MLB trade deadline FAILURE? Breaking down the trades the Pirates did — and didn’t — make on Thursday

MLB trade deadline FAILURE? Breaking down the trades the Pirates did — and didn’t — make on Thursday

What’s up everybody? Welcome back to the PostGazette Pirates YouTube channel and podcast network. Colin Beasley and Noah Hiles coming to you late Thursday evening. Major League Baseball’s trade deadline has officially expired. The Pirates made six moves this month. Probably should have made a couple more. Maybe shouldn’t have made some. We’re going to talk about all of them. Before we do that, want to remind everyone to check out our work at post-gazette.com. You can read all of our trade deadline coverage, all of our coverage for the remainder of the season, just all of our sports coverage and non-sports coverage. Read it all at post-gazette.com. Get yourself a a digital subscription if you don’t have one already. All right, Colin, some moves were made, some decisions were made. Let’s get into it. Let’s go in order. First trade happened a couple weeks ago. We’ve talked about it, but let’s just we’re recapping everything. Adam Frasier traded to Kansas City for Cam Deainy. Don’t need to talk about this one a ton. I’ll start with this. My take on this. This was fine. Adam Frasier wasn’t a good major league asset. He was a utility man on a bad team and they got a utility man in AAA. Anything else to add? Yeah, I think it was perfectly fine. I think maybe Deainy could be something. He’s hit okay in AAA, but what I wanted was for him to be something for August and September and maybe a utility guy on next year’s team. Now, I don’t know if we’ll get that and we’ll get into that later. We certainly will. Um, next, this is a move we could talk more about. KBrian Hayes gets traded uh to the Cincinnati Reds. He just homered as we’re recording this, so that’s fitting. Um, but that the Pirates get Taylor Rogers uh and Sammy Stafura. I think I’m saying that right. Um, and some and cash considerations. I believe all that cash goes over with Rogers’s deal uh because they moved him later on. Uh, but so Hayes goes to Cincinnati. They get his money off the books. They get the Red’s number nine prospect. I think this guy’s a top 10 prospect in the Pirates or now. Um, high a shortstop. Not going to see him in the majors anytime soon. your thoughts, Colin? You want to include the outfielder from the Rogers trade in this as well and just because that Yeah, that’s fine. That’s fine. So, yeah, we’ll include Ivan. I don’t know. I don’t even know. E R E T H O Wr. However you want to say that. We write words. We don’t say them out loud. Um they get two high a players and they get Kabrian Hayes off the books. Um actually, I’ll start with this one, Colin. Again, just real quick, as someone who’s been around Kabrian Hayes a little bit more. I covered him his rookie year in 2020. I’ve covered him the last two seasons here for the Post Gazette. Kabrian Hayes, my big takeaway from this deal was it’s a very sad ending for both parties. Um, this was a guy who when he debuted was an elite prospect. I think his rookie year he was a top 10 prospect in all baseball. Um, he was the first big move this regime made. they signed him to a significant extension uh for their standard. Anyway, um he was supposed to be a cornerstone of this franchise, a pillar, you know, when the championship DVD began, his extension was going to be the thing they talked about, right? That was going to be one of the first chapters of the book Colin and I wrote about covering the World Series champion Pittsburgh Pirates. That was what it was supposed to be, right? Or something close to that. And it wasn’t. Both sides failed on this. Kabrian Hayes was not the player he was supposed to be. He was not the teammate he was supposed to be. He wasn’t fun to be around. I think I don’t know if anyone would say that on record, but I don’t think anyone would refute that in the clubhouse. And the Pirates failed him. They didn’t surround him with enough talent. They didn’t develop him properly in the major leagues. They didn’t get the most out of him. And somewhere in the middle, you have an injury that prevented him from being the absolute best he could be. Who knows what happens in Cincinnati. But this was a marriage that needed to end. This was not the player the Pirates signed up for. This was not the situation Krian Hayes signed up for. Both of them needed something else and now they have it. And the Pirates get a fresh start at