The Pirates, who earlier this week traded center fielder Starling Marte to the Diamondbacks, are “considering” several free-agent replacement options, tweets MLB Network’s Jon Heyman. Among them are Kevin Pillar, Billy Hamilton and Cameron Maybin.
That the Bucs are in the market for a new center fielder isn’t a surprise. General manager Ben Cherington revealed hours after the Marte swap that he’d likely be in the market for a new center fielder. Pittsburgh’s trade of Marte was more about selling a valuable asset at peak value (and, of course, paring back payroll) than opening playing time for in-house options. Bryan Reynolds could conceivably handle center-field duties in the short term, but it seems as though the organization’s preference is to leave him installed in left field, with a hopefully healthier Gregory Polanco patrolling right field at PNC Park.
Of the listed options, only Pillar played a full season as a regular in 2019. Traded from Toronto to San Francisco in what amounted to an early-season salary dump, the 31-year-old displayed above-average pop and baserunning abilities while also reminding of his typical struggles to get on base. Pillar swatted a career-high 21 homers, posted a .174 isolated power mark (slugging percentage minus batting average) and swiped 14 bases this past season.
However, Pillar also only walked in 2.8 percent of his plate appearances and recorded a .287 on-base percentage, which was the fourth-lowest among qualified MLB hitters. Defensive metrics continued to suggest that his once-elite glove has taken a step back (-3 Defensive Runs Saved; 0.3 Ultimate Zone Rating; +2 Outs Above Average). As Heyman points out, Cherington is plenty familiar with Pillar after spending more than three years in the Jays’ front office.
The fleet-footed Hamilton, meanwhile, again rated as an elite defender and baserunner. He’s still just 29 years of age, but at this point the ship on him ever being a passable hitter has likely sailed. Hamilton’s .218/.289/.275 slash through 353 plate appearances last season was the worst in MLB among players with at least 350 plate appearances. He’s still nearly unrivaled in terms of raw speed and defensive ability, however, making him a serviceable stopgap if the Bucs simply want to keep a seat warm for someone like 2018 first-rounder Travis Swaggerty.
Maybin, 33 in April, enjoyed a career renaissance in a limited role in 2019, hitting .285/.364/.494 with 11 homers and 17 doubles in 269 trips to the plate. He worked mostly as a corner outfielder, though, and hasn’t tallied more than 450 innings in center field in a single season since his 2016 run with the Tigers.
Maybe the Cubs have a match with Albert Almora? Although he is OBP-challenged like Pillar is. He’s still young with some upside and has shown great defense at times (last year he was not especially good however). As miserable as he was last season, I think he is a guy that needs to play every day for his confidence. Just a thought. I don’t know who the Cubs would get in return but it can’t be a big salary.
who is Almora’s replacement
Ian Happ, Jason Heyward
There’d been some early buzz that Hoerner could get a look in CF as well, though I haven’t read anything new about that scenario since September.
Heyward. If the guy hits only 260 you should at least get the defense in a premeir position
Almora, Dustin Fowler, someone like that. At least it would give the Pirates fans someone to “project”. It seems like the season is already over and they haven’t even reported to camp yet. Bringing in Pillar or Hamilton is a dud.
Odubel Herrera is available
I’d like to see Billy Hamilton. You know he’s gonna play good defense in PNC’s spacious outfield, and he’s a .300 career hitter at PNC Park. And he’s sure to fetch some lottery ticket prospect at the deadline when a contending team wants him as a runner off the bench.
Sort of helps that he was facing the Pirates in those PNC Park games.
I wouldn’t say he’s sure to fetch anything at the deadline. The Royals found no takers for him this past summer and ultimately settled for the Braves eating the rest of his salary on an August waiver claim.
He can go fetch at the deadline, as he is an absolute dog at this stage of his career.
Knowing the Pirates they’ll probably end up signing Juan Lagares.
High upside signing at the minimum.
Clint Frazier . Time for Yankees to let that kid go play somewhere .
Clint Frazier is not a centerfeilder though.
Frazier is a DH.
Frazier could surely handle RF at PNC if Garet Jones could.
