Perrotto: Did Pirates Overpay in Spencer Horwitz Trade?

DALLAS – The Pittsburgh Pirates hope they found their long-term solution at first base.

Yet there are more questions than answers about the three-way trade they made with the Cleveland Guardians and Toronto Blue Jays on Tuesday night at MLB’s Winter Meetings at the Hilton Anatole.

Will Spencer Horwitz provide the type of production the Pirates have lacked at first base since Josh Bell’s All-Star season in 2019? And did the Pirates dig too deep into their pitching depth?

The Pirates acquired Horwitz from the Guardians, who had got him from the Blue Jays earlier in the day. The Pirates sent right-hander Luis Ortiz to Cleveland with left-handed pitching prospects Michael Kennedy and Josh Hartle.

Horwitz made his major-league debut with the Blue Jays in 2023, appearing in 15 games, and then played in 97 games this season.

The 27-year-old left-handed hitter’s career statistics, albeit in the relatively small sample size of 425 plate appearances, are intriguing. He has a .264/.355/.428 slash line with 13 home runs.

The on-base percentage is welcomed on a team that ranked 27th in the major leagues in that category with a .301 mark this season. No Pirates player had an OBP as high as Horwitz’s in 2024. Bryan Reynolds’ .344 led the team.

However, an average of one home run every 32 plate appearances is low for a first baseman, even in an era where there aren’t as many pure power hitters at that position. The Pirates need guys who can put the ball over the fence as their 160 homers this season were 25th in MLB.

Could Horwitz increase his home run production? Perhaps, but his 42 longballs in 1,988 minor-league plate appearances don’t provide a lot of hope that he’ll suddenly morph into a 25-homer guy.

Horwitz should be a useful piece in the Pirates’ lineup. However, he isn’t the difference-making kind of hitter the Pirates need.

Thus, the trade is problematic in my eyes.

The Pirates gave up a good young major-league pitcher in Ortiz. The 25-year-old had a fine season this year, going 7-6 with a 3.32 ERA in 15 starts and 22 relief appearances. The Guardians plan to slot Ortiz into their rotation after winning the American League Central this year.

If I were general manager Ben Cherington – and I’m not – I would have hesitated to trade Ortiz for Horwitz in a straight-up deal. Adding two lefty prospects with promise tilts this deal in the Guardians’ favor.

Hartle was the Pirates’ third-round draft pick this year from Wake Forest. Kennedy was taken in the fourth round in 2022 and received a $1-million signing bonus following his senior season of high school ball in Troy, N.Y.

Baseball America ranked Hartle as the Pirates’ 16th-best prospect and Kennedy at No. 19.

Cherington came into the offseason knowing he would likely have to part with some pitching to add some offense.

“I think you look back to, ‘How do we win in Pittsburgh?’ What are the channels we can put wins on the field through and improve the team?” Cherington said Monday. “Trades have to be one of them. A big one frankly if you look at (teams like) Cleveland, Tampa (Bay) and Milwaukee. Yes, they’re getting value out of the draft, yes they’re getting value out of international (amateur free agents), but trades are a big piece of how those teams are built.

“Trades are harder emotionally because everybody celebrates a draft pick when you make it and it’s all upside, but with trades, there’s a give and take. You’re giving something up so it’s a different emotional, psychological decision and experience. To win in Pittsburgh, we’re going to have to be willing to embrace that like those competitive teams have done. Weve got to be open to it and you can’t find out what the opportunities are unless you’re open to it.”

Being open-minded is always good for a GM working with a tight budget. Overpaying, though, is not good.