third base. Brian Hayes gets a fresh start somewhere else in the NL Central and he’s on pace to hit a home run every game after leaving Pittsburgh. Anything to add on that, Colin? Yeah, I I just want to say this Braves Reds game is nuts. It was 3-3 going into the eighth and both teams scored eight in the top of in the top and bottom of the eighth. Hayes started that. Just probably should have turned that off to focus on this, but anyways. Um, yeah, with the trade it’s, if you look into what Hayes was supposed to be, you’re you’re completely right. Like that’s a major disappointment. He was supposed to be not just a building block, but the first building block in what was supposed to be a really good era of Pittsburgh Pirates baseball. Simply hasn’t ended up being that. If you look at what the deal is now, I don’t really mind what it what it was, like what they were able to get in return for him as well as getting him off the books. I’m not super excited by both prospects. I think I kind of look a little looked a little bit at Sammy Stfura. I think he could be good. He’s in low A, so we won’t know for several years whether he’s anything or not, but I don’t mind it now. But overall, I think the biggest thing here was getting Hayes’s contract off the books. Not necessarily as as a salary dump just so they don’t have to pay anyone, but because of the flexibility it gives you going into 2026. you can sign a third baseman that will be better offensively than combin Hayes and you have a little bit more money to do so. Will they actually do it? We’ll find out November, December, January. But if they do, if they’re able to take advantage of that vacancy, it’s a positive move. We’ll see. Next move, Caleb Ferguson, rental lefty goes to the Mariners for Jeter Martinez. Sure. I mean, this is this is a typical It’s a typical return for that, right? Yeah. What you’re supposed to get for a guy on a one-year contract, you’re getting a guy who could be something. Guy who’s young, has some good stuff. We’ll see if he can figure out how to throw strikes or not, but someone who could be something. I’ll take it. And now we enter Saturday or not Saturday, Thursday. Thursday. We enter Thursday. We already talked about the t the Taylor Rogers trade. So there were two other trades of significance made. First one was David Badner going to the New York Yankees for Raphael Flores, their number eight prospect. Ed Glean Perez, who I believe was what, 14th? Yep. And Brian Sanchez, who wasn’t ranked, was he? No, it was not ranked. Okay. So, you get three prospects. One guy who’s going to report to AAA, two guys who are going to be below double A. Um, two guys who are catcher first base type players and and Sanchez, who is an outfielder. Flores is the headliner of this deal. He is probably the most notable return they got. Um, not probably, he is absolutely the most. Um, I’ll let you start. Yeah, I it’s just underwhelming when you see what other teams got for their closers. I understand David Bednar is not Mason Miller. He does not have the control. He does not throw nearly as hard. He’s struggled. He’s not He’s simply not as good as Mason Miller. I understand that he’s not Yoan Durant either. He doesn’t have the three years of control. He doesn’t have the filthy spinker. But David Bednar is still a really good closer and he is still someone that you can get a solid return for. I like that they got two bats. I like that they got someone who it’s not that hard to imagine um Flores helping the 2026 team like that’s that’s entirely possible. But when you see what other teams got and then you consider that the Yankees gave up two top 15 prospect and some guy who isn’t ranked and then you consider that the Yankees farm system is not a particularly good farm system. It’s just it’s like okay cool this is it it works I guess but it’s it’s just not it’s not a sexy return. It’s not something that I I’m a little bit underwhelmed by it. I I would have liked to see them get more for it or hold on to him, but I I don’t know. What are your thoughts on it? Um I said this on our live stream. I knew the asking price. I reported it. They expected a minimum top five prospect in an or um and I heard from two teams interested that the Pirates were asking for even more. They wanted a top 100 guy. Ben Cherington told you and I that those players were available, but this is the package they chose. It’s an interesting decision. Um, I think they put a ton of pressure on Raphael Flores who I don’t know if he would have ever