8:15pm: FanRag’s Jon Heyman tweets the financial breakdown of the deal. Nova receives a $2MM signing bonus and will take home $7MM in 2017 before earning salaries of $8.5MM in 2018 and $8.5MM in 2019.
12:30pm: The Pirates entered the offseason with uncertainty throughout their rotation but added some stability on Tuesday, announcing that they’ve re-signed right-hander Ivan Nova to a three-year contract. The deal reportedly guarantees Nova $26MM and allows the Legacy Agency client to earn up to an additional $2MM per year via incentives, meaning it can max out at $32MM over the three-year term.
[Updated Pirates roster and depth chart at Roster Resource]
The deal ensures that Nova, who turns 30 on January 12, will remain with the team that seemingly revived his career after he was dealt from the Yankees to the Pirates on August 1. Nova underwent Tommy John surgery in 2014 and had struggled to regain his old form since, with middling numbers in 2015 and then a 4.90 ERA over 97 1/3 innings (starting 15 of 21 games) with New York in 2016.
In Pittsburgh, however, Nova became the latest reclamation project to thrive under pitching coach Ray Searage. Nova posted a 3.06 ERA, 7.2 K/9 and an unreal 17.33 K/BB rate over 64 2/3 innings in a Pirates uniform, with just three walks against 52 strikeouts. The move to a less-friendly ballpark for home run hitters was also a boon to Nova, who had long struggled to keep the ball in the yard over his career. Always a strong ground-ball pitcher, Nova had a career-best 53.6% grounder rate over his 162 combined innings for both teams in 2016.
The stark contrast between the Yankees’ Nova and the Pirates’ Nova led to rather an interesting free agent case for the righty, as it wasn’t clear how teams would view that 64 2/3-inning sample against the rest of Nova’s career. MLBTR ranked Nova 10th on our list of the winter’s Top 50 free agents with a projection of a four-year, $52MM deal given the severe lack of quality starting pitching and J.A. Happ’s successful 2016 season serving as a model of how a Pirates revival project could thrive outside of PNC Park.
Instead, Nova rather surprisingly ended up signing for less guaranteed money than what Happ received (three years, $36MM) from the Blue Jays last winter despite being over four years younger. Looking at the big picture of this offseason, it seems that teams in general preferred to spend their pitching dollars on relievers as opposed to the thin starting piching market. As FOX Sports’ Ken Rosenthal points out, only three other starters (Rich Hill, Edinson Volquez and Charlie Morton) signed multi-year deals this winter. Even Jeremy Hellickson, thought to be the winter’s top available starter, accepted a qualifying offer to remain with the Phillies due to some concerns about his market, though Hellickson was rather a different case since he had draft pick compensation attached to his services.
Greg Genske, Nova’s agent, said in mid-November that his client had received offers in the three-year/$36MM range, though there was very little buzz about Nova on the rumor mill. The only club significantly linked to Nova was, in fact, Pittsburgh. The Pirates ardently tried to sign him to an extension prior to hitting free agency, though since Nova was reportedly asking for five years and $70MM to forego the open market, it isn’t surprising that the Bucs chose to wait. Nova stated that he wanted to remain with the Pirates, so it’s possible he could have turned down a slightly larger offer in order to stay in a familiar and comfortable environment.
It certainly looks like a good signing for the Pirates, who went into the offseason prioritizing run prevention via both improved pitching and defense. The Bucs add a veteran arm and (if Nova’s turn-around is for real) maybe even a possible ace to a young rotation headlined by Gerrit Cole and Jameson Taillon, with Chad Kuhl, Steven Brault, Tyler Glasnow and Drew Hutchison battling it out for the final two rotation slots.
Robert Murray of FanRag Sports reported the agreement and the terms, while FanRag’s Jon Heyman tweeted word of the incentives in the deal.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images
Not a bad deal for Pittsburgh
Looks like Fowler and Morales are going to be the only free agents that signed for more money than your predictions.
My predictions?
Yes, your predictions. We all know them.
Hahahahaha
8M AAV? Thats cheap
Indeed.
$8m = 1 PELF, which represents the cost of a back-end #5 type arm…in honor of Mike Pelfrey.
In this instance I think it is a very solid signing by PIT because Nova has some potential and could be a #3/#4 if he can pull it together.
You can usually get decent pitching for less than 1.0 PELF.
