Pittsburgh Pirates: Looking at Ridiculous Trades Baseball Trade Values Thinks Are Fair

This trade sees the Pirates getting MVP candidate Freddie Freeman from the LA Dodgers along with only half of his remaining contract. Freeman is owed $108 million over the next four seasons, making $27 million a year. Half of that is four years for only $54 million, which means he would only be making $13.5 million toward the Pirates payroll in this hypothetical trade.

That would of course be an absolute steal. Freeman has finished top ten in MVP voting every season since 2018. Last year, he batted .331/.410/.567 with a .411 wOBA, and 163 wRC+. His wRC+ was his highest single-season mark (minus 2020). Freeman went yard 29 times, but smacked 59 doubles. There have only been ten seasons where a player had 59 or more two-baggers. Freeman was also a solid defensive first baseman with +3 outs above average.

The first part of this trade going back to LA is Colin Holderman. Holderman served as the Bucs’ set-up man in 2023, working to a 3.86 ERA, 3.29 FIP, and 1.34 WHIP in 56 innings. He had an above average 24.2% strikeout rate and 8.3% walk rate. However, he was great at limiting home runs thanks to a 52.8% GB%. Holderman had just an 0.64 HR/9. Holderman’s ERA was a tad high, but had two poor outings that happened to be right before he was placed on the IL. Outside of these two games, he had a 2.96 ERA.

The second piece is Quinn Priester. Priester had a rough debut, and while he showed some talent, it could have gone much better. However, he was good at Triple-A this year, owning a 4.00 ERA, 3.59 FIP, and 1.33 WHIP in 108 innings for Indianapolis. Priester is a ground ball machine and had a GB% of 54.4%, leading to a HR/9 of 0.5. He also had an above average 10.2% walk rate and 25.3% strikeout rate.

If the Dodgers were to make Freddie Freeman available, and be willing to eat up to half of his contract, there’s no way that Colin Holderman and Quinn Priester would be nearly enough to get it done. Yes, Freeman is older as the last year of his contract will be his age-37 season. But he’s easily one of those players that you could still see being productive into their early-40s. 

(Link to trade)