The Pirates have acquired outfielder Bryce Brentz from the Red Sox, according to an announcement from the Boston organization. Cash considerations will make up the return.
Brentz, 29, is a former first-round pick who has seen only minimal MLB action in his professional career. He seemed unlikely to hold down a roster spot through camp with the Red Sox working to finalize a deal with free agent J.D. Martinez. In all likelihood, Brentz’s 40-man spot will go to Martinez.
As a right-handed-hitting corner outfielder, Brentz will have to hit quite a bit to stick in the majors. He did manage just that feat last year at Triple-A, posting a .271/.334/.529 slash with 31 long balls over 494 plate appearances at Pawtucket, and showed well again in the Mexican Pacific Winter League.
Brentz, who is out of options, will presumably now get a shot at impressing the Pittsburgh brass in camp. He’ll join a group of candidates trying to claim a share of the corner outfield mix, including Daniel Nava, Jordan Luplow, Jason Martin, and Todd Cunningham as well as top Bucs’ prospect Austin Meadows.
Anyone want to buy a signed bryce brentz ball lol
Imma be real with you chief, ain’t nobody buying that shi
I’ll trade you for my Tony Sanchez signed ball. lol.
I’ll do it hahaha
You watch, Brentz will finish top 10 in MVP voting, and out hit JDM.
Bryce brentz is almost 30 years old and has one career Major League home run.
You just got more for a Bryce Bretnz ball in a fake trade online then the Sox got for the real Bryce.
Sadly I have cards with both autos. What an investment!
I collect Pirate stuff, I’ll take both!
I’ll seriously sell it to you haha
Is it worth more than my Danny Salazar one? Or my Mickey Callaway one?
When I was younger I traded a Bryce Brentz signed card for a Tony Wolters signed card. It seemed like a big deal at the time, but it’s a lot of mediocrity now.
I like Wolters better.
Good for him. He’s always deserved a shot but was always blocked by somebody in the Red Sox system. Good luck in Pittsburgh, Bryce!!
Absolutely. If he gets a real shot, he can produce. Needs to be on a non-contending team barring injuries. Hope both he and Nava stick with the Bucs.
Brent’s can’t hit major league pitching.
What tells you that. He hasn’t looked bad but the obvious question is why no opportunity?
I guess what I’m saying is that he’s had plenty of opportunity. I believe this last season at age 28 29 in the minors he finally figured out AAA pitching. I think he’s peaked.
I bet you cant either …
In other words.. Don’t let him clean his own rifle again after he goes hunting like he did a cpl years back and shot himself in the leg.
I’m pretty sure he got a shot back in 2013. Wasn’t it in his leg while he “cleaning” his gun?
Yes, yes it was.
Yes he did get a shot back in 2013
sorry kid, we gotta make room for JD. off you go to the basement of the NL Central
Cincinnati?
Sorry, but there’s absolutely no way Pittsburgh wins more games than the Reds this year. At least the Reds have some promising young talent that’s Major League ready or close (Senzel, Luis Castillo, Tyler Mahle, Sal Romano, Rob Stephenson, Jesse Winker to name a few), and some very good (Suárez, Barnhart, Duvall, Iglesias, etc.) and even elite (Votto) proven Major Leaguers.
The Pirates don’t have much in terms of proven offensive threats, with the possible exceptions of Harrison, Marte, and Bell, and also lack the true potential impact bats in the form of high-level prospects. In terms of pitching, only really Taillon and Rivero are likely to be above-average to possibly very good, and the rest are huge question marks.
I’m not by any means saying that the Reds will contend to win the Central, because they would need nearly everything to go right, but I do think that they will be significantly better than the Pirates in 2018.
I doubt that, the reds are no where close to contending, and have an oft injured pitching staff, they probably won’t win as many as the Pirates
Pirates and the owner deserve the worst, however, biased much?
The injuries are a big concern still. But if they are healthy, I think they are much closer to contending than most people think (I think they can contend in either 2019-2020).
And yes, I probably am a little biased, but I have plenty of knowledge of the game and follow all teams very closely, so I’m not the typical fan of (insert team name) that 100% of the time thinks their team is better because they have zero real knowledge of the other teams.