1 PELF, lol…that is awesome.
I think this is great news for Bucs considering they are apparently still in on Quintana (I only half believe this). Nova is solid but I drool over a rotation w/ Quintana. Cole, Quintana, Taillon, Nova, Kuhl or Glasnow…..that is a pretty awesome starting bunch (even though Glasnow would probably go for Quintana). Still have other guys like Kingham, Brault, Williams at AAA to potentially use as trade pieces or bolster the pen.
Can’t believe Bleacher Report beat you guys to this I’ve checked all my MLB news from MLBTR first
The score app beat this story too. It’s Christmas, let the boys sleep in!
I’ll take slow quality over fast junk any day. Knock it off.
Amen
Can’t always be first on everything.
One minute it’s “wahhh this is just a twitter rumor, MLB Trade Rumors shouldn’t post MLB trade rumors like this”
Next minute it’s “Come out from your cave, everyone knows already, this was posted somewhere else first”
Such a good deal for the pirates. Smart for Nova to go back there.
It’s a great move for Pittsburgh, just don’t hold onto him for too long. The same could have been said about Liriano; the problem is that they should’ve dealt him after his 2015 campaign. Hope that they don’t make the same mistake twice.
I’m happy about this but I was kind of hoping the Quintana thing would pan out. I assume that’s off the table now.
Pirates don’t want to give up Bell or Meadows, and they don’t get Quintana without giving up one of those plus Glasnow. They should set their sights on Pomeranz now.
Honestly I think if I am the Pirates I am pushing a package of Glasnow, Keller, Hayes and maybe another piece or 2. If they don’t want that, which they probably won’t at this point in the offseason, I would leave it alone for now. I don’t think they should trade Meadows, Bell, or Newman. That package I mentioned is still a top 10 prospect, a top 50 prospect, and most likely a top 70 prospect (Hayes was 73 in BA midseason top 100). Maybe they would have interest in Elias Diaz and/or Adam Frazier.
I’d trade Bell (even though it would ruin my great s/n) before Glasnow or Keller. And I wouldn’t trade Bell unless I was sure Craig was legit.
Glasnow could be better than Quintana in two years.
Trade Cutch for some Dodgers prospects to flip to the White Sox, add a Cole Tucker and another mid level piece.
The White Sox’s need a young Catcher so maybe Diaz would fit the bill.
I like the 3 team deal involving Cutch and keep Bell (must keep the handle intact!). I can see someone like Tucker being expendable with Newman in the system. I do not see the Bucs shipping Diaz out as they do not have another top catching prospect in the system that I know of unless they are really high on Jhang and he is quietly flying under the radar. I think they need Diaz to back up Cervelli. I like Stewart but a catcher coming off of a knee issue is never a sure thing. Suddenly a very interesting off season for the Bucs!
If the bucs still had mcguire then id say yeah go for it but diaz is our only catching prospect at all.
The Red Sox aren’t shopping Pomeranz. Pittsburgh will probably have to do better than Anderson Espinoza to get him. Maybe, and this is a huge maybe, they can work out a three team trade with the White Sox where the Red Sox end up with Quintana. I doubt it though.
I think Eduardo Rodriguez ends up in the bullpen and the Red Sox’s rotation is Porcello Sale Price Wright Pomeranz
If the Pirates are giving up the prospects necessary to get Quintana, why would they involve the Red Sox and only get Pomeranz?
There’s no way anybody’s giving up anything better than Espinoza.
The Pirates would make a fair trade for Pomeranz, who ought to be cheaper than Quintana. The Red Sox would ship those guys and a couple more to Chicago.
I agree. Pomeranz is going to stay put.
Well if you believe Baseball America they rate Tyler Glasnow higher than Anderson Espinoza.
LOL no one values Pomeranz even AT Espinoza’s value at the time of the trade let alone higher. The Sox were gambling in that trade hoping that Pom had figured it out and would continue his success based on good peripherals. He regressed a little bit in Boston, still has health questions, and is nearer to free agency. You’ll be lucky to get a couple middling prospects for him.
Plus, get out of here with your 3 team deal involving Red Sox acquiring Quintana in a trade involving Cutch. Enough with that Bigpapi4ever link-every-transaction-to-the-Red-Sox nonsense.
I never said anything about Cutch, and everything I said was in response to suggesting the Pirates go after Pomeranz. I don’t believe the Red Sox will trade him. Sorry I didn’t make that clear enough for you.
Pirates just won’t give up two of the top 20 MLB prospects, especially when the Sox asked for three that didn’t crack the top 50 from Houston.
He seems like a perfect fit for Pittsburgh especially with his contract but the value of top 20 prospects his higher on a team like the pirates.
