in dire need of a starting pitcher, Peralta should be an arm they should consider going after.

Peralta pitched 165.2 innings last year and made 30 starts, working to a 3.86 ERA, 3.85 FIP, and 1.12 WHIP. Peralta has always been a high-strikeout starter, and 2023 was no different. His 30.9% K% is right around his career average rate. However, Peralta posted a sub-8% walk rate for the first time in his career at 7.9%. His 1.41 HR/9 was the second worst of his career, but there is reason to believe he could see that tick down next season.

The first reason is that in four of the previous five seasons, Peralta’s HR/9 was below 1.0. The second reason is his 16% HR/FB ratio is significantly higher than the 8.6% rate he had in 2020-2022. Despite the increase in home run rate, he posted the highest ground ball rate (41.7%) and lowest flyball rate (40%) of his career and was well above average in exit velocity, clocking in at 87.6 MPH (top 78th percentile).

Not only would Peralta be a great fit because he’s young, but he’s also extremely affordable, with multiple years of control remaining. 2024 will only be his age-28 season, and he will be paid a mere $5,734,960, just a little over $2 million less than what the Pirates gave Rich Hill last year. Then, he has two more years of control via team options for $8 million, exactly what the Pirates gave Hill last off-season.

Infielder Jonathan India

Jonathan India won Rookie of the Year in 2021. After a sophomore slump that was marred by injuries, he looked to rebound in 2023. He got off to a hot start, but the second half of his season was again injury-riddled. But with the Reds having multiple young infielders secured across the dirt, they may look to move India.

The first half of India’s season looked great. In his first 324 plate appearances, India batted .271/.355/.439 with a .345 wOBA and 111 wRC+. India hit for a respectable amount of power, going yard ten times with a .168 isolated slugging percentage, but walked in 9% of his plate appearances while going down on strike three just 17.9% of the time.

However, after this point, India would only receive 205 more plate appearances, batting .201/.312/.356, clocking in with a .299 wOBA, and 80 wRC+. India’s walk rate did go up to 11.2%, but his K% also rose to 24.9%, and his power went in the wrong direction with a .155 isolated slugging percentage.

India missed all of August due to plantar fasciitis and was never able to get back on track. However, when healthy, India can be a good hitter. The foot injury didn’t hamper his raw power. He still had an 89.7 MPH exit velocity and a 36% hard-hit rate after June 19th. There’s also a good chance he rebounds next year with the bat, as he had a .420 xSLG% and .339 xwOBA, and if he can stay healthy.

The only thing is India doesn’t have a great glove at second base. He had -7 defensive runs saved and -6 outs above average. India came up through the Reds’ system as a third baseman not known for his defensive prowess. While he had some games sprinkled in at shortstop and second, as well as logging some games up the middle in college, he more or less learned the position as he got to the big leagues.

But India is affordably controlled for multiple years. He is under contract through 2026 via arbitration. With the Pirates having a need at second base, any and all potential starting-caliber second basemen should be on their radar. That includes division rival Jonathan India.

LHP Hoby Milner

As stated with Peralta, the Brewers are open to moving any and all veteran players. One relief pitcher they may be willing to move is Hoby Milner, who is coming off a breakout 2023 campaign. The Pirates could use another decent left-handed reliever to pair with Ryan Borucki now that they lost Angel Perdomo to Tommy John surgery and the Atlanta Braves via waivers.

Milner pitched 67 innings last year, working to a 1.82 ERA, 3.12 FIP, and 0.96 WHIP. Milner was a BABIP merchant, with a .254 remark on one of the best defensive teams in baseball. But that doesn’t mean he needs an outstanding defense in order to be good. Even though most side-arm pitchers don’t have high K%’s, Milner had an above-average 23.4% strikeout rate despite averaging 88-90 MPH with his sinker and fastball.

The lefty is also a soft contact machine. His 86.6 MPH exit velocity was in the 91st percentile. He also had a ground ball rate of 50.9%. Now, does that mean I expect Milner to repeat a sub-2.00 ERA? No, I would not. That’s a big ask for even the best relief pitchers in the game. But he can still be a quality left-handed arm out of the bullpen.

Milner is an affordable arm with two years of control remaining. He is estimated to make around $1.7 million in arbitration, according to MLB Trade Rumors and their arbitration predictions. With the Pirates now needing a second left-handed reliever and the free agent market being top-heavy for them, Milner should be on the Pirates’ list of potential targets.

RHP Corbin Burnes

Let’s get another bold player in the mix. With the Brewers listening on any and all veterans, ace starter Corbin Burnes will all but certainly be one player who gets attention from across the league. But with the Pirates in need of at least two starting pitchers, Burnes would be a massive boost to their starting rotation.

Burnes is coming off a season that looks poor compared to the other years on his resume. In 193 innings, the right-hander worked to a 3.39 ERA, 3.81 FIP, and 1.07 WHIP. Burnes had a 25.5% strikeout rate and an 8.4% walk rate. Both aren’t bad rates, but considering he had a 32.8%/5.9% strikeout rate and walk rate in 2021-2022, respectively, only striking out about a quarter of opponents with a walk rate over 8% doesn’t look great in hindsight.

Burnes is still great at limiting hard contact. His 86.4 MPH exit velocity was among the top 92nd percentile, while his 5.3% barrel rate was in the top 86th percentile, and his 32.4% hard-hit rate was in the top 89th percentile. Burnes was also better in the second half of the season at inducing strikeouts with a 28.3% strikeout rate after the all-star break. He also had an improved 2.71 ERA and 3.27 FIP through his final 86.1 innings.

The four previous players we talked about have at least three years of control remaining, but Burnes is on the last season of his contract. If the Brewers go into full rebuild mode, Burnes will certainly have a high price tag. He could really jumpstart their rebuild if they play their cards right. While paying a high price for an inter-division rival wouldn’t be the most ideal scenario, Burnes would be the best starting pitcher on the trade market if they are committed to tearing it down. Because of that, I don’t think you can leave him off a list of players who should be on the Pirate radar when Burnes would solve one of their biggest needs.