The Pittsburgh Pirates announced a trio of trades today. The first deal completes their August deal for Austin Davis, which the Phillies announced earlier today. The Pirates sent right-hander Joel Cesar to Philadelphia to complete that transaction. Davis, 27, has 3 scoreless appearances since joining the Buccos.
The other two trades helped build the Pirates’ 2019-2020 international pool money. The Pirates sent left-hander Domingo Robles to the St. Louis Cardinals and right-hander Connor Loeprich to the Baltimore Orioles in separate trades for international pool money.
Robles, 22, signed with the Pirates on the first day of the international signing period in 2014. Across 5 seasons in the Pittsburgh system, Robles owns a 27-36 record with a 3.76 ERA and 6.4 K/9 to 2.1 BB/9. The Dominican southpaw made it as high as Double-A as a 21-year-old in 2019, going 4-6 with a 4.02 ERA across 103 innings. He was not among the Pirates top 42 prospects listed by Fangraphs at the start of 2020, nor the top 30 listed by Baseball America.
Loeprich turned 23-years-old this month, and he’ll now report to a new team in the Baltimore. Loeprich made it to High-A in 2019, though he spent the greater part of the year with Single-A Greensboro. In two seasons since being drafted out of St. Mary’s College of California, the 6’3″ right-hander sports a 3.68 ERA over 124 2/3 innings with 9.1 K/9 to 2.8 BB/9. Loeprich has largely worked out of the bullpen with only 8 starts out of 55 total minor-league appearances.
the Pirates are trading away actual prospects for the ability to sign the two prospects that are still available in the 19-20 pool
They must have their eye on someone. If it’s not nailed down in Pittsburgh today, it’s out the door.
Or Cherington believes the two’s stats which don’t look bad on paper either presents their ceilings or that the team wants to acquire young players that will beady together to actually become a winning team again.
but i mean this signing period has been going on for so long now. i cant imagine there is much quality talent left.
In before the bUt WhAt AbOuT tHe TrAdE dEaDLiNe
They are minor league trades as none of the players will be in majors this year
the trade deadline only accounts for the players in the 60 player pool – not minor leaguers that weren’t part of that pool the can be traded anytime ..thought highly of Robles was a top 30 last year on MLB pipeline if recall correctly
He’s aware of that, hence him using the sarcasm font.
Thank you.
Loeprich sounds like a urinary tract infection.
Watching enough Pirates baseball will make you feel like you have a urinary tract infection.
the trade deadline only accounts for the players in the 60 player pool – not minor leaguers that weren’t part of that pool the can be traded anytime ..thought highly of Robles was a top 30 last year on MLB pipeline if recall correctly
Also there’s a trading bar in place once the playoffs begin.
Hopefully this bunch running the team will be better than any previous group. I am a loyal fan but let’s see!
Let’s see if Nutting allows Cherington to draft Kumar Rocker and if so, whether Rocker agrees to sign.
The Bucs have been a rudderless ship since the days when Cutch roamed our outfield. They have some nice young players and a few supposedly on the way, but gonna be hard for them to compete in the NL Central so long as ownership has a “Do Not Disturb” sign attached to their checkbook.
If the maxim, build your team to compete within your own division is true, then the Bucs have a deeper dig to strike playoff gold than their four NL Central counterparts. Over the past few years, even the Brewers, with their patchwork starting rotations cobbled and filled out from the discard pile, manage competitive teams each season.
There’s something intrinsically wrong within Pirates headquarters. Can’t be overly harsh on Cherrington right now, However, five years from now, if my narrative today remains equally applicable, well, then we have a big problem.