I doubt Boston deals Pomeranz now, after dealing Buchholz. Pom is cheap, controllable and depth is important.
This is a good move for Pittsburgh. If they can sort out their infield they might be a sneaky good team in 2017
If the Bucks gave up two of the top 50 prospects in baseball for Quintana that would be such a massive overpay. The Red Sox only parted with two players in the top 100 and two low-floor/high-ceiling (only one of which cracked the Red Sox top 10 list) for a far better pitcher in Chris Sale. Meadows, Bell, or Glasnow plus others, sure. But two of them with other prospects is far more than Quintana is worth.
Yes but you fail to mention that one of those is the best prospect in baseball the second had a dominating AFL and is probably going to be a top 30 prospect this year for sure top 50 I’m guessing that Basbee will be a top 100 as well. Pretty good haul of prospects. Q will probably demand a similar package or the White Sox just keep him.
IMO it looks like Bell is just going to be a 1b/dh type with poor defense. (This is just based on what I’ve read). If that is the case, if I were the Pirates I would not mind him headlining a package for Quintana. However, I am not a Pirates fan. What are everyone’s opinion on this?
IF they think Will Craig (a bat first player who will likely have to play 1B) is legit, then I’d consider moving Bell.
BUT, Bell only played first for a few months and is a very good athlete for a big man, I’d hardly give up on him because of his early showings in the field.
A switch hitter with patience, plate discipline and power? I would give him every opportunity to fail before I moved him to an AL team.
Been reported they are still working to get Q as well.
Push for Quintana. Kuhl could be used in a deal now. Glasnow, Kuhl, Hayes and Diaz
I dont like diaz being in the deal. We have no other prospects at catcher besides him.
Who cares? The idea is to win, not stock prospects at every position. That’s secondary.
Who reported that?
Rosenthal.
Rosenthal just reported that the pursuit of Quintana continues.
I hope they flip Cutch for prospects if they want Quintana rather than give up the blue chip guys.
I’m fine with giving up Glasnow and a couple of lower prospects. Hard to imagine getting rid of Bell already. But retaining Nova and acquiring Quintana would be amazing and show the fans they are serious about contending again.
Good for Nova. Looks like they still want Q as well.
Per Rosenthal, still in play.
Nice signing PGH.
Better than Tyson Ross.
So many people crying about how cheap the Bucs are, or how they aren’t doing anything this offseason, or that they don’t really want to wi .
Whatever. They got their guy. Good job, and a great deal.
I guess those fans on PirateFest were too angry on Nutting and his guys and said too many harsh things to them. They are actually trying to strike a major deal (Quintana) that can help the current roster. Am I dreaming?
Yes
A Quintana signing would put Pittsburgh in a very good place, and they have the prospects to do it.
Strongly agreed, Meadows and Glasnow and maybe another should get it done – or maybe they go even bigger and try and get Abreu as well as Q and add Bell to their package as well, and whoever else it takes to get it done. Boston emptied their farm the right way, Pittsburgh should do the same while their contention window is still open.
If I am the Pirates and the White Sox say they want Meadows AND Glasnow I tell them to pound sand. No way the Pirates part with both.
Probably look like one of Meadows and Glasnow, one of Bell and Newman, and then 2 more pieces including Diaz.
For me personally: Quintana for Meadows, Keller, Newman/Hayes, and Diaz.
Whoa, this is a bigger bargain than Happ – Nova’s agent did him WRONG.
Or, Nova’s market wasn’t anywhere near what they hoped it would be. Or, he wanted to stay in Pittsburgh.
Cheaper deal then when the Astros signed Scott Feldman to a 3 year 30 million deal. Seems like a bargain?
Awesome. Now go get Quintana. Cole, Quintana, Taillon, Nova would be a nice rotation.
Nova’s initial ask was reportedly $70 million over 5. Gotta try, I guess.
GREAT deal for the Pirates. I think Nova is the most sustainable of all the Pirates’ reclamation projects.
Cole, Taillon, Nova is a good start to a rotation. IF they got Quintana, it’s a top 5 rotation.
I love the idea of trading Cutch for prospects and using them as the core of a deal for Quintana. Use Bell and Harrison in RF until Meadows is ready to come up. Sign a Chris Carter type.
They’d be a legit present day contender without mortgaging their future.
Trading Cutch for prospects may seem like a good idea, but Pits will need a trading partner, and there doesn’t appear to be one. Washington was the only one to step forward and Pits overvalued.
