Welcome to the weekly Pittsburgh Pirates Rumor Mill, where we update you on all of the latest Pirates trades, signings, rumors, injury news, promotions, demotions, and the like from the past week.
The trade deadline is coming swiftly upon us, especially now that the Pirates went on a nice run before the end of the first half of the season. They now seem to be buyers, not only in our eyes, but also in the eyes of Neal Huntington.
“Our expectation is we are going to add,” Huntington recently told the Tribune-Review. “Our mindset is we are going to add and put ourselves, for the first time in the franchise history, in position to make the postseason four consecutive years.” Based on this quote, I’m quite confident that the Pirates are going to add at the deadline and go hard for the playoffs. Huntington wants to become the first General Manager in Pirates history to take the team to four consecutive postseasons, which would be a huge notch on his career belt. Of course he wants this accomplishment for the players, coaches, and the city as well, but don’t think Huntington isn’t considering how much his value will go up if he completes this feat. Thus, even if the Pirates are still a few games back at the deadline, I expect him to add a piece or two.
What are the Pirates’ needs at the moment? Most importantly the team needs starting pitching, but probably only one arm to take over at the back-end. Ideally, the rotation for the stretch run would be Gerrit Cole, Jameson Taillon, Francisco Liriano, Tyler Glasnow, and an outside addition. I could also see them adding a piece to the middle relief corps, or even a back-up catcher depending on how Chris Stewart progresses, but starting pitching is the biggest need right now.
Today we look at the Pirates deciding to shop Jeff Locke and how the Drew Pomeranz trade to the Red Sox affects the Pirates.
But first, we give you some injury updates:
Injury Updates
Gerrit Cole is expected to return from the disabled list tonight to begin the second half of the season against the Nationals:
Here's our probable rotation in Washington:
Friday- Francisco Liriano
Saturday- Gerrit Cole
Sunday- Chad Kuhl pic.twitter.com/w3xGFReFLF— Pittsburgh Pirates (@Pirates) July 14, 2016
Francisco Cervelli and Ryan Vogelsong are both set to begin rehab assignments:
#Pirates Francisco Cervelli (hand) will begin rehab assignment tonight with @indyindians
— RobBiertempfel (@RobBiertempfel) July 14, 2016
Also, Ryan Vogelsong is expected to make a rehab start tomorrow with Double-A Altoona.
— Jason Mackey (@JMackeyPG) July 14, 2016
Chris Stewart is still deciding whether he wants to get surgery on his left knee, which could end his season, or play through the pain, while Elias Diaz continues his rehabbing in Bradenton.
Rehabbing #Pirates catcher Elias Diaz collects four hits for @The_Marauders. https://t.co/E6ZvsmEg9H pic.twitter.com/dxE84trX0v
— Minor League Baseball (@MiLB) July 14, 2016
And there is no official word on Jameson Taillon yet, but he’s eligible to come off the DL on Tuesday, July 19th, which would place him in the fifth slot in the rotation.
Minor Moves
The only move of significance this week happened yesterday when the Pirates officially optioned Tyler Glasnow back to Indianapolis.
ROSTER: Francisco Cervelli begins ML rehab. Tyler Glasnow optioned from the @Pirates to Indy. John Kuchno assigned to the @AltoonaCurve.
— Indianapolis Indians (@indyindians) July 14, 2016
I still expect him to be back with the big league club full time at the beginning of August at the latest. Josh Bell, however, still technically remains up with the big league club, though he should be back down in Indianapolis sometime soon.
Pirates shopping Jeff Locke?
It certainly seems that way, at least per Rob Biertempfel:
Glasnow not listed in @indyindians rotation yesterday. #pirates trying to move Niese and/or Locke to open spot in their rotation.
— RobBiertempfel (@RobBiertempfel) July 14, 2016
We’ve known for a while now that the Pirates have been trying to move Jon Niese, but now we can add Jeff Locke to that equation. This makes sense, as Locke has been just as bad as Niese ERA-wise this season, although he might be more appealing to an outside team who is looking for a young, controllable lefty. He also comes much cheaper than Niese, at least for this year. I’d still prefer the Pirates move Niese and move Locke to the pen, but as long as one of them gets moved, that’s a good sign.
What does the Drew Pomeranz move mean for Pirates?
Yesterday the Red Sox acquired lefty starter Drew Pomeranz from the Padres in exchange for RHP prospect Anderson Espinoza. Espinoza is MLB.com’s 34th-ranked prospect. Pomeranz has been a number-three type starter for most of his career, but he’s a lefty, he’s making only $1.35 million this year with two more seasons of arbitration eligibility, and he’s having a career year. He’s posted a 2.47 ERA with a 1.06 WHIP in 17 starts this season, easily the best year of his career. He’s also on pace to start an entire season for the first time in his career.
Pomeranz was one of the most popular names out there on the trade block. I certainly wouldn’t have minded the Pirates acquiring him, but Espinoza seems like a high price. In order to get Pomeranz, I’d imagine the Pirates would have had to give up someone like Jameson Taillon, or Mitch Keller and an additional prospect. I’d rather keep Taillon and acquire a lesser pitcher to round out the rotation at a cheaper price.
With the first major domino falling, I’d imagine more trades will start coming real soon.
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