Pirates flip Crawford (and call up Pegeuro) and Murfee at the deadline for extra prospects.
Mariners sign a big SS (or a cheap veteran 2b) and roll with Dylan Moore, Cruz, FA add for their middle infield mix.
Cruz could bust, or his development could stall. Another season of mixed results depresses his value considerably. Dude struck out 1/3 of the time! Selling him now ensures the Pirates have enough prospect depth to complete their rebuild.
Pirates already have a deep farm. They are already at risk of losing multiple players in the Rule 5 draft because there is no room to protect them on the 40 man. No financial reason to trade Cruz who won’t even be arb eligible until 2026. Far more positive results than negative for Cruz in 2022. He made marked improvement late in the year and cut down on the Ks. This looks more like a Mariner fan trying to get value for a struggling Kelenic and an oft injured Hancock. I suspect it’s an easy pass for the Pirates.
Oh I’d happily sub out Kelenic for, say Laz Montes (further out prospect but super loud bat, projects like Cruz without defense) and swap Hancock for Dollard or Miller, who are also MLB adjacent starters.
Cruz is very high risk, very high reward. The Pirates could be selling incredibly high on a 2.5 win player with a K problem.
Cruz is exactly the type of player the Pirates need to acquire in trades not trade away. They can’t get a player with his tools via Free Agency. The reward outweighs the risk with him. Even if he reaches 75-80% of his potential that is a win for the next few pre-arb years.
The Pirates can’t get much of anyone in Free Agency. They’re also not gonna extend him to a huge contract. They’re unlikely to contend seriously before he hits Arb, and even if he goes off for a 6 win season, if he follows it up with a 2.5 win year he’ll just get sold later for a 10% better haul. His value is incredibly high now for a volatile asset without much track record.
Kelenic is a good get here. He’s got plenty of bust potential, but mostly he’s just got lots of potential. He just needs time to figure it out in a low stakes environment, he’s starting to run out of opportunities in Seattle. Pittsburgh would make a fantastic landing spot for him.
Pirates have extended players before including Hayes last season. No reason why they can’t extend Cruz. Also if they wanted to take a chance on Kelenic, they certainly could do so without parting with Cruz. Kelenic has very little value at this point and is a buy low guy.
Right. They’d be buying low on Kelenic given the portion of the value of the trade he represents. And by the way, Crawford is a good MLB short stop that’s already extended at a super reasonable price.
The Pirates probably will extend Cruz, it’s true. And if he becomes anything less than the face of baseball, 4 years from now they will be in another rebuild because that’s just kinda what they do. They spend so little on the rest of the squad it’s hard to imagine extending Cruz will be enough.
Pirates flip Crawford (and call up Pegeuro) and Murfee at the deadline for extra prospects.
Mariners sign a big SS (or a cheap veteran 2b) and roll with Dylan Moore, Cruz, FA add for their middle infield mix.
Cruz could bust, or his development could stall. Another season of mixed results depresses his value considerably. Dude struck out 1/3 of the time! Selling him now ensures the Pirates have enough prospect depth to complete their rebuild.
Pirates already have a deep farm. They are already at risk of losing multiple players in the Rule 5 draft because there is no room to protect them on the 40 man. No financial reason to trade Cruz who won’t even be arb eligible until 2026. Far more positive results than negative for Cruz in 2022. He made marked improvement late in the year and cut down on the Ks. This looks more like a Mariner fan trying to get value for a struggling Kelenic and an oft injured Hancock. I suspect it’s an easy pass for the Pirates.
Oh I’d happily sub out Kelenic for, say Laz Montes (further out prospect but super loud bat, projects like Cruz without defense) and swap Hancock for Dollard or Miller, who are also MLB adjacent starters.
Cruz is very high risk, very high reward. The Pirates could be selling incredibly high on a 2.5 win player with a K problem.
Cruz is exactly the type of player the Pirates need to acquire in trades not trade away. They can’t get a player with his tools via Free Agency. The reward outweighs the risk with him. Even if he reaches 75-80% of his potential that is a win for the next few pre-arb years.
The Pirates can’t get much of anyone in Free Agency. They’re also not gonna extend him to a huge contract. They’re unlikely to contend seriously before he hits Arb, and even if he goes off for a 6 win season, if he follows it up with a 2.5 win year he’ll just get sold later for a 10% better haul. His value is incredibly high now for a volatile asset without much track record.
Kelenic is a good get here. He’s got plenty of bust potential, but mostly he’s just got lots of potential. He just needs time to figure it out in a low stakes environment, he’s starting to run out of opportunities in Seattle. Pittsburgh would make a fantastic landing spot for him.
Pirates have extended players before including Hayes last season. No reason why they can’t extend Cruz. Also if they wanted to take a chance on Kelenic, they certainly could do so without parting with Cruz. Kelenic has very little value at this point and is a buy low guy.
Right. They’d be buying low on Kelenic given the portion of the value of the trade he represents. And by the way, Crawford is a good MLB short stop that’s already extended at a super reasonable price.
The Pirates probably will extend Cruz, it’s true. And if he becomes anything less than the face of baseball, 4 years from now they will be in another rebuild because that’s just kinda what they do. They spend so little on the rest of the squad it’s hard to imagine extending Cruz will be enough.