This might be a steal for Pittsburgh
Might?
holy….. You know I was completely against resigning Nova given how much i figured he’d cost… but at this rate.. hard to go wrong. Good signing.
I don’t understand why people think this is a good deal. He was awful his whole career until a couple of months last year. He’s worth a flyer at league minimum, nothing more.
Apparently you haven’t paid much attention to Pirates reclamation projects over the years. Plus, even in his Yankees days, Nova has put up really good numbers with Cervelli as his catcher. Something that can’t be overlooked.
Nova has been pretty good at stretches in his career, he doesn’t have any serious injury concerns, he’s not old, the stuff still grades out as above average. He’s making less this season than Andrew Cashner, so that’s a win for the Pirates. 8 million bucks is literally a 1-win pitcher, and Nova is probably going to be better than that. His numbers with the Pirates last year: 3 walks and 52 strikeouts. That’s insane.
Sometimes, players figure it out later.
Sometimes, they have a teaser stretch.
At 3 and 26, this is a nice gamble on a guy that might be better than he was in May.
2011 & 2013 were decent seasons. They sure were not ‘awful’.
Charlie morton makes 7 mil a year u think nova is worth less?
If he holds up that could be a valuable contract to trade too
White Sox need to stop holding out for a perfect deal, or they’ll need to hold Quintana until the deadline, when teams don’t give up as much.
Quintana has years of control left, and teams at the deadline won’t be speculating on whether they’ll be contending in 2017. If anything…and Im a team…Im wanting to pry Quintana loose now or around Memorial Day to avoid a deadline auction. He’s not a rental.
MUST give the pirates credit, Not giving Nutting credit bec this is money he should be spending already, but the rest of this org deserves credit. We pile up on them usually, and its well deserved. But now, we MUST give credit where it due, and its due here.
Now, if they somhow find a way to land Quintana, Wow just wow on the this turnaround.
You can only spend the money if you can get someone to take it. Players never are lined up to sign any given teams offer. Just like Hill last year, The Bucs offered more than the A’s but for some reason he picked the A’s for less money. You can’t just say here is a contract and the player blindly signs. It takes 2 to tango!!
I thought we came up 500k under the As offer for Hill?
I could be wrong but I thought I remembered the Bucs came in about that over and he chose the A’s instead. I was guessing he wanted to be on the West coast. Maybe my aging memory is failing me.
I am shocked in this market with so little quality pitching he “only” got 26 million. I thought for sure he would’ve been somewhere between 4/45- 4/50.
The Pirates got a major discount. Good for them.
Now let’s see if they actually trade for Quintana lol. I can’t imagine they do, even though they have arguably the best minor league prospects of anyone. They need their young, cheap talent to develop if they want to compete. They could probably land Quintana for one of their #6-#10 prospects, another top 30 guy and some filler.
Rockies have that ammunition. I know I keep hammering that….but I really do think they are lurking around ready to pull a trigger someplace.
Nova way!
Wonder if the deal includes a bunch of incentives that will be easily reached if he pitches even just decently. Maybe will be getting much more in the deal than other teams were willing to guarantee. On other staffs, the same incentives may not be as easy to achieve as more veterans already in the rotation and easier to drop Ivan out of the rotation. Besides Cole, no other experienced vets in the Pirates rotation. As it stands, Ivan can pitch fairly mediocre ball and not lose his spot in the rotation for a while. It would take other trades and /or a couple of the kids pitching lights out to force Ivan out. Ivan and his agents know this. Will need to see the figures in the finished contract to see if this scenario is the case.
Bucs should be willing to overpay for Quintana in young talent but definitely not to the ridiculous level WAS went to in acquiring Eaton.
That GM never overpays in trades. He’s crazy cheap. Probably because being in a small market an owner more committed to making a profit, they need controllable
All Yankees fans are scratching their head at this deal right now. I get it, searage revives careers but ehhh.
Nova was the real deal until TJ in 2014. Was very good before that. He may be back to that in the latter half of 2016. We shall see in 2017. That short time of success is what brought the contract numbers down. As I said above, may be a bunch of incentives in the deal to pay him what he wanted if he pitches like he did when he showed up in Pittsburgh.
Nova, Cervelli, Martin, AJ Burnett.
The Yankees dumpster is the Pirates favorite to dive in. Keep em coming.
Hat is off to PIT for the reclamation projects that seem to turn out more often than not. Too bad they are forced to go that route, but it’s working.
