If the Pirates win tonight, they will be only 4 games behind the Cards and beginning to garner at least some hope that we can catch them. But with the trade deadline about a month and a half a way, what can the Pirates do to get better?
To me, there is really only one option that will improve the Pirates this season and in the near future. Forget Cueto and Cole Hamels, they will only make the Pirates marginally better and are not worth the price. The Pirates best chance to win the NL is to trade for Dbacks 1B Paul Goldschmidt. It would take a lot to get him, but this is exactly why you stock prospects. The Dbacks have new management and they know they need to rebuild. They can not compete with the Dodgers and Giants now or in the future. The Pirates are one of the few teams with good enough prospects to trade for Goldschmidt.
I'm not sure how much would be necessary to get Goldschmidt. Other people can do the value calculations. For starters, I would assume a trade could be built around Pedro Alvarez and Austin Meadows plus other prospects. I doubt there is much interest in Pedro but, at the least, he can replace Goldschmidt in their current lineup and the Pirates don't need him if they get Goldschmidt. Now, looking at the DBacks top 10 prospects, their top players are almost all infielders and pitchers, meaning they would be most interested in adding OF prospects. Luckily, the Pirates have been stocking OF for the last several drafts. Austin Meadows is one of the top OF prospects in baseball and would be a perfect future corner outfielder for them. The Pirates have a lot of talent and I wouldn't mind parting with anyone but Glasnow and Taillon. If the Pirates really want Goldschmidt, they have the pieces to get it done.
For the Pirates, Goldschmidt is the power hitting #4 hitter that they always hoped Pedro Alvarez would become. Best of all, he's signed through 2019 (2018 +1 option year). Imagine a lineup of Harrison, Marte, McCutchen, Goldschmidt, Kang, Cervelli, Polanco, and Walker/Mercer. That is a lineup that can beat anyone.
This is a bad year to be a buyer at the trade deadline and I wouldn't fault the Pirates if they couldn't pull it off. But if there was ever a time to go all-in and sell top prospects, this is the right guy at the right time.
To me, there is really only one option that will improve the Pirates this season and in the near future. Forget Cueto and Cole Hamels, they will only make the Pirates marginally better and are not worth the price. The Pirates best chance to win the NL is to trade for Dbacks 1B Paul Goldschmidt. It would take a lot to get him, but this is exactly why you stock prospects. The Dbacks have new management and they know they need to rebuild. They can not compete with the Dodgers and Giants now or in the future. The Pirates are one of the few teams with good enough prospects to trade for Goldschmidt.
I'm not sure how much would be necessary to get Goldschmidt. Other people can do the value calculations. For starters, I would assume a trade could be built around Pedro Alvarez and Austin Meadows plus other prospects. I doubt there is much interest in Pedro but, at the least, he can replace Goldschmidt in their current lineup and the Pirates don't need him if they get Goldschmidt. Now, looking at the DBacks top 10 prospects, their top players are almost all infielders and pitchers, meaning they would be most interested in adding OF prospects. Luckily, the Pirates have been stocking OF for the last several drafts. Austin Meadows is one of the top OF prospects in baseball and would be a perfect future corner outfielder for them. The Pirates have a lot of talent and I wouldn't mind parting with anyone but Glasnow and Taillon. If the Pirates really want Goldschmidt, they have the pieces to get it done.
For the Pirates, Goldschmidt is the power hitting #4 hitter that they always hoped Pedro Alvarez would become. Best of all, he's signed through 2019 (2018 +1 option year). Imagine a lineup of Harrison, Marte, McCutchen, Goldschmidt, Kang, Cervelli, Polanco, and Walker/Mercer. That is a lineup that can beat anyone.
This is a bad year to be a buyer at the trade deadline and I wouldn't fault the Pirates if they couldn't pull it off. But if there was ever a time to go all-in and sell top prospects, this is the right guy at the right time.