Might as well try Gregory the Great in CF, as Hamilton etc wouldnt necessarily be a full time option anyways.
I’ve longed to see Bell get a power bat behind him as protection, let alone more power in the lineup period.
Pillar seems to be the best fit for the Pirates.
Cherington would have seen his act with the Jays. He can be real hard to watch when he is slumping. The whole world knows its going to be a breaking ball out of the zone and he just cant lay off it.
Perfect for a rebuild.
Disagree. Hamilton brings speed, Ellsbury brings massive potential when healthy,, Pillar, well, brings not much when healthy but is a baseline addition for CF occupancy.
I’d go for Jacoby or Billy
Braves get Archer, Pirates get Inciarte?
Who plays CF for Atlanta? Don’t say Acuna, he’s not a CF.
Where did Acuna play last year? Also, Pache or Waters will be up later this season, one of those two will be the center fielder in the future.
According to Baseball Reference, he was their primary Centerfielder, but is currently the starting Rightfielder and backup Centerfielder on their depth chart.
Of course it does because Inciarte is on the roster. There have been rumors of Inciarte being traded, and Acuna playing CF until Waters or Pache are ready. Didn’t realize we would go this far down a rabbit hole. The question was simply “is it plausible”?
Is it plausible that last year’s center fielder could be this year’s? Is that a real question?
Original question for inquiring minds- Braves get Archer, Pirates get Inciarte?
Braves get Archer, Pirates get Acuna. Just as ridiculous…
3-9, 5+ ERA last year? How is it ridiculous we give the Pirates a CF replacement and take their $9M Teheran replacement?
Billy Hamilton and his amazing baserunning and defensive abilities will at least be a source of entertainment to the fans. That’s a big OF and he would be a nice addition just to the pitching staff. If he can muster a .250/.300/.350 line by the All-star break; I’d bet they can flip him to a contender where he’d be a nice bench piece as a pinch runner and late game defensive sub. Not a blue chip prospect, but maybe a 2nd or 3rd tier.
If Hamilton could hit that he’d already have a job. he’d be near elite even with a .320 OBP due to his speed. He’s taken multiple steps backwards each year. Right now he’s what he was when he was first called up by the Reds. A pinch runner and defensive replacement.
If he could hit the ball hard on the ground or line drives he’d be fine but he’s the king of the weak pop up.
This is a shame because he’s truly something to see when he gets on base. As a Reds fan one of the best things to see over the last 5-7 years was Billy Hamilton doing Hamilton things. Unfortunatley he just couldn’t get on enough to make use of his elite grade skill set.
26th man should help him because he was a weapon to the Reds that first year even if all he was used for was as runner
I dread watching the Pirates 7-8-9 hitters.
Good time to go walk the dog as long as it is a short walk.
If pirates had anyone with a plan running their franchise they’d go get José siri off waivers from reds and start him in CF. If he fails- who cares- u get a better pick. If he succeeds- you have him under control for a long time and can also trade him.
Signing some old veteran is what a franchise with no direction would do
Siri hasn’t hit really above low A. Claim because he has shown talent sure, but it would be foolish to think he could hit major league pitching when he hasn’t even hit class A.
Why? Siri looks to be no better than Guillermo Heredia. At least one of these vets would be flippable at the trade deadline.
Siri above High-A:
800 PA
.234/.300/.398
32% K%
Austin Meadows… oh wait
This makes me sick.
Oh, the MVP candidate Kevin Pillar.
Lol
Bradley Zimmer is probably worth a look (assuming they could get him cheap from the Tribe). He has had a terrible injury track record and lots of whiffs.. but maybe not a bad guy to take a chance on.
I was thinking Tribe, also, but not Zimmer. Maybe DeShields?
Throw Greg Allen in there as a possibility too..
Their starting CF?
Chisenhall part 2?
Chisenhall part 2? If so, no thanks. Don’t need a sequel.
He can hit in the 9 hole.
Call the Blue Jays for Derek Fisher. Fisher for a player to be named later. Heredia is the RH bat against lefties. Maybe Cherington liked Fisher enough in Toronto to be interested. Odds are, he’s not.
