Pittsburgh Pirates Trade deadline 2019 Thoughts

S. Samek

Just about a week away is one of the most exciting times of the MLB season, trade deadline.

So lets take a look at how I think the Pittsburgh Pirates should approach the deadline.

As of 7/24/19 The sit at 46-54 and 7.5 games out of first in the central division. This is last place in the division. They also sit 7 games back of a wild card spot. There are nine teams ahead of them in the wild card standings.

Honestly I feel its a long shot to make the playoffs. I don’t think this is a good time to go all-in for a wild card game.

Yet I don’t feel like its time for a complete rebuild. There are still a lot of useful piece for future playoff runs.

There are a few pieces that could be moved though. Closer Felipe Vazquez comes to mind first of all. Late inning relief is always coveted this time of year. However with Vazquez still under a team-friendly contract I don’t see him going anywhere yet. That and it looks like they aren’t interested with parting with Vazquez.

Outfielders Cory Dickerson and Melkey Cabrera could be on the move. With an outfield that has Marte, Polanco and a rising Bryan Reynolds those two seem to be a surplus. The could give a veterian bat to a contending team.

Other than that it doesn’t look theres too much to trade.

If the Pirates were buying, starting pitchers would be the best bet. they need a consistent starter thats going to stay healthy and eat innings. It seems like a lot of problems with the lineup as a whole is getting heathly. With massive numbers of dl stints its often hard to play consistent ball.

Hence why I think the best move is to just stay as is. Get some of the guys back and healthy. Then you can get a better gage to see if your closer to needing to buy,or sell.

Theres just no real reason to blow the team up complexly, but it can be improved. It just dosnt make sense to extend all te resources for a small gain for the position they are currently in. Making those big moves now would probably hurt more the long term than help the short term.

Should be interesting to see what moves, if they make any. Stay tuned.