Should the Pittsburgh Pirates have any untouchable prospects in trade talks?

The Pittsburgh Pirates headed into the All-Star break as a .500 team. They have won six of their last seven games, and since calling Paul Skenes up from Triple-A to make his debut on May 11, they have a .544 winning percentage. If they keep something like that up for the rest of the year, that puts them on pace for around 84-85 wins. That’s a pretty good pace, and that’s not factoring in any internal improvements, such as players heating up in the second half or prospect promotions like Braxton Ashcraft (who is already on the 40-man roster).

Regardless of internal improvement possibilities, the Pirates should still look to be buyers at the deadline. At the very least, they need to look for players who can help both this year and next year. But if the Pirates must deal from their prospect capital, should they have any prospects off-limits and untouchable in trade talks?

One of the two prospects the Pirates should consider untouchable is infielder Termarr Johnson. The former first-round pick got off to a sluggish start to the year, but over his last 207 plate appearances, Johnson has hit .294/.408/.500 with a .413 wOBA and 154 wRC+. He has only struck out 21.7% of the time with a healthy 14.5% walk rate and an isolated slugging percentage just a hair over .200 at .206. Right now, he is on a 12-game hit streak. 

Trading Johnson does not make any sense. The Pirates need long-term hitters, and Johnson is their best position player prospect by a mile. Unless the Pirates would be getting back a player with at least four years of control remaining, meaning they would still be an entire season away from arbitration, it would not be worth the Pirates' while to include Johnson in a trade.

Pirates must consider Termarr Johnson untouchable at MLB trade deadline

The other top prospect the Pirates should consider untouchable is Bubba Chandler. Chandler owns a 3.53 ERA, 3.17 FIP, and 1.01 WHIP on the year through 63.2 innings with Altoona. Chandler has cut his walk rate down to just 8.7% while keeping up an outstanding 30.7% K%. The right-hander hasn’t been home run prone either, allowing just 0.71 HR/9 this season. These are great numbers, but Chandler has been elite since the start of June.

His last seven outings have yielded a 1.80 ERA, 1.63 FIP, and 0.69 WHIP. Chandler has a microscopic 2.3% walk rate in this time while striking out 33.8% of opponents. He has allowed a singular home run throughout his last 35 innings pitched. Chandler has allowed zero earned runs in five of his games since the start of June. 

Keep in mind that heading into this year, Chandler was ranked ahead of Jared Jones in prospect rankings, and look how good Jones has been. Chandler throws just as hard as Jones with more athleticism. Right now, he is ranked as the Bucs’ best prospect by MLB Pipeline and Baseball America, and has moved up both lists as the season has gone on. Like Johnson, it's not hard to see why Pirates would want to hold onto him. 

Johnson and Chandler should be the only prospects the Pirates must hold onto at all costs. Chandler has been outright dominant this year and next to untouchable for over a month, looking better and better with each and every outing. Johnson is on a tear after a cold start to the year. Even if the Pirates keep these two off-limits, they still have more than enough talent to make a move that can impact the lineup.

Pittsburgh still has a ton of pitching to deal from. Advanced arms like Thomas Harrington, Braxton Ashcraft, Anthony Solometo, Mike Burrows, and Hunter Barco, as well as young arms like Jun Seok Shim, Zander Mueth, and Michael Kennedy, could all bring back something of note if the Pirates dealt any of them in a trade package. While Chandler and Johnson should be the only untouchables in the Pirates’ system, they still have enough ammo to get a deal done for the bat they require.