had these high expectations in the Yankee system despite the bar being marketkedly higher for anyone who plays in the Yankee system. This guy is going to be expected to perform soon. If he struggles in TripleA, he’s going to hear about it from fans. If he comes up to the majors and doesn’t perform, he’s going to hear about it. He’s got more pressure, in my opinion, he’s got more pressure on his shoulders than a one-1 pick. Because I mean, you look at what this move means. One, you’re departing from really the only successful trade return you’ve had in the last six years. Ben Cherington himself has acquired two Allstars in six seasons in Pittsburgh. One of them was a one-1 pick who will probably go down as the best pitcher in Pirates history if you go like pound-for-pound year for year. And the other is David Bednar. He’s the only All-Star I mean Ben’s probably acquired 100 plus players and trades. Only one of them has made an All-Star team and that’s David Bednar. He’s a hometown guy and I know the fans booed him, but I think they came back around. I think overall most Pirate fans are gonna look back on David Bednar’s time in Pittsburgh with fond memories, at least when you consider like his individual performance. And this is how you replace him. And not only that, let’s consider where this guy’s going to play. Is he taking playing time from Henry Davis, your one-1 pick? Is this Is this the end of the thought that he can be an everyday player? Is he taking playing time away from Spencer Horowitz, the guy he just traded a three-war pitcher who, you know, hindsight 2020 kind of good decision to get rid of him. um into prospects like is that who is he are we giving up on Spencer Horowitz already? Is he your DH? Did you just push Cut out the door or is he are you going to ask him to bounce between all three as a rookie with these high expectations? I don’t know. Yeah. doesn’t sound like a doesn’t necessarily sound like a recipe for success to me. Guy has some size to him. He’s like 6’4 230. He absolutely mashed and high A and in double A last year and then double A again this year. Play 10 games in AAA so far. Not going to judge him for that. How well he did. Even if he had a whole bunch of home runs, I don’t care. It’s small sample size. But this guy has to be here soon. Aside from Connor Griffin, this is probably the most important hitting prospect in the Pirates farm system now. And he is probably going to be ranked outside their top 10. So, yeah, we’ll see. The Pirates were confident. Remember that. The Pirates were confident in this guy. Yeah. I’m glad they got a bat. I’m glad they got someone who could theoretically have some pop and could do, but you’re right, a lot of pressure on this guy moving forward. Um, and then we get to the final move here. Uh, our pal Bailey Falter, a man of few words after losses, man few words probably after wins, too. Um, guy I liked a guy who honestly when you consider like value is probably their most successful trade return. They gave up Rulo Castro for Bailey Falter who was an unsuccessful swing man for the Phillies and he got better every year here. He was fine in 23. 2024 he established himself as a capable big league starter and he leaves this year with a winning record on the Pittsburgh Pirates. It’s pretty impressive. Seven and five and what a 378 earned run average in 22 starts. Yep. That’s a solid pitcher. The thought behind this move was to open up a space in the rotation for other arms. Okay, they had other guys that they could have moved to do this, but they picked Bailey Falter because of his trade value in the trade value netted Evan Cisk, a guy with five major league outings. He is the most experienced big league player of the bunch that they acquired for all of these players in all of these trades. And they got Ken Moss, another high a non-top 30 prospect. The Greensboro Grasshoppers are going to be a problem. Colin, they already are a problem. I know, but they’re loaded up. They They’re the biggest winner at the deadline. It’s like them and the Padres’s. They both made a huge huge huge huge slew of additions. You’re sleeping in the Bradenon Marauders, but yes, absolutely. Um, your thoughts on Bailey Falter being moved? Yeah, I’m gonna I’m gonna miss Bailey Falter. He’s someone that someone that I I enjoyed being in the clubhouse, even if we didn’t necessarily always enjoy talking to him after losses, which is fair is his right. Yeah. Yeah. It’s it’s the Pirates felt like they were in a position where they