The Pirates announced on Thursday that they have acquired Tigers closer Joakim Soria in exchange for shortstop JaCoby Jones.
The Pirates have been known to be interested in bullpen help since last week and swung a minor deal to add Joe Blanton to the mix last night, but Soria would represent a much higher-profile addition to the Pittsburgh ’pen. A free agent at season’s end, the 31-year-old Soria is earning $7MM this season. He began the year as the Tigers’ primary setup option, but Joe Nathan blew out his arm in the early stages of the season, and Soria has seamlessly returned to a ninth-inning role with which he is quite familiar.
Soria has worked to a strong 2.85 ERA in 41 innings this season, although he’s also been uncharacteristically homer-prone, yielding what is already a career-high eight long balls on the season (1.76 HR/9). Home run rate can have quite a bit of randomness to it, so perhaps the Pirates are unconcerned (they’ve done well with other previously homer-prone arms such as A.J. Burnett and Mark Melancon). Both Soria’s walk rate (2.4 BB/9) and strikeout rate (7.9 K/9) are also down from an excellent 2014 season, but his bottom-line results remain strong.
It seems unlikely that Soria would supplant Melancon as the team’s closer, so the more likely scenario is that Soria will share setup duties with left-hander Tony Watson, who is enjoying a strong season in his own right. The Pirates have received strong production from their relief corps as a whole, although it’s been somewhat of a top-heavy unit, and a rental of Soria would deepen the group and help take some pressure off the rotation in the season’s final months.
Jones, a third-round pick from the 2013 draft, ranked as Pittsburgh’s No. 12 prospect on MLB.com’s midseason Top 30. Baseball America placed Jones 10th on their midseason Top 10 list for the Pirates.
Both Baseball America and MLB.com praise Jones’ combination of power and speed but note that he’s raw and a bit inexperienced at shortstop after playing mostly second base and center field at LSU. BA notes that he has a propensity to swing and miss, while MLB.com praises his aggressive style on the basepaths and pure athleticism.
Jones recently reached Double-A but has just three games at that level. He’s batting a combined .260/.319/.398 across two levels in the minors this season and is a .277/.336/.445 career hitter overall in his pro career.
Rob Biertempfel of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review first connected the two sides (via Twitter), and MLive.com’s James Schmehl said a deal was getting close (also via Twitter). Jon Heyman of CBS Sports reported that the deal was done (Twitter link), and Biertempfel tweeted that Jones was headed to Detroit.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Detroit is moving quickly to rebuild their farm system. I wonder how much longer until Cespedes is out the door.
Hoping we can get some of that Mets pitching for him.
I would doubt this greatly. They’re not trading any of it for a rental. But then again, who knows this year? Deadline has been nuts already.
Doubtful
They traded for a 23 year old 253 hitter in Single A! This guy may not make it to AAA ball much less the Tigers. What a waste of a trade. Why trade Soria at all if this is what you are going to get.
He is in AA or did you not read the entire article?
could see the OF market explode tmrw in the final hours with cespedes/bruce/upton
Soria has pitched well this year, but is not a dominating closer. He was, however, a huge up grade from Nathan. Hope him all the best in Pittsburgh. I hope the Tigers can find more like him in the future to fill the bullpen.
Interesting. Curious to see what a high end bullpen piece fetches this season. Believe only Cishek has moved thus far and he was on a down year
Papelbon, Clippard, Cishek, Soria, Johnson, and to a lesser extent, Jake Diekman
clippard, papelbon and cishek are the only real comps. johnson, diekman, avilan, paco rodriguez were all secondary pieces.
Watson 7th
Soria 8th
Melancon 9th. Yikes! And with that starting rotation, probably difficult to get a lead on them through the first 6 innings
It’ll be interesting to see who the Pirates gave up. Maybe Worley and a JaCoby Jones-type prospect?
That was a really great guess. I was thinking Sampson or maybe one of the OFers like Ramirez. Pretty stoked that it was Jones instead.
I think its adrian sampson from AAA.
Love the aggressive move here by NH…great addition to the backend of the pen! Hopefully we didn’t give up anything crazy…
If it’s Sampson, who is a fine young prospect, then the Pirates have pulled off a no brainer trade. The starting depth and the high end depth at that, makes parting with Adrian a very good move.
