Pirates Trade Deadline Primer: What Will Ben Cherington Do?

It’s here. Once 6 pm ET rolls around this evening, that’s it. No more trades until the season is over.

In one of Major League Baseball’s busiest days, Tuesday marks this year’s trade deadline.

For the Pittsburgh Pirates, they got a head start on the action already by shipping first baseman Carlos Santana to the Milwaukee Brewers in exchange for minor league shortstop Jhonny Severino.

Now, the clock ticks as general manager Ben Cherington works the phones from his office at 115 Federal St. on Pittsburgh’s North Shore.

What will the day have in store? Here’s everything to keep in mind.

Latest Buzz

The Pirates have a couple of clear trade candidates in free-agents-to-be Rich Hill and Austin Hedges.

In Hill’s case, the Baltimore Orioles, Cincinnati Reds and Miami Marlins are among the interested teams, according to Rob Bradford of WEEI.

With so many contending teams looking of pitching help this year, plenty of others have surely called on the veteran left-hander. Among the teams looking for pitching include the Los Angeles Dodgers, Houston Astros, Atlanta Braves and others.

Hedges’ market is less clear than Hill’s but the New York Yankees could be a fit with starting catcher Jose Trevino out for the season.

Trade Candidates

In addition to Hill and Hedges, the Pirates have a handful of less-obvious candidates who could be moved.

David Bednar and Mitch Keller are rightfully generating some buzz as the duo are the Pirates’ top two current possible trade chips.

However, Cherington is asking for the moon and the stars for either player as both are controllable well beyond the 2023 season. A deal for either remains unlikely.

Ji-Man Choi is another veteran player on an expiring contract who could wind up with a new team come 6 pm. Will the Pirates trade another first baseman?

Connor Joe could be of interest to a handful of teams. He’s having a decent season, has plenty of team control and offers some defensive versatility.

With Triple-A Indianapolis, Rodolfo Castro and/or Miguel Andujar could present the Pirates with some sleeper candidates to be moved.

A Look Back

Looking back at recent trade deadline’s for the Pirates, they completed one significant trade leading up to the deadline last year.

The Pirates shipped pitchers Jose Quintana and Chris Stratton to the division-rival St. Louis Cardinals in exchange for right-hander Johan Oviedo and prospect Malcom Nuñez.

The 2021 trade deadline was a busy one for Cherington and co. The Pirates made six trades leading up to and through the deadline.

Among the moves were Adam Frazier to the San Diego Padres for three players including Jack Suwinski, Clay Holmes to the New York Yankees, Tyler Anderson to the Seattle Mariners and Richard Rodriguez to the Atlanta Braves.

The Pirates also acquired Abrahan Gutierrez (Phillies) and Michael Chavis (Red Sox) on the deadline itself.

Closing Thoughts 

Whether this year’s deadline looks like a more relatively quiet one like last year or a hectic one in 2021 remains to be seen.

With one deal already in the books, the Pirates do look primed to swing at least another deal or two before the deadline hits.

As is always the case this time of year, some deals seemingly come out of nowhere. Maybe Cherington pulls something completely out of left field before the day is done.

Stay tuned to Pittsburgh Baseball Now as we will have you covered with whatever happens!