Pittsburgh Pirates: Top Post-Winter Meetings Trade Targets to Pursue

Jake Cronenworth

Even though the San Diego Padres just traded Juan Soto, they could look to move infielder Jake Cronenworth. Cronenworth’s 2023 season was nothing to be proud of. In 552 plate appearances, Cronenworth batted just .229/.319/.378 with a .301 wOBA, and 92 wRC+. Cronenworth still had a solid 18.6% strikeout rate and 8.8% walk rate but hit for very little power and had an ISO of just .148.

But while his 2023 season was unimpressive, he was one of the best second basemen in the league from 2020-2022. In these three seasons, Cronenworth batted .256/.338/.431 with a .333 wOBA, and 115 wRC+. He only struck out 16.5% of the time with a quality 9.5% walk rate. Cronenworth had a .175 isolated slugging percentage, averaging about 17 home runs per 150 games. In this three-season stretch, Cronenworth had the 6th highest wRC+ and was only surpassed by Marcus Semien and Jose Altuve in fWAR. That means he led all National League second basemen in fWAR.

Cronenworth’s defense at second base has consistently been above average to plus at the position. In 2595.2 innings at second base, he has +8 defensive runs saved and +8 outs above average. Keep in mind he has bounced between second base, first base, and shortstop. However, second base is easily his best position. He hits the best and fields the best when he’s regularly playing second.

Cronenworth is also an affordable player who could be a stalwart in any infield. Next year, he is owed just $7,285,714 next year, then $11,285,715 in 2025, and is then paid $12,285,714 each season from 2026 through 2030. Cronenworth has the potential to put up +3-4 WAR each of those seasons.

Cronenworth would be a great fit for the Pirates. They need someone who can handle the right side of the infield. Putting Cronenworth at second base, Triolo at first base, with Oneil Cruz and Ke’Bryan Hayes on the left side of the infield would give the Pirates one of, if not the best defensive four INFs in baseball next season. Cronenworth is affordable, money-wise, and for what he could produce, it could be a massive bargain for the rest of the decade, too.

Edward Cabrera

Edward Cabrera is one of the Miami Marlins multiple starting pitching options. The hard-throwing right-hander has been in the rumor mill recently, along with another one of his teammates, who we will mention later. Cabrera is a young and talented pitcher who would slot right into the Pirates’ starting rotation right now.

Cabrera is the definition of effectively wild. Despite his 15.2% walk rate and 1.44 WHIP, he did everything else at an average to above-average level. Cabrera finished out the 2023 season with a 4.24 ERA and 4.43 FIP, along with a 27.2% strikeout rate and an HR/9 of 0.99. Cabrera is a groundball machine that induces soft contact at a high rate as well.

He was in the 75th percentile of hard hit rate at 35.4%, the 78th percentile of exit velocity at 87.6 MPH, and the 68th percentile of barrel rate, clocking in at 6.9%. Cabrera had a 54.3% ground ball rate in 99.2 innings. Only 14 pitchers last year had a ground ball rate over 50% in 90+ frames. Cabrera ranked seventh among those 14 arms. Logan Webb, Marcus Stroman, Alex Cobb, Cristopher Sanchez, Bryan Bello, and David Peterson were the only other pitchers with a higher ground ball rate than Cabrera.

Cabrera is affordably controllable through 2028. His first year of arbitration won’t be until 2026. He’s a young arm who turns 26 in mid-April. Cabrera was also a consensus top-100 prospect each season from 2020 through 2022. Cabrera may struggle with walks, but he does everything else very well. It might not be cheap to acquire him, but it's definitely a name the Pirates should be on.

Trevor Rogers

Trevor Rogers broke onto the scene in 2021 when he pitched 133 innings for the Marlins, working to a strong 2.64 ERA, 2.55 FIP, and 1.15 WHIP. The southpaw had an 8.4% walk rate but an outstanding 28.5% strikeout rate and a home run-per-9 rate of 0.41. Opponents only managed an 87.7 MPH exit velocity against him, with a barrel rate of 5%, which was in the 89th percentile.

Rogers looked like he may solidify himself a rotation spot for the long run, but the last two years haven’t been all that great for him. He’s only pitched 125 innings in 2022-23 and has pitched to a mediocre 5.26 ERA, 4.35 FIP, and 1.46 WHIP. Some of that has to do with some bad luck. He has had a .324 batting average on balls in play, but his strikeout rate has decreased to just 22.5%, his walk rate has gone up to 9.2%, and his HR/9 has rocketed toward 1.22-per-9.

Of those 125 innings over the last two years, over 100 of them came in 2022. He only tossed 18 innings in four starts last season. The lefty didn’t throw a pitch in either the Majors or Minors after June 4th. He missed most of the year, suffering from a right lat tear and a left bicep strain. However, recent reports state that he should be ready to go for Spring Training in 2024.

But Rogers is still young. He just turned 26 in November and looked like an ace not all that long ago. Rogers is controlled via arbitration for each of the next three seasons. He may be more of a buy-low rebound candidate compared to other pitchers on the trade market, but he certainly has the ace potential that he displayed in 2021. If healthy, I think he could regain that sort of talent.