Pirates Morning Report: Stop The Presses The Pirates Make A Trade

The Pirates made their first significant move during this off-season by trading Johan Oviedo to the Boston Red Sox. The main player the Pirates received was Jhostynxon Garcia, soon to be 23 years old, an outfielder who has spent his career essentially in the minors. That first name will certainly be a mouthful. Greg Brown will probably just call him Horowitz Garcia. In 1,552 plate appearances at all levels of the minors, he has slashed .261/.351/.464. Good but not overly impressive numbers. This past year, in 351 plate appearances in AAA, he slugged .498. He is known to be a decent fielder and has played a lot of games in center field. This is the kind of trade that is low risk, high reward for the Pirates and the Red Sox. This trade could go either way for both clubs; it could be a dud for both teams, or one team could look like they fleeced the other team. It could be a great trade for both teams. Only time will tell. The Pirates now have two young outfielders with some high potential: Esmerlyn Valdez, who will turn 22 in January, tore up the Arizona Fall League. He has not seen any action higher than AA. It will be interesting to see how fast the Pirates allow these two to make it to the parent club. There were two other prospects sent to the Red Sox, a pitcher and a catcher. The Pirates received an 18-year-old pitcher to complete the five-player deal. The Pirates are fortunate that the Red Sox have such an abundance of outfield talent.

The Pirates still have their two big contract players, Bryan Reynolds and Mitch Keller. Together, they will make around 31 million in 2026. I don’t see how the Pirates can make any kind of splash in free agency and still have both on the team. Getting rid of both makes signing a free agent with a long-term 35 to 40 million dollar contract very feasible. Keeping them makes that almost impossible. Keller would still yield a good return. Reynolds would strictly be a salary dump, and hopefully, the Pirates may get a good bullpen arm, especially a left-hander. The Pirates making some kind of move before Christmas is pretty miraculous. Now, if they do something next week at the winter meetings, I may have to go on some heart medicine. This first trade may not turn out all that well, but it does make you feel that the Pirates may actually be trying to put a better team on the field. Let’s hope we see some more moves sooner rather than later.