Dumpster diving to some is astute scouting and talent evaluation to others. They also seem to know when not to overpay for a guy. The only one recently that backfired has been Happ so far. Considering he had never done what he did in Pittsburgh to end 2015 and then follow up that with an unbelievable 2017 had surprise everyone. I for one would have loved to see the Pirates resign him but when he took the Jay’s offer I thought it was a large overpay as I believe Martin was a huge overpay by the Jay’s. I do not think anyone say Happ doing what he did. last season. I do not think the Jay’s thought he would have be so good either.
How about Travis Snider for Brault and half of the package that got Nova (Tarpley)?
That’s some scouting and salesmanship.
And the Bucs got Snider back to finish the season after Baltimore DFA’d him.. He contributed that year too.
I understand the hesitation about giving up prospects for Quintana. But since he has four years on his contract, I think it would be worth it. Two, probably not. But four years of a serious pitcher would be a nice change in Pittsburgh.
Hey bucs need a power hitting second baseman? Dozier hint hint lol
Nova (and Pineda) are two of the most frustrating pitchers to watch. You know they can pitch,. They have games where they are terrific. And then they go on these jags where they can’t make it out of the 4th. If Nova has finally figured it out, then Pittsburgh made a terrific deal, because the talent is there.
I had Novas stats on a tracer in 2016…and whatever happened with Searage there was a massive swing in what I was seeing. If anyone is fantasy baseball sleeper inclined keep an eye out
Nice!
I do not believe the Pirates will have to give up a ton of their own prospects to get this deal done with the ChiSox. I believe that a 3 team deal is being worked on and Cutch will be gone for prospects and some of those pieces will go to the ChiSox with a piece or two from the Bucs. The offseason finally got interesting for the Pirates fans. Thinking that is why the Pirates were insisting on what they were from the Nationals and were going to flip those to the Sox for either Sale or Quintana. Sale is gone but looking for a plan B team to garner enough pieces for Cutch to gain Quintana now. what would essentially be a Cutch and maybe one of their top pitching prospects for Quintana deal would be a steal for the Bucs especially with Nova in the fold.
Normally don’t do this after someone signs b/c we dont necessarily know if they tried, but the Marlins are a joke. How do you get an opportunity to add a younger arm to the middle or near the top of their rotation that’s a perfect fit, for that small a commitment, and you’re nowhere to be fLund all offseason in terms of a link. Meanwhile, you keep adding bullpen arms, which was important earlier, but now they still need a SP. Typical Loria halfway garbage
+1. Great bullpen/ mediocre rotation only works if you improve the rotation until it’s mediocre. It’s terrible right now.
And Billy Eppler where you at? This wold have been a perfect addition to the rotation. Would have been better than any of the guys we have fighting for a 5th spot and it adds much needed depth……… Whatever maan.
Amen. I thought Eppler would be on this for sure. Unless the guaranteed 3rd year was the issue…
I’m pissed as a Mariners fan, 8M aav??? We should’ve given him more. Nice move Pittsburgh.
I was expecting him to sign a one year deal with them for the same AAV to try to build up his value for next year when many teams will have set aside money for starters. I wonder if it was more that the Pirates insisted on multiple years to add upside to the deal or if he wasn’t so confident in his ability to pitch a strong ~200 innings. Probably more the latter.
Bright side for the Pirates is that they will have to give up less prospect talent when than dump him in a year and a half than they had to with Liriano and his larger contract.
The difference in money between baseball and hockey is stark.
Nova’s AAV is the same as Sidney Crosby’s.
Who the hell projected Nova to get a deal worth any more than 12 Million per year? sheesh. Great deal for Pittsburgh. Not saying Nova isn’t capable of being a 12 million or more player, but we have not seen that for a full season yet from him. My question is, why didn’t the Marlins, MY HALOS, Astros, Rockies, Rays, Orioles, Mets, Diamondbacks, or even the Cardinals, why weren’t they in the bidding. His price that low at a little over 8 mil/ per season, shows that there wasn’t much competition. Why didn’t these teams take a shot at him and maybe offered 3/30 or 2/25.
Because it appears he wanted to return to Pittsburgh and that trumped other offers….Im guessing he left money on the table.
With signing an incentives his deal could b 3 for 34
Good deal for the Pirates…if the incentives kick in it means they got solid value and likely competed in a playoff hunt. Some teams might have flat offered the full package and not tied it to incentives. Nova wanted to return to Pittsburgh….we fault guys often for taking the highest bid….but I’d say the odds here are that Nova valued continuing with Searage as his pitching coach. Cervelli added value here as a pitch framer as well. Deal gets done because there’s a lot to offer a pitcher in Pittsburgh right now. Pirates arent going to be in the market on big ticket fa starters….but they can run the table on the second tier and reclamation projects. No doubt they love Jose Quintana as well.
