This mock Pirates trade would land Pittsburgh the powerful infielder they need

The Pittsburgh Pirates must be active this offseason. Not adding some legitimate hitters to their lineup would be a near-death sentence for the Pirates’ 2026 season. They need power, as well as someone who can play an infield position and do it well. One of the sluggers on the trade market really stands out: CJ Abrams of the Washington Nationals.

It may not be cheap to acquire him, but Abrams could provide plenty of fuel to power the Pirates’ lineup, and the Bucs have exactly what the Nats need to tempt them into a deal.

Abrams has broken out into one of baseball’s best power/speed threats over the last two seasons. In 2025, he batted .246/.315/.433 with a .324 wOBA and a 107 wRC+. Abrams may not have walked very often, with a 5.8% BB%, but he cut his K% down below 20 to 19.8% last year. Abrams hit 19 home runs over 635 plate appearances, while putting up a .176 isolated slugging percentage. His baserunning was outright elite. He went 31-for-34 in stolen base attempts, and his +7 base running runs were in the 96th percentile of position players this past season.

Abrams may provide good value with the stick, but his abilities in the field are lackluster, to say the least. He had -6 defensive runs saved (eighth worst among all shortstops) and -11 outs above average (third worst). DRS has graded out Abrams positively in the past, with a +5 total between 2023 and 2024, but this was also the second season in a row he's put up a double-digit negative OAA. 

Those defensive numbers could facilitate a move to either the keystone or the hot corner, depending on where the Pirates feel he would work best. Plus, he wouldn’t be sticking at shortstop long-term anyway, with Konnor Griffin’s meteoric rise putting him on pace to potentiallyopen the year in the major leagues. A double-play duo of Griffin/Abrams, or a left side of the infield featuring the slugging pair, would be one of the best partnerships in the game.

It won't be cheap, but the Pirates need CJ Abrams in their lineup.

Abrams is only 25 and is still an entire season away from arbitration, so don’t expect the Pirates' trade package to be light here. The headliner of this proposed deal is right-hander Mike Burrows. The former 11th-round pick got his first extended stay in the big leagues in 2025 and took full advantage of it. Burrows put up a 3.94 ERA, 4.00 FIP, and a 1.24 WHIP over 96 innings. The rookie got 24.1% of his opponents to go down on strike three while dishing out a walk just 7.7% of the time. Burrows’ 1.22 HR/9 ratio may not be that impressive, nor was his 89.2 MPH exit velocity and 10.8% barrel percentage.

Burrows showed most of his improvement in the second half of the season. His final 55 innings of the year saw him put up a 3.27 ERA, a strikeout rate of 25.1%, and a 6.4% walk rate. Those are strong numbers, but nothing was more promising than his improvement in stuff across the board. Burrows’ Stuff+ through his first 41 innings was 91 before he took a leap up to 99 for the remainder of the season. The average starting pitcher came in at 98 in Stuff+ last season.

Since Burrows was a rookie, he still has four years of pre-arbitration left. That alone makes him valuable, even if he settles in as a mid-to-back-of-the-rotation arm. However, that alone likely isn’t enough to pry a potential 20/20 batter with two straight seasons with an OPS around .750. The Pirates would also be sending Edward Florentino to the Nationals in this trade. 

Florentino had an extremely promising 2025 season, batting .290/.400/.548 with a .442 wOBA and a 159 wRC+ in 351 plate appearances between the Florida Complex League and A-Ball Bradenton. Florentino was one of the best sluggers in the Pirates’ system this year, with 16 home runs and a .259 ISO. Don’t sleep on his baserunning either, as he went 35-for-41 in stolen base attempts. Florentino’s 22.2% K% may not wow anyone, but his 14% walk rate and 16.3% whiff rate might.

Florentino’s power is the best part of his game. He generated an 89 MPH exit velocity at A-Ball, despite only being in his age-18 season. The fact that he had such a low whiff percentage also helps his hit tool grades. However, there is pressure on his bat to perform. Florentino projects as a corner outfielder/first baseman. While he swiped 35 bags and had a success rate over 85%, he is not considered a speedster. He already weighs in at 6’4” and 200 pounds. His defense also projects as fringy, albeit with a strong enough arm to play an outfield corner. Florentino is ranked as a top 100 prospect on the back end of MLB Pipeline (81st) and Baseball America’s (84th) lists.

The Pirates would also be including Jared Jones (the first base prospect, not the pitcher) in this proposed deal. Jones was the Pirates’ ninth-round pick in 2025 after he hit .323/.414/.613 at Louisiana State University. Known for his light tower power, Jones went yard 22 times in only 326 plate appearances. While he walked 11.7% of the time, Jones also struck out at a 26.1% rate. His tendencies carried over into High-A Greensboro this season.

It only took Jones 580 at-bats to deliver four home runs. He also drew a half-dozen walks, but an elevated strikeout total defined his play at High-A. Jones had a whopping 44.8% K% in the small sample size. If it wasn’t already obvious, Jones is a power-over-hit prospect. There is no question that Jones can put a charge into a baseball when he gets hold of one. The question is whether Jones will make enough contact to put his top-scale raw power to good use. Although Jones has a strong arm, he is limited to working only at first base. He was a catcher in high school and saw a few games behind the dish and at third base in college, but first base is his long-term home.

This package would likely interest the Nationals for multiple reasons. For one, they need pitching badly. Their starters ranked in the bottom five in the league in ERA, FIP, and WHIP last season. The Nats may have some interesting pitching prospects in their system, but they’re either not ready for the major leagues yet, or do not project as starting pitchers. Florentino would immediately become the Nats’ best outfield prospect. Justin Horowitz, the Pirates’ former head of amateur scouting, left the Bucs to take up an assistant GM job with the Nats, but was very influential to the Pirates’ recent drafts, including taking Jones in the ninth round. Whether it's Jones or another overlooked target, it's likely that Horowitz has his favorites in the Pirates' system (and knows it well).

The Pirates would also likely be willing to deal these players. Even if the Pirates include Burrows in this deal, they still have Hunter Barco, Antwone Kelly, Wilber Dotel, and Thomas Harrington on their 40-man roster who could fill in innings. Florentino may be promising, but he just turned 19 in November. Barring a Griffin-esque surge through the minor leagues, he is far from a guarantee, and won’t be in the major leagues for another two seasons minimum. Jones is mostly a throw-in to this deal. Plus, the Pirates have a carbon copy of his archetype in Tony Blanco Jr. 

If the Pirates want to get serious about adding hitting, they need to offer up a serious package. Any deal involving a potential 20/30, 3+ WAR middle infielder with four years of control remaining is not going to come cheap. The Pirates need Abrams right now more than they need Burrows, and possibly both Florentino and Jones in the future.