Follow any call to the Blue Jays about Fisher with a text to Matt Barnes saying “not that Derek Fisher.”
Why would Barnes know you had called the Toronto Blue Jays about a trade?
It was a reference to the basketball players. Quite a good joke if you follow the NBA.
Odds are the Jays are not as dense as you. They are not going to give up on Fisher based on 110 PA’s where Fisher struggled against RH pitching.
He was .245/.339/.469 v LH and mashed .286/.401/.522 in AAA.
He has not established himself, but they are going to give him some time to try and figure it out.
.155/.261/.320 against RHP. Sweet numbers.
He has established himself as a AAA player and not a major league-calibre player. Jays have Gurriel, Grichuk and Teoscar with Alford in the OF. Fisher should not start over them nor should he start over Tellez. Shaw may be at 1st and Teoscar at DH with Tellez in Buffalo.
Tellez: .270/.317/.513 against LHP. Your way chooses Fisher. My way chooses Tellez. My way is better. I guess my density measures higher in baseball IQ than you. Wasn’t difficult to achieve.
Agree that you are much more dense than I
You forgot to finish your sentence.
Jays have a good team now that i read that!? A lot of potential anyways. What does there starting pitching look like in MLB and AAA? ( i know my name may appear that I’m a jays fan but my name is jay)
Archer for Trent Thornton and Dasan Brown. Thornton can eat innings now and Brown is same age as players acquired for Marte, so he fall inline with the rebuild. Reunion with Montoyo and Archer back in AL East.
OMG that would be a terrible trade for TOR.
They get Archer, 31, who is often injured, had an ERA of 5.19, put up a WAR of .7 for the price of $11 million. And is a free agent after 2021.
They give up Thornton who is 26, had an ERA of 4.84, a WAR of 1.8, and who is a free agent in 2025. He also really figured it out in the last month, where he had an ERA of 2.19
AND they also give up their 3rd round pick from last year and 18th best prospect per MLB.com.
Genius baby. Genius
Thorton will likely begin the year in AAA. name the last outfielder the jays ever produced? Davis,Alfred, Pompey? Don’t even say Pilar it’s insulting.
Archer when healthy is a major league caliber rotation piece. Body of work in the AL East proves it if you want to talk about WAR.
Archer will be much much better this year. This is what the pirates do. They suck but they manage to have great outfielders, a great bullpen and a frontline starter that they got from another team that does really really well without getting over 11 wins.
This trade doesn’t help the Jays PTSD. Player control is something the Jays take pride in. They’d lose years of control for Archer, who won’t net a huge return even if he bounces back because of where he is in his current contract. Pirates need a CF and the Blue Jays have excess OFs.
What about Austin Meadows? Oh, never mind
Juan lagares ?
I say either go speed-and-defense on the cheap with Hamilton or just go 180 degrees in the opposite direction and sign Yasiel Puig to a one-year deal and give him another crazy “wild stallion” run as a full-time center fielder.
No wonder you toads are trolls. You have no idea on what the pirates are going to do. Just wishful thinking and presumptuous comments. First off it’s a rebuild. They are not going to sign Hamilton or pillar. Or maybin it would be stupid. Inhouse rookies or a trade for a rookie centerfielder. No stop gap players
You’re totally right, Joegio. No rebuilding team has ever filled a position of limited-to-no depth with a low-cost veteran.
And shame on everyone here for all their wishful thinking and presumptuous comments!!
You don’t follow much baseball do you Joe
More than know clueless in Atlanta. DTD
If you did, you’d know rebuilding teams use cheap vets as placeholders ALL the time.
I think Billy Hamilton is the smartest play. We aren’t a contender and the important thing right now is building value for our current players while rebuilding. Hamilton is an elite defender who I’ve seen make make unbelievable plays while playing in the NL central for the rival Reds. He covers a ton of ground and will help our pitchers. And finding any way possible to help raise Chris Archer’s trade value (as well as other company members value) would be the wise.
Agreed on hamilton. Unless they trade for a young cf or bring one up like Martin, then bring in Billy. He is fun and has no baggage. I love stolen bases. Why not?
