Ranking 5 Pittsburgh Pirates outfield trade targets with spring training looming

The easiest way the Pittsburgh Pirates can get a solid and affordable player is to trade for one. They have good enough prospects to get anyone they want, especially if a team is willing to take a pitcher as a headliner. The Pirates have already made one significant trade this offseason, acquiring Spencer Horwitz from the Cleveland Guardians. While that solved their lack of a decent first baseman, they still need to find an outfielder.

Luckily, plenty of players remain on the trade market that the Pirates could potentially go after. This ranking of potential trade targets for the Bucs starts with the worst fit and ends with the best fit. While potential performance is an obvious big factor in this ranking, it’s not the only factor.

Affordability is another factor that you have to keep in mind, as well as how well that player would fit on the Pirates’ roster as currently constructed. Contract/cost will also factor into positioning here, as well as what, exactly, the Pirates have to offer the other team. If there's not an easy match, the player will move down the rankings.

5 Pirates outfield trade targets, ranked from worst to best

Jake McCarthy

The Arizona Diamondbacks have reportedly received recent trade interest regarding some of their outfielders. One of their options who could be moved before the end of the offseason is speedster Jake McCarthy. After a solid rookie campaign in which he finished fourth in NL Rookie of the Year voting, McCarthy went through a sophomore slump, but rebounded with a solid 2024 campaign.

Through 495 plate appearances, McCarthy slashed .285/.349/.400 with a .329 wOBA and 110 wRC+. McCarthy did not provide much power, with just eight home runs and a .115 isolated slugging percentage. He also only drew walks in 6.3% of his plate appearances. Conversely, McCarthy struck out at a career-low 15.8% rate and stole 25 bases, making it three straight seasons with 20+ stolen bags.

McCarthy’s season was decent, but it wasn’t without its flaws. He was only in the 44th percentile of xwOBA at .311 and had just a .359 xSLG%. McCarthy rarely made good contact, either. His 84.5 MPH exit velo was in the 1st percentile of batters in 2024. Meanwhile, McCarthy had just a 2.7% barrel percentage. His xBA of .265 was the only batted ball metric in which he was above average.

Defensive metrics were mixed on McCarthy’s glovework in the outfield. He had -3 defensive runs saved, but +6 outs above average, which was in the top 90th percentile of players. McCarthy was also in the 98th percentile of sprint speed, so he had no trouble covering ground, which helped make up for his average jump and route running. On the flip side, he was only in the 25th percentile of arm strength and had the fifth-lowest average throw velocity among outfielders.

McCarthy is still a year away from arbitration, so he’ll make less than $1 million in 2025. The D-Backs could also use some more young pitching, as they only have three pitching prospects in their top 15 on MLB Pipeline and none in their top 10 on Baseball America. Notably, though, his performance under the hood is sketchy. He has to hit .280 or better in order to be productive, and his ability to do so hinges significantly on his speed/ability to beat out poorly-contacted infield singles. He is very fast and a solid defensive outfielder while only going into his age-27 season. There’s definitely upside and a potential match, but he comes in last on today’s list.