Pirates Q&A: Is an Oneil Cruz Trade Possible? McCutchen, Suwinski and More
Welcome back to another edition of our Pittsburgh Pirates Q&A. Let’s get to your questions.
Cutch seems like he doesn’t want to be here again. If he goes, does that make it easier to sign Pham? – Jason Williams
I wouldn’t say Andrew McCutchen doesn’t want to be here again, but he will be 39 years old in October and understandably wants to win. Since he’s returned the Pirates have done very little of that.
McCutchen has proven he’s still a capable player. He said he’d continue playing as long as he didn’t embarrass himself on the field, and he hasn’t done that so far. I’m still expecting McCutchen to return next season, though it’s less of a sure thing than it was each of the past couple offseasons.
If he does return, he may have to settle for less playing time. I’m not sure McCutchen returning and Pham returning would impact each other. Pham has proven to be a very capable defensive player and has obviously turned into the team’s best hitter the last two-plus months.
Why not leave Cruz in the minors. He has an awful attitude and is a cancer on the team. I’d trade him if you could get a reasonable return otherwise leave it. In the minors with him knowing the only was back is to work his butt off once brought back up. – Kent
I wouldn’t go as far to say that Cruz’s attitude is awful. He’s often laughing and smiling and seems to be a guy in the clubhouse other players enjoy being around, especially those from Latin America.
But his effort can be questioned at times, and it’s what manager Don Kelly said he wants to see from Cruz for the rest of the season. He has all the talent in the world but his production hasn’t matched his talent of yet.
In regard to a potential trade, I think it’s at least more of a possibility that the Pirates consider dealing Cruz than it was several months ago. I’m not saying it’s going to happen. I’m not even saying it’s necessarily likely at this point, but I wouldn’t totally rule it out either.
How long is the Jack Suwinski audition gonna last? – George Getlak
We’ll have to see how long Suwinski will be on the injured list for. If he does return by the end of the season, it could be his last stint with the Pirates in all honesty, given how bad he’s been over the last two seasons. It’s hard to believe he led the team in OPS and home runs two seasons ago.
Still, I’d probably rather see Suwinski than Ryan Kreidler, who is currently on the active roster. But there are guys in Triple-A I’d rather see than Suwinski too. When the Pirates need room on their 40-man roster this offseason, Suwinski is an obvious DFA/non-tender candidate.
Can we bring up Nick Yorke and Billy Cooke for the final month? – George Getlak
You got your wish on one of them. The Pirates are promoting Yorke as one of their September call-ups, along with right-handed reliever Cam Sanders.
It’s about time they gave Yorke another chance. Frankly, I’m surprised either player hasn’t gotten more opportunity with the Pirates this season given how bad their offense has been. What’s it hurt to give either an extended look?
This team needs to hit at least 60 or 70 more home runs next year to be average in homers. Can Henry Davis turn into half a Raleigh? – Ron Leighton
Half of Raleigh is still a tall ask for someone with 14 career home runs and a .568 OPS through 171 games in the big leagues. It’s pretty wild that Davis has given the Pirates the opposite of what they expected. He’s gone from a bat-first player who might not end up a catcher to a strong defender who hasn’t hit consistently yet.
Looking at his minor-league track record, there’s a good hitter somewhere in there. I think the biggest thing for Davis is to keep things simple at the plate and not overthink it. I haven’t come across too many players who have a reputation has a harder worker than Davis, so if he continues to struggle at the plate, it wouldn’t be for a lack of effort.
This might be a huge question to answer considering you’re a sports writer and not a manager but if you had the opportunity to build a team to make the bucs a playoff contender using the minor leagues “all of them” from our organization, who would you pick to be in the bucs rotation – Jim
I’m going to kind of put my own spin on this but I will answer your question as best I can. If it was my decision, I would look to trade Mitch Keller in the offseason for a bat. Whether it’s in a deal for one of the Red Sox outfielders or someone like Adley Rutschman.
Assuming everyone is healthy, my Pirates starting five would be: Paul Skenes, Bubba Chandler, Braxton Ashcraft, Jared Jones and Johan Oviedo.
I really like Hunter Barco, but I think I like these other five more. Mike Burrows has shown he can do it, but I might have him in a bulk relief role given that he’s excellent the first time through the lineup but not nearly as good a second and third time through. I’m not as high on Thomas Harrington as most. I don’t see an out pitch from him.
Seth Hernandez is someone I’m very high on (he was No. 2 on my 2025 draft big board) but I don’t want to jump the gun on him having not seen him face one batter as a professional yet.
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