Bryan Reynolds is fine in CF, look for any OF corner or center. if you find a corner, leave Reynolds in CF, if you find a CF move Reynolds to a corner.
Rangers might offer Taveras or Heineman + Huff and Palumbo if you want to send JBell our way.
If the Pirates were serious about doing anything differently, they’d take Jackie Bradley Jr. off of the Red Sox hands (with his full salary) and a good prospect for a warm body.
Basically, taking the Marte money and buying a good prospect with it.
Instead, they’ll give Billy Hamilton $850K.
ForwhothejoshbellTROLLS. YOU SHOULD BECOME A RELEVANT PART OF SOCIETY. INSTEAD OF POSTING IDIOTIC COMMENTS.
@Joe? Got a length or confidence problem and you need to type in all caps?? Oh, little boy is mad…..a pity.
Maybe, before hitting the caps lock and turning on rapid fire moron, you consider what was said.
Oh, and i am sure, no one really cares what you have to say anyway.
The Red Sox wouldn’t need to give up a good prospect to get rid of Bradley’s salary.
Yeah they would. It wouldn’t be a top guy but it would be someone good. Mata Groome Song Ward probably someone along those lines. Or it could end up being a couple of someone’s further down the line.
If the Red Sox wanted to get rid of Bradley’s salary; they would have non-tendered him two months ago. They may still trade Bradley; but they are not giving up a good prospect to do it.
Yep I’ve said this makes tons of sense. Worst case scenario is you get a prospect or 2 and your payroll is really no different than before the Marte trade.
Best case JBJ catches fire and you flip him for another prospect.
Thats a good idea josh bell tolls. And I’m being serious, just incase nobody gets that.
The pirate made the move to scale back payroll. They have the second lowest payroll in all of baseball before that deal. This franchise is a joke and I really believe major-league baseball needs to step in.
They didn’t trade Marte to scale back payroll. That’s nonsense, they Traded him to acquire prospects. They know they are not going to win this year and the rebuilding is on.
Umm yeah they got rid of Marte to scale back on payroll. Plus the fact that he only had 2 seasons left of club control.
Since we’re not contending in 2020, it’s best to hire a nobody or a has been. Call Nate Mclouth to see if he’s interested
Goldenmisfit
Yiu also should become a RELEVANT part of society. Baseball is a business. The players dont play for fun. it’s their livelihood. I agree that the pirates need to spend more. And nutting is cheap. But you cannot tell a business how it should be run. And they won’t spend until the rebuild is over. That’s something that they should of done in 2015, when they could of spent and probably made the series in 2016. They didnt and they are still paying the price. Bew manager, new general manager and new president. But baseball wont step in. Only way to make teams like the pirates spend is by a salary cap. And that’s not happening. So DTD I DO KNOW ABOUT BASEBALL. BEEN FOLLOWING FOR 55 YEARS
another negative WAR comment. Nice work, Grandpa! 55 years of being an idiot, and counting.
Clepto maybe you should go back to playing dungeons and dragons. You I bet are a big saber metrics nerd. Like most of baseball is today. Batting average. Homeruns RBIs. Wins losses era. Today’s pitchers throws 100 pitches by the 5th inning, oh sure he strikes out 10 batters. They take him out. That’s why hurdle sucked as a manager. 6th Inning reliever would retire the side on say 9 pitches. Next i no g a new pitcher. Lost too many games because of mismanagement. No more 2 inning saves anymore. All these metrics are ruining baseball. And the metric guys never picked up a bat or ball or Mitt. They are baseball nerds.
Dungeons and Dragons: never played it. Wrong.
Not a sabrematrician. Wrong again.
Your use of english? Wrong, yet again.
Reminder: no one cares what you think. Please just stop. Go back to your bridge game.
“RBIs” Run Batted Ins?
There was a debate once on pluralizing RBI. It should be Runs Batted In. But I believe RBIs is an acceptable acronym.
Lewis Brinson from the Marlins and then sign Maybin or somethin to back him up
I personally want Billy Hamilton because I think the Pirates biggest goal should be helping Archer and Kela gain value for the trade deadline and a defensive CF will help. I don’t really believe any of these guys will net any return at the deadline and if the Bucs aren’t trying to win Billy’s hitting won’t matter.