Brentz must be jumping for joy. Watch him outhit JDM
could be interesting to see if he ends up on a big league roster for more games than JDM…
If he hits .800 with 12 homers in spring training, he’ll still only open the season as a platoon partner. That’s how the Pirates roll. LOL… Doubt he gets more games that JDM unless JDM gets hurt–which honestly is highly likely. HAHAHA
Or Stanton.
Most definitely more then the killer P’s ..Pedroia or Price…
Or C.C. or Bird. Every team has injury prone players. Gotta love Bird if he can stay on the field. My guess is he has as good a year as Judge if he remains on the field. I expect a significant decline in Judge as happens to most players their second season.
I agree no one can keep up with what Judge did last year and Bird is the forgotten man for those injuries. It’s just this guy death is always doing this. Who but him brought up Stanton?
For a second there when I read Bryce i thought Bryce Harper.
Corey Dickerson out on the market, Pirates acquire Brentz. Thanks Huntington.
Did you really expect The Pirates to get someone good, regardless if they were cheap or not? It’s Huntington.
I was holding out hope, too, man. Although, this doesn’t necessarily block that possibility.
Making this move has absolutely nothing to do with whether or not they might acquire Dickerson. Brentz is there to compete for a bench role and because the Red Sox needed to open up a 40-man spot.
Oh stop it, it absolutely does. They werent anyway, but this nails it down. They aren’t going get Dickerson now, after technically having 5 LF now, Frazier, Luplow, Osuna, Rodriguez, and now this guy.
Pirates big offseason additions are Bryce Brentz, Daniel Nava, and Ryan Lavarnway. Any other failed Red Sox prospects looking for work? Just show up at Bradenton and ask for a jersey.
Lol
Daniel Bard out of retirement…
Didn’t The Pirates sign Bard to a minor league deal a few off seasons ago? Never did anything with The Pirates, but still.
maybe then substitute Will Middlebrooks that is somewhere …
Yes they did. He never made it out of Bradenton Rookie League. Look up his minor league stats for the Bucs and for another team he briefly latched on to (Cubs, maybe?): he was averaging something like 2 to 3 walks and a hit batsman per inning. An unfortunate victim of Steve Blass disease.
I remember 2014 or 2015 when the sox were sucking and they started to play all of their minor league scrubs. Brentz was the only one that impressed me. Sad to see him go but I think he will do well in Pittsburgh and have a better shot there.
I wish him the best and at 29 hopefully he makes it. Outhitting JD is not realistic but good for him if he does. JD is #2 behind Mike Trout in SLG % since 2013 in MLB and he hit 128 HR’s in the last 4 years. Pretty good proven hitter overall.
Next to go Swihart book it!!
They will keep Swihart.
At this point why would they?
Gee I don’t know let’s look at Blake he was rushed in 2015 and really struggled for the first few weeks but then 2nd have he was a .800 ops hitter after the abysmal start.
The last two years have been completely injury plagued this is probably the first year he has at least been healthy.
The Red Sox will, at the very least, look at him in Spring Training most likely he will break camp with Boston. They are not going to dfa him or trade him for cash considerations. He will get a shot this year.
What position is he gonna play? Give me the Sox bench players that will break camp.
Because they will get little for him and it just makes more sense to see if he can rebuild some of that value. I always was suspect of him, he has little power, and is not good at defense. Not sure why he was rated so highly. Still he has talent and he could rebound some.
Because he can play so many positions. Red Sox bench could be Moreland/Hanley, Leon, Sweihart and Holt or Marrero until Pedie comes back. Holt and Marco have option left but Marrero doesn’t.
Shame to see him go, was a fan of Cheddar Bryce. He mashed 31 bombs in AAA last year, I truly wouldn’t be shocked if he was next in the line of late blooming Red Sox prospects that got going once they got consistent playing time, a la Brandon Moss, Josh Reddick, and Jed Lowrie.
Out of the 30 teams in all of Major League Baseball the Sox couldn’t even get a single A prospect back.
Moss was only a throw-in in the three team deal that sent Manny to LA and Jason Bay to Boston. He became an all star a few years later.
Was curious to see what he could do in the Chris Young 4th OF/righty power role. Strikeout to walk ratio of 3-1 or so over eight years in the minors didn’t bode well though. Didn’t help that he lost some crucial development time when he shot himself in the leg in 2013.
Lol “get a shot”
They needed this move to probably secure a spot for Swihart and Holt on the roster.
