It’s rare for the Pittsburgh Pirates to earn praise for a trade they made, but one deal agreed to nearly eight years ago still has an effect on the organization to this day.
Bleacher Report writer Joel Reuter praised the Pirates for their decision to trade for All-Star outfielder Bryan Reynolds back in 2018 when he was a prospect with the San Francisco Giants.
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“After winning World Series titles in 2010, 2012 and 2014, the Giants contention window seemingly slammed shut during a 98-loss season in 2017, but the front office tried to reopen it by trading for Evan Longoria and Andrew McCutchen during the 2017-18 offseason,” Reuter wrote.
“The Giants ended up finishing 73-89 and McCutchen was traded again before the season was over, going to the Yankees at the deadline after he logged a 115 OPS+ with 15 home runs and 1.7 WAR in 130 games in San Francisco.
“A year later, Bryan Reynolds emerged as the outfielder the Giants hoped they were getting in McCutchen, hitting .314/.377/.503 with 57 extra-base hits and 4.2 WAR in 134 games. In seven seasons in Pittsburgh, he has 21.1 WAR and two All-Star selections while serving as the de facto face of the franchise before Paul Skenes showed up.”
Reynolds joined the big leagues in 2019, a year after he was acquired in a trade with the Giants. Since then, he has been an All-Star twice for the Pirates and has arguably been their best player in the 2020s.
If the Pirates were to make another trade like this during the offseason, they could move a step closer to where they want to be.