had to move somebody, it seems like. And if you don’t see Bayiley Falter being a part of the 2026 rotation, then sure, I get it. Trade trade him. But this seems like a guy that you probably again could have gotten more for. Bailey Falter isn’t a name that we heard throughout this entire process. Like he he he was someone who was kind of like on the outside like a maybe they trade Bailey F, but never someone who was actively floated. Obviously, we don’t hear everything that goes on. I don’t know whether this is someone who’s been actively shot for months and this was the best thing that they could get in return for him, but you’re getting you’re giving up a guy who’s proven that he can be a major league arm. Doesn’t have that high of upside, but pitched well at PNC Park, pitched well as a pirate, was a guy who was an all-around solid major league pitcher. And this is what you get for him, a 28-year-old lefty and a non-top30 pick, like a non-top 30 prospect. I I don’t I don’t know. I get I get that you had to move somebody, but I I I felt like you could have gotten more for Bailey Falter in my in my opinion. What What What are your thoughts on that? Well, I don’t necessarily care as much about the return. I agree. Like Bailey Falter’s probably overperforming. Yeah. Right. like this. I don’t Or maybe he’ll just continue defy the odds. Like his advanced metrics are not good, but he continues to get the job done, which is fine and credit to him. And if he overperforms for another three, four years, great. But if you wanted to clear a spot in the rotation, why wouldn’t you just trade the other left-hander who has no remaining control and worse numbers? Like Bailey Falter is a better baseball player than Andrew Heene right now. Not saying he was at his peak. Andrew Heene was the better player. Like he had the better career. But right now, Bailey Falter is a better pitcher than Andrew Heene. If the Pirates were in the playoffs and they had a three-man rotation, Heene would not be considered over Bailey Falter. He shouldn’t be anyway. And even that considered, Bailey Falter had three more years of control and if you’re operating on the under the assumption that you might be trading other pitching assets, he’s not necessarily like the worst depth guy to keep around. He hasn’t been injured like significantly. He’s pitched out of the bullpen before. He’s left-handed and his home splits are really good. I don’t know. Why wouldn’t you trade Andrew Heene instead of Bailey Falter? Well, let’s get into that right now. You want to do an ad break? What do you think? Yeah. Let’s hear from Greenwalt Roofing and then we’ll finish this this sucker up here. So, here’s the ad. Embrace. Hey, Pittsburgh. When you think of great roofs, you think Greenalt Roofing Company. With over 20 years experience, Greenwald knows your roof is your home’s first line of defense from rain, wind, snow, and ice. That’s why Greenalt roofing standard for perfection is so important. You can trust that their team of experienced installers will treat your property like it’s their own. When it comes to roof replacements, Greenwall Roofing is Pittsburgh’s only choice. Visit greenwalroofing.com today or call 412-314882 to schedule your free estimate. PA contractor number 36262. All right, so Five Pirates and Taylor Rogers. I don’t know if we can call him a pirate. Pirates legend Taylor Rogers. Where were you? Uh uh they were all moved. Some guys who weren’t moved. Let’s start with the the weird part about all of this. I would be more willing to accept the fact that they traded Bailey Falter under the logic that they wanted to clear room for young pitching if they didn’t keep Andrew Heene who is a f I mean he hasn’t been great over the last month but there are far worse players who get moved every July and Andrew Heeney was the worst of three rental or three expiring ing veteran contracts that weren’t moved. IKF, a guy who was moved last year at the deadline and Tommy Fam, a guy who it feels like the sun doesn’t rise if he is not moved at the trade deadline. And a guy who over the last month has been one of the best hitters in Major League Baseball. None of those guys are moved. The Pirates say the value wasn’t there. I talked to sources within the team. They say just that there weren’t the offers. I know IKF had a little bit of a market. I know the Brewers were interested. The Cubs made a final push on him a little bit. Giants reached out. Yankees reached out. Nothing happened. He had a couple of teams, but he