Sox should have dumped Holt. Brentz has definite upside.
Upside?
He’s 30.
They’re not gonna carry 5 OF and he’s out of options. C ya
It might be time to bid Holt adieu especially with Nunez capable of playing everywhere. Holt may get the shipping papers after Pedroia returns.
As mentioned above, Holt has an option left. Injuries also are likely so I see him staying. Hopefully the concussion symptoms don’t come back.
They’ll keep Holt around until Pedroia and Hernandez are healthy and then , sadly, I’d bet his MLB career is over. Guy just looked lost when he returned from his concussion.
A lot depends on others. If Sweihart struggles at the plate as a lefty and they’re forced to start Moreland due to injuries or HanRam ineffectiveness, they can’t start the season with no lefties on the bench when Leon starts. Let the preseason games work all this out. With an option left, I’d be shocked to see Holt releases unless he asks for it.
Considering it’s only cash considerations this is a good move for the Bucs.
This is a direct answer to the Cubs signing Darvish.
I can’t even type that without laughing
Bryce Brentz is a prime example of a “Ken Phelps All-Star”
Nothing at all wrong with this move, it doesn’t cost the Bucs a thing to take a look. Sure I would like to see them do something more meaningful, but this beats giving away players for next to nothing.
They gave away players to save money then give away money to get this guy? It’s a brilliant concept.
They traded away 2 players that would have never extended with them and this was the highest trade value. Cutch would have been gone for big bucks if he has a bounce back year this season. If he stunk it up, he would not have been worth giving a QO to try to get a draft pick because he probably would have taken the QO and he would be tremendously over paid if that scenario happened. Cole was gone in 2 seasons. If he had another season like he had in 2017, The Pirates would have received way less than they got for him from the Astros. I for one am not upset that the trades were made.
I for one think Pirates have a chance of outperforming everyone’s expectations this year. Really just need the pitching to be average, cause they definitely were not last year. Polanco is healthy. Marte isnt gone half the year. Bell has a full year under his belt. Harrison/Frazier both capable of fielding and hitting. Mercer, in my opinion, very underrated and is top 3 in defensive shortstops in the league. Moran seems to be a good pickup, even though the year hasnt started yet. LF is up for grabs, and Cervelli and Diaz will be a good catcher tandem. Literally just depends on the young pitching and if they took the next step in the offseason.
The starters are a huge question but so is the bullpen.
I would totally agree with you. Honestly couldnt even really tell you who is the bullpen besides Rivero anymore haha.
Rivero and Hudson are all I can name. Sounds like Glasnow is ticketed for the pen.
Crick, Kontos, Neverauskus, Feliz, Smoker, and 1 of Kuhl,Williams, Musgrove, and Brault
Kontos is good.
Neverauskus looked good, but he really only pitched in no win situations.
I think Williams should be given a starting spot, especially over Kuhl and Brault. Definitely better than Kuhl last year.
The Pirates are such a sad organization. I’ve been a fan since childhood but it is so hard to watch the mismanagement since our playoff teams a few years ago
Here is the entire point of this upcoming season for the Pirates: increase the value of their assets, either for themselves or for other teams in trades.
That’s it. They aren’t going to make the playoffs. Making their players better is the only goal.
So, trading for a guy like Corey Dickerson makes no sense for them. The Rays presumably tried to trade him for something decent before DFA’ing him. They will likely still trade him for something in the next week. This is coming off an All Star season. His value is likely peaked. So unless he bests that year, you would only be able to trade him for the same value you traded to get him. Achieves nothing for them.
Signing a free agent outfielder has a slim chance of working for them. Turning nothing but a roster spot and salary into an asset in trade, but the players left aren’t likely to fetch much unless they have a big half season. But with a clubhouse that already has some issues, that guy would be a mercenary from day one and that might not help.
Bell, Frazier, Moran getting better. Marte, Polanco and Cervelli getting back to their former levels. Getting all of these young pitchers ready for 2019. Trading Harrison for a good prospect and being able to parlay the development into some of their young pitching into other assets. That’s the ideal season for the Pirates in 2018.
Bryce Brentz seems like a worthwhile lotto ticket. The Pirates attempt to find their own Eric Thames.
I honestly feel like McCutchen is going to get hurt this year and Bryce Brentz will be worth more WAR.