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 gets closer and closer and is now less than a month away. The Pirates aren’t out of the playoff race just yet, as they sit 3.5 games back in the Wild Card race. But as the deadline nears, the team will need to decide whether to be a buyer or a seller, and to commit to selling if need be. And because the Pirates are under .500 at the moment, most of the rumors surrounding the team are about them selling. And some pieces that are attracting the most attention from the Pirates happen to be there relievers.
But first, let’s start with some injury updates for the team.
Injury Updates
All three current injured Pirates (Francisco Cervelli, Gerrit Cole, and Ryan Vogelsong) are participating in a simulated game today, according to Matt Gajtka:
Tomczyk said Cervelli, Ryan Vogelsong and Gerrit Cole will be involved in a BP sim game in Oakland on Friday
— Travis Sawchik (@Travis_Sawchik) June 30, 2016
And Gerrit Cole recently threw a 35-pitch bullpen session:
Gerrit Cole threw 35 pitches in the bullpen today, his second time throwing off the mound since going on DL. He threw a mix of pitches.
— Stephen J. Nesbitt (@stephenjnesbitt) June 28, 2016
And here’s the latest on Cervelli:
Francisco Cervelli got stitches removed yesterday and did drill work behind the plate today. Said hand is a bit sore, building strength now.
— Stephen J. Nesbitt (@stephenjnesbitt) June 25, 2016
That’s a good sign for sure. But in the best news of all, Vogelsong will be able to play baseball again:
Ryan Vogelsong has been given full clearance by his eye doctor to play baseball again. That is rather astounding, all things considered.
— Stephen J. Nesbitt (@stephenjnesbitt) June 30, 2016
It’s just a matter of time now for these three. I envision both Cole and Cervelli being back for the second half of the season post-All Star break, and I definitely see Vogelsong back before the end of the season.
Minor Moves
The Pirates did make one minor move this week: reliever Curtis Partch was designated for assignment. He only appeared in one game for the Pirates this year and gave up three runs without recording an out. Thus, he currently has an ERA of infinity this season. Partch was never going to be a major piece for the Pirates this season, so losing him wouldn’t be much of a loss at all.
Marlins looking at Liriano
Add the Marlins to the list of teams possibly interested in Francisco Liriano. We previously broke now how the Orioles had shown interest in him. Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe mentioned the Marlins as showing interest in the lefty. It will certainly be interesting to see if Liriano gets dealt this month. And the Pirates will definitely consider it. Not only could they get a decent prospect, but they’d clear a lot of money off the books. However, I don’t think they should deal him. The team doesn’t have any quality, proven starting pitching outside of Cole, and Liriano has the potential to get back to top form with time.
Trading away relievers
Some of the best trade chips the Pirates may have this season are probably their relief corps, or at least the back-end of it. Mark Melancon and Neftali Feliz are free agents at the end of the season, and Tony Watson only has one more year of arbitration eligibility left.
Melancon is probably attracting the most interest. Cafardo mentions multiple teams displaying interest in Melancon in the previously mentioned article, including the Astros, Giants, and Mets. Rob Rossi of the Tribune-Review also argues that the Pirates should trade Melancon. Trading Melancon makes a ton of sense. For one, he’s a free agent at the end of the season. And two, he’s having another stellar year, pitching to a 1.48 ERA and a 1.05 WHIP. Creating a super-bullpen is the new trend these days, and virtually any team without a stellar trifecta at the back-end should look into Melancon.
Jesse Rogers of ESPN mentions Tony Watson as a possibility for the Cubs, who are in need of a lefty specialist in their bullpen. The Pirates would have to be completely out of it to deal Watson to a division rival, and the return would have to be great if they’re going to face Watson for the next two seasons. They’d also have to figure out who their closer would be next year, and I don’t see them bringing back Melancon, who should get a big money, multi-year deal this off-season. I’d prefer the Pirates to keep Watson and use him as the closer next season, but if a return is big enough, I’d certainly consider it.
I haven’t seen Neftali Feliz mentioned in many trade rumors, but he should be. He’s been arguably the second-best arm in the bullpen for the Pirates behind Melancon, and he has closer stuff. He’d also come much cheaper for a team than Watson or Melancon would.
Ideally, the Pirates will turn it around and Watson and Feliz will keep their upward trajectory, solidifying the back-end of the Pirates bullpen. But if the team is selling, I could see any of the three gone by July 31st.
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