was never their like primary option. I don’t know really what happened with uh Tommy fam. How do you not move these guys? Like I I I just I I can’t sit here and buy that. Like Tommy Fam was a worse player last year. He got traded twice. How can you not? I mean, you can’t get a 17-year-old Dominican League prospect. You can’t get cash considerations. You traded Austin Hedges to a World Series champion two years ago. You mean to tell me you can’t get Tommy Fam on the Brewers? Come on. Like, what are we talking about here? Um, I don’t know. This It’s either the Pirates weren’t trying hard enough to move these guys or their trade process is just broken because there’s no excuse why these guys are here. If you’re going to sit here and talk to us about how the story of this deadline in their eyes is creating opportunities for younger players, how can you say that when three once every five days three of your start three guys in your starting lineup Yeah. are dudes in their 30s on expiring contracts. I know Cam Dei is not gonna be anything. More than likely not going to be anything here. There’s skepticism about Nick York, Billy Cook, Ronnie Simon, but I mean, come on. Isn’t this the time to give them those opportunities? It feels like these guys were just retained for the Pirates to be a better team in these next two months. Cherington said, you know, these games matter. They’re important. Why? Why are they important? Are you going to make up 12 and a half games of ground? I don’t think they are. Do you? Is that all it is after an eight in one stretch? It’s only 12 and a half games. Oh my goodness. It’s still 12 and a half. I just don’t get why why are these guys here, Colin? I have no idea. This is this is my biggest gripe with the trade deadline. As I’ve hinted at in the first couple of minutes, I don’t see how you can’t get anything for these guys. Them being on this team, like all all due respect to Tommy Fan, Isaiah Ker Fa, Andrew Heeney, all good guys, like all all fine good veteran presences, pros. But why are they here? The biggest the only thing that the Pirates are playing for at this point in the season is 2026 and development. And every single rep, every single atbat, every single ground ball these guys take before the game is a rep that could have gone to a younger player. I don’t care if Cam Dei is probably never going to be anything. I don’t care if Nick York is probably never going to be anything. Heck, I’m I’m glad that Jared Triola will get some more opportunities now that Cabrian Hayes is traded, just so we can see more of these young guys and give them the opportunity to be something. They could possibly be part of the 2026 roster. And none of those three guys will be. I don’t think Isaiah Connor Falefa will be a pirate in 2026. I don’t I don’t either. I don’t either. I don’t think Andrew Heeney will be. I hope that they give him more opport give young pitchers more opportunities. I definitely don’t think Tommy Fam will be resigned again. So, if we’re playing for 2026, then why are these guys here? And if they are here, why do you give them at bats? Like e even the entire point, the best part of Tommy Fam hitting 400 over the last couple of weeks, aside from the Pirates playing some more washable baseball has been so you could get something at the trade deadline and they weren’t able to do so. You mean to tell me that no one wants Tommy Fam coming off the bench? He’s hitting 400 in the last month month plus. You mean to tell me no one wanted Andrew Heene out of the bullpen or Isaiah Connor Falefa as a backup utility guy? And I I don’t need anything in return for these guys. I will take cash, a Dominican prospect, Dominican summer league prospect, some low guy. I don’t need a top 30 prospect. I just need the opportunity for someone else to play. They got more for Taylor Rodgers. He was here for like 16 hours. And Taylor Rogers is a left-hander with a 245 RA, so he’s probably a more valuable prospect. Still, I just can’t buy it, man. I can’t buy it that you couldn’t get anything. I call BS. This is the same organization that DFA a guy in the final week of the season last year to get young guys reps. Coincidentally, he was only a couple plate appearances away from a signing bonus or an incentive bonus, but that wasn’t why they did it. It was to get young guys reps, Colin. That’s why they did it. Man, I didn’t even think about that. But but now it’s about the young guys, but they’re hanging on to the old guys. How does this make sense? Okay. And if