Yankees are about to learn a harsh lesson the Pirates already know about latest addition

With Giancarlo Stanton on the 60-Day IL with an elbow injury, the Yankees seem interested in collecting potential power options, no matter the fit. This past week, went to the waiver wire to pick up former Marlins, Pirates, and Braves outfielder Bryan De La Cruz.

De La Cruz signed with the Braves in December after being traded to the Pirates at the trade deadline in 2024. The outfielder played just 16 games with Atlanta, slashing .191/.240/.213 before being picked up by the Yankees organization.

Luckily for the Yankees, they are good enough that De La Cruz will most likely not see the big league club for a while, as he is expected to be optioned to Triple-A Scranton. However, Bucs fans know how the De La Cruz experiment goes, because it was ugly in Pittsburgh.

What was looking to be a promising move for Bryan De La Cruz ended up being a trade disaster for the Pirates

At the trade deadline in 2024, the Pirates acquired De La Cruz from the Miami Marlins, as the Pirates were looking for an outfield bat to pair with Bryan Reynolds. In this trade, the Pirates sent out Jun-Seok Shim and Garret Forrester.

Shim last played in the Arizona Fall League in 2024 for the Peoria Javelinas, where he pitched 5.0 innings and gave up 11 ER and 12 BB in six games. However, his stint in the AFL was short-lived due to his poor mound performances.

Forrester, a former Pirates third-round pick, is currently playing High-A ball for the Marlins' affiliate, the Beloit Sky Carp. He has appeared in just five games thus far, but he is swinging the bat fairly well, hitting .333 in his limited plate appearances.

In a bigger sample size last season with Marlins' Single-A affiliate, the Jupiter Hammerheads, Forrester slashed .232/.366/.293 in just over 100 plate appearances.

None of these numbers change the reality that De La Cruz's Pirates experience was very disappointing. The Pirates' front office wanted the Dominican outfielder to be in Pittsburgh because of the potential he showed in Miami. While he was never a fully polished hitter, De La Cruz had a batting average of .258 and hit 55 home runs in Miami.

Once he got to Pittsburgh, all the bad parts of his game came out, and barely any of the good was on display. De La Cruz hit right at the Mendoza line, batting .200 in 44 games, while hitting just three home runs. The worst of all was his K/BB ratio at an abysmal 13 strikeouts for every walk he took.

Luckily for the Pirates, the two prospects they traded away do not look like they will amount to anything. If the Pirates had traded away even one prospect that may pan out, this trade would go down as completely awful. For now, it's just a wash in a trade with no impactful players. Good luck, Yankees!