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

Baseball Trade Values is a popular site among fans, but it can be extremely inaccurate. Here are three examples of Pittsburgh Pirates trades that are considered 'fair', but are totally ridiculous

Baseball Trade Values has become popular among the baseball community, but not for the right reasons. It is a trade simulator where you can throw together mock trades involving any player you want between any team. Each player has an assigned value. For example, the most valuable players in the Pittsburgh Pirates and their entire organization are Paul Skenes (+61), Oneil Cruz (+50), and Jack Suwinski (+38.5). There are also negative values, which are typically for players that are on expensive contracts.

But many of the values are questionable at best and wildly inaccurate at worst. They don't claim that the values are 100% accurate, but they do claim they think they are reasonable. But because you can throw any player into any trade between any team, the trade simulator can be used to make some ridiculously unfair trades that are still seen as fair in the eye of their simulator. But that’s what I want to look at today: absolutely ridiculous trades that in no way are fair except in the eyes of Baseball Trade Values. 

These trades are not meant to be taken seriously. Each one of these is intentionally created to show how bad Baseball Trade Simulator can be. At the end of each trade, I will link to what the trade looks like on their simulator.

The first trade is the most ludacris one I could come up with. In this trade, we see the Pirates sending outfielder Jack Suwinski for four different players. The first is Texas Rangers Postseason hero Adolis Garcia, who had a career year with a 124 wRC+, 39 home runs, and +4.8 fWAR. Garcia posted career bests in batting average, OBP, slugging percentage, and in proxy OPS. He shattered his previous career high in home runs by eight. On top of that, he was a good defensive outfielder with +6 defensive runs saved and +2 outs above average. He added on eight more home runs during the Rangers' World Series run. He could have reached double digits had he not gotten hurt in World Series Game One.

The next player is Ezequiel Duran, who is coming off a year where he had a .768 OPS, .330 wOBA, and 107 wRC+. Not only is Duran entering just his age-25 season, but he’s extremely versatile. He’s logged innings at all four infield positions, as well as both outfield corners. The middle infield is probably his best positions, as he grades out as average to below average at the corners. 

Kumar Rocker is the only prospect in this deal. Rocker may not have the hype he did in 2021 when he was a first round draft pick. Plus he’ll miss most of next year because he underwent Tommy John surgery in May 2023. But Rocker is still a noteworthy pitching prospect. He looked great in his brief time at High-A prior to his surgery. 

Finally, the fourth player the Pirates are receiving is veteran reliever Jose Leclerc. Leclerc pitched 57 last season, working to a strong 2.68 ERA, 3.62 FIP, and 1.14 WHIP. Leclerc has always struggled with walks, though his 12% walk rate was the second best of his career. But he had a 28.8% strikeout rate and a HR/9 of 0.8 for the Rangers. Leclerc is only controlled through 2024, but for only $6.25 million.

The Pirates are only sending Jack Suwinski in return. Suwinski had a nice breakout season where he hit .224/.339/.454 with 26 home runs and a 112 wRC+. Suwinski upped his BB% from 11% in 2022 to 14% in 2023. His overall power output also saw a massive uptick, as his ISO jumped from .209 to .230.

Look, I love Jack Suwinski, but this is obviously so unfair that it’s not even funny. Even if Garcia ends up as productive as Suwinski, Duran is a rookie who was an above average hitter with positional flexibility, Leclerc is a quality relief pitcher, and Rocker is a decent pitching prospect. The wildest thing is that BBTV’s trade simulator not only says that this is a fair trade, but the Pirates are getting the worse end of the deal. Suwinski is valued at +38.50 while Garcia+Duran+Leclerc+Rocker is only worth +38.40.

(Link to trade)

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)