and if no one did want them, then cut them because you’re paying them anyway, right? If you’re if you’re hanging on to these guys, you owe them the trio together is owed close to 4.7 million. So if no one wants them, then cut them. They should not be playing. This isn’t to say that’s not an indictment on their abilities. They are definitely better baseball players than Well, two of them are. I think he’s replacements will probably be better pitchers than he is right now. But it it makes no sense allowing these guys to take reps. Even if you know like Cam Deainy probably has just as much of a future with this organization as Isaiah kind of philer. No, he’s got slightly more. He could potentially be around. Yeah, but yeah, it’s it’s it’s there’s always the chance, right? Deainy could go nuts in August and September and we’re talking about, hey, well, there’s your utility guy next year. Who knows? It’s either if if you want him here, sign him to an extension right now. Here’s the other part of it, Colin. If they like him so much that they bring him back, you could just sign him again in the offseason. You don’t have to keep them here. You could have traded them for nothing. I just I refuse to believe that they couldn’t get anything for these guys. If if that is what their takeaway was, if that’s their honest feedback, then they’re not going about this process the right way. They’re just not they they pro maybe they spent too much time trying to move Mitch Keller who we haven’t even talked about or Badnar or who or Reynolds or O’Neal Cruz or whoever else and they just figured these guys would be a given. I’m not saying that’s the case, but I’m saying this idea that they couldn’t get anything for them, it’s nonsense. That just cannot be true. And it is a waste of everyone’s time. everyone’s time for them to continue playing for this team. Those guys deserve better. Their teammates deserve better. Everyone, that’s the more frustrating part is this continued half in half out, you know? Oh, it’s just never it’s never fully committed to anything. So, I don’t I don’t get it. Real quick before we wrap this up, they keep Mitch Keller. We talked about it. I think it makes sense. Do you agree? Trade him in the offseason. Yeah, I think it’s perfectly fine. I think he’s a guy that he’s a guy that Yeah, you it’s worth asking for the moon and seeing if anyone will give it to you. and they they seem to believe that they’ll have a better chance of of moving him in the offseason. It sucks for him to him to be in this situation. He signed a contract hope knowing or hoping that he’d be tied down for a while. But from a Pirates perspective, I get it. If you don’t get exactly what you’re asking for, whether that’s top 50, top 100, however many prospects, then I totally get why they wouldn’t do it. I’m fine with them not moving Mitch Keller. No complaints there for me. Yeah. And I think it’s also good that you you make sure let’s see how Johan Ovido looks. Let’s see how Bubba Chandler looks. Let’s see how Hunter Barco looks before you give up one of two sure things in your pitching rotation because Jared has the injury right now and the other guys are they’re all young. So before you completely part ways with Mitch, you need to see what else you have. So that’s fine. But real nice treat in the rotation to try out these guys instead of one. But oh well. Yeah. What can you do? Andrew Heeny takes the mound tomorrow in Denver, Colorado against the the 28 and 80,000 Colorado Rockies. I’ll be there to cover it. Be sure to follow my coverage at post-gazette.com. I’m Noah Hiles. He’s Colin Beasley. Thank you all for listening, for tuning in, and be sure to do so. Moving forward, we’ll have more Pirates coverage for this crazy 2025 season. [Music] Thank you for checking out this content from PostGazette Sports. If you watch this video on YouTube, please like the video and subscribe to our channel. 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Post-Gazette Pirates insiders Noah Hiles and Colin Beazley analyze the Pirates’ six trades at the 2025 deadline, as the team traded stalwarts David Bednar, Ke’Bryan Hayes, Bailey Falter and others for prospects. Beazley and Hiles discuss each return and whether the Pirates got enough in return or not, before flipping to the greater issue: that the Pirates were unable to trade several veterans on expiring deals. And what about the fate of GM Ben Cherington after another disappointing deadline day?

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