Good point
I agree help build up the pitchers value and why not have some fun this summer. I hope the bucs play agressive and run a ton this year. Be awesome if Hamilton could put up tony Womack esque sb numbers.
Payroll just for the sake of payroll is dumb, marte was not traded as a salary dump. Malone or peguero either could become top 100 by midsummer.
Think the pirates wouldn’t have any problem taking on payroll via trade if it makes sense for them, but over paying just for the sake of over paying is dumb.
If they can shoe horn their way into a 3 way trade with Padres and redsox. I don’t think taking on Meyers or price would be a problem if the right amount of prospect capital coming back.
What’s clepto?? Maniac?? I bet its clepto mistake
…a mistake as in your command of the English language?
And if you are keeping score, thats 4! stupid comments by you in 1 hour. Nice work. A banner day, there at Shady Acres Home for the Baseball Challenged.
And that sure was a mistake the day you spoke your first words. What was it? Who’s my daddy????
#5
I like journeyman Maybin to be a leader for the youngins, or get Puig to sell some tickets and slide someone else into CF.
Don’t forget they need a closer too
I think it’s Keone Kela’s job to lose.
Billy Hamilton sucks. He’s the last guy I would want. He can’t hit worth a dime.
Stop with the ridiculous Billy Hamilton garbage.
I’d sooner sign Domingo Santana for his power and put him in right field, and sign Pillar for center field.
Polanco will be hurt again before spring training even ends. I have no confidence in his health whatsoever. The Pirates are dumb for even handing him a starting position without having him fight for the job by proving he is 100 % healthy and having someone solid in the position ahead of him to beat out.
I’m not crazy about Hamilton’s bat either but I think at this point defense is more important for bailing out the pitchers and building up their trade value. When it’s all said and done I’m hoping we lose 100+ this year and get a decent spot in the draft. Let’s tank and do this rebuild the right way!!
That isn’t the right way to rebuild. If Nutting can’t make an effort to win then shut the whole freaking thing down. If I’m going to follow each game on the radio like I always do, then they damn well better try to win or why else have a season?
If you followed every game you wouldn’t want to lose.
Something is not worth doing if it isn’t worth doing correctly, and the correct way to play a baseball season is to try to win every game possible. at all times.
There is no excuse for this owner to field a half-assed team. He makes plenty of profit, and easily enough profit to put enough back into the roster make-up to have good players at every position.
Ok so you want to go back to the days of Huntington and “compete” because that’s all the pirates are ever gonna do if you had your way. No thanks man. It’s my opinion that we trade the tradable guys and get some decent picks in the draft over the next couple years and then just maybe we can contend for a World Series. Because that’s what this is all about…winning a championship. Not playing entertaining baseball for Henry’s sake.
Hamilton is a dumpster fire.
The only players with any value on the Pirates are Bell, Kela and Musgrove. You’re not going to trade Archer and get anything of value in return.
And they are not going to add a player like Bradley. They want to keep the payroll as low as possible. So they are going to add someone like Hamilton because he’s very low cost. And he’s low cost because he can’t hit for power.
And they are not going to be able to trade him at the deadline like the Royals couldn’t last year. He can’t hit for average, power and his base running skills have declined over the years. So no one is going to trade for just a defensive replacement.
There is no reason for the Pirates payroll to be as low as it is. It is embarrassing and Nutting should be ashamed of himself.
Sign Hamilton. Work with him to drag bunt,and have him lead off. His defense in center field would be helpful to all the pitchers on this staff.
The Pirates should trade w/ the Brewers for Tyrone Taylor. Taylor is probably the Brewers 6th Ofer and they have Ray and Lutz coming soon. Taylor has a strong arm in the OF w/ speed and reads the ball of the bat well and makes good routes to the ball. His offense has greatly improved and he had a good showing during his brief callup last year. At 26 years old Taylor is in his prime years and would have a chance to lead the Pirates OF through the rebuild. The Pirates should offer them a pitcher similar to last year to take on as a reclamation project like Holmes or Stratton or a BP arm in case they trade Hader.