Who closes in Detroit now that Soria is gone? Rondon (who has been awful this year) or Alburqueqe?
Rondon is awful every year……but they love him.
His ERA is bad this year in a small sample size, but his FIP is only 2.66, so it seems like he’s been more unlucky than bad.
And he was pretty impressive for a rookie in 2013.
FIP is more of a stat for starters than one inning pitchers.. They basically get 3 outs of which it would be rare for more than 4 guys to come into play on those 3 outs.. Starters can factor in pretty much the entire field for 6+ innings worth of outs..
Could be Feliz too…
Wouldn’t put it past Ausmus. It would be shared between Coke and Chamberlain if he had his way.
I’m predicting Harold Ramirez is the one getting traded. Plenty of outfield depth so it wouldn’t hurt, but is pretty highly rated.
Alex Wilson
It would be funny if the Tigers make all these deals and still somehow find a way to get a Wildcard spot.
Ouch. I like Jacoby a lot. Hurts to give him up.
The problem is he’s not looking like a SS. He’s looking like another OF. If he were a good SS, this would hurt a lot, but the Pirates’ outfield is deeper than the Mariana Trench.
I definitely don’t think Soria is worth giving up Jones, but the price has been high. I’m more baffled by the Blanton and Worley moves.
Come on! Jones for a 2 month rental of a reliever?!
Jones is 23 years old and hitting only 253 in Single A ball, he will not even make to the Major Leagues.
You’re a terrible judge of talent.
Told ya…
Great pickup by Detroit for a reliever! Possibly 20-20 OF? Very solid.
The Mexecutioner has to be one of baseballs all time greatest nicknames
I realize he is only 23, but none of JaCoby Jones numbers really stand out. Wasn’t expecting much for Soria (a bit more than Cishek got). Guess that’s what they got. Someone tell me otherwise.
playing a premium position effectively limits the need for upside on offense, has some loud tools. they werent getting a top prospect for 2 months of soria.
Well, he strikes out a lot, but I am sure that’s not what you were looking for. If they can settle him down and cut down his swing, he could be a 2nd baseman or OF.
Maybe Pirates gave them a decent prospect so they can ease the pot on Porcello?
Maybe Kinsler on the move know or Offseason.
Would love to see the Yankees get Kinsler.. If they pick up his entire contract maybe he could be had for someone like Sanchez.. I think DD is reloading the farm for offseason trades though and only getting rid of expiring contracts..
Willy garcia has progressed quicker and already in AAA, so the pirates still have some young options down there.. I think we may get Morse as well by tomorrow. Id be happy with an extra RH bat in the OF f.guiterrez from the mariners would do..better than Lombardozzi( spelling both guys names wrong)
I’m fine with this deal. Soria sets this bullpen apart from the rest of the division.
I’m all for getting people like Blanton, I am not a fan of the david price deal that’s a lot of for only a few starts..neil don’t trade hansen, bell, glasnow, or kingham!
The Tigers spent how many years searching for a good closer? They finally had one that looks really good and they trade him after one slightly down year. I’m sure Jacoby Jones is a nice prospect, but you have to hope that it doesn’t take another 10 years to find a stable closer in Detroit.
Soria was a free agent this fall. They couldn’t count on him coming back anyway.
Good trade for the Pirates. Soria/Watson/Melancon are a very solid back end. Jones has the raw skills to be a 20/20 MLB OF but he’s developing slow and got passed up already by 2014 and 2015 picks. He seems like a great kid though, hope he does well in Detroit whenever/if he gets there.
I know. I think they’ve struggling to find a place for him. Not sure if Walker will leave, but Lang and Harrison should lock down the left side for the next 4 years. Plus, Jones has been switching between Ss and OF this year.
Solid move by NH. Nice little trio now with watson/soria/melancon
I like this, but I don’t feel like it’s enough to put the Pirates over the hump. I’d like to see them go deeper into the playoffs, and the starting pitching is struggling, especially burnett. With the Cubs making progress, our window of contention is closing.
I can’t believe NH would give away the whole farm system for Soria! Help me JaCoby-Wan KeJonesi, you are our only hope