Careful, Pirates. In space, a Nova flashes brightly — then burns out.
I like the Nova deal for the Pirates. But thinking of him as a #3 is really rolling the dice. Nova is a solid #5 piece, maybe even a #4 if he has really figured it out, but dreaming on him being a playoff starter type pitcher is really a stretch. He’s the kind of guy you leave out of the playoff rotation. All this talk about how great he was before being injured is baloney. He has one decent season. He was mostly garbage, completely inconsistent from start to start. If that’s the kind of history that makes you drool then keep dreaming he’s #3 material.
As for the talked about Quintana trade, it’s nuts, absolutely nuts to now hear from Pirates fans that they wouldn’t trade not only Meadows, Glasnow, and Bell, but now Newman, Keller, and even Diaz!!! I mean, do you really think the White Sox would accept Kuhl, Frazier, Hayes, Tucker as actual major pieces for Quintana? That’s just totally uneducated thinking. Quintana is the definition of young, under control, reasonably priced, and proven to be just below Ace status pitcher. If you think he is just average, you need to go do some reading, maybe start with Baseball Prospectus for a year and get back to the baseball blogs. You don’t get that kind of proven talent for spare parts you wouldn’t mind losing. No way! If it doesn’t hurt it doesn’t happen. Shopping at the dollar store rarely equates to a Division winning, Playoff contender, World Series threat. Pirates fans should be understanding that by now. There’s no way this side of a tragic plane crash that your team will be able to overcome the Cubs for like the next decade unless your front office coughs up a fair return.
What would a fair return look like you ask? Glasnow – Bell – Newman – Diaz. If you think this empties out your farm system then it must not be that good to begin with. Even if the Pirates trade ‘Cutch, the Pirates will have Quintana thru 2020 at a below market price. 4 seasons, where Meadows can actually get acclimated to the majors with the rest of the team. As a Cubs fan, I really want the Cubs to get Quintana. The Cubs would sweep every season series with you guys!!!
Bell is not going in a Q trade, Glasnow yes, Diaz no, meadows no, but everyone else is game imo. No way the Bucs will trade a young 1b who is a switch hitter, hits for power and average. Just because he is bad at defense doesn’t mean he can’t play it, totally different athlete than Pedro.
I am hoping the rSox make a deal for Q, But they still need a power bat.
Signing Nova is a good start if the idea is to contend in 17 and 18. Adding Quintana would solidify the pitching, but if the path to getting him entails packaging Cutch, that’s pure insanity. You’re not going to contend for anything with a patchwork outfield
Not a huge Cutch fan, although I think last year was an aberration. But if you want to contend, then go all in. Glasnow is a few years away from being dominant and I just don’t see Bell at first
And they said starting pitching would be expensive this year in FA. Last year, Mike Pelfrey cost 2/16MM. Novoa is a bargain.
I am big on Quitena and suggested Bell and Glasnow being center pieces in the deal. I think Diaz ups the deal to get the Sox attention. Josh Bell is going to be another Pedro Aleverz defensively. I highly believe that his offense will appear a bit better than Pedro (other than possible power aka HR). I strongly believe he is better suited in RF/DH role. Sox are looking for 3B/OF/C positions. Pirates offering Diaz and Bell, meets 2/3 if their needs. Smart move, and probably the best offer they get. They will NOT get a another Nationals type trade for Sale. Washington probably wishes they never overpayed to get Sale LOL. Either way, Pirates are not as desperate but can offer up Bell and Diaz with Glasnow or Brault. McCutchen stays and plays RF. If Pirates are contending and he is back to his former self, he stays until next offseason when his price tag is higher. Second option, he has a good year and Pirates are just looking for a winning season, McCutchen get moved at the Tradeline to make up for this offseason losses of prospects. Diaz is blocked by the current duo and he is 26 yrs old. Allow him achieve success elsewhere
FYI. If they didn’t extend Stewart, we wouldn’t be sitting her talking about Diaz being traded. He wasn’t called up when Stewart or Cervalli where hurt. They just relied on the current options on the big league roster. They have signed “misfits” to play on the roster than to bring him up. It’s time to trade him and allow him to succeed elsewhere. FFS, he has been talked about since tony Sanchez was in town.
Pirates did a good thing signing Nova. They need one more good starting pitcher and they should be set.