Pittsburgh Pirates

A unique 2020 MLB season could make for a unique trade deadline.

With barely a month between Opening Day and the Aug. 31 deadline, teams must rush to judgment on whether they're buying, selling or standing pat.

The Pittsburgh Pirates, a team in transition after four straight years without a playoff trip, are among the clubs that might already know where it stands (or at least has a hunch). That has sparked some speculation about how Pittsburgh could handle its roster, and we'll get to the latest below.

                  

Josh Bell Playing Final Season in Pittsburgh?

The Pirates spent a 2011 second-round pick on Bell, and they never got a greater return on that investment than they did last season.

The 6'4" slugger replaced his bat with a rocket launcher ahead of the campaign and promptly unleashed a barrage of home run blasts. He smacked a career-high 37 in all, driving in 116 runs and scoring 94. He made his debut appearances in both the All-Star Game and the Home Run Derby.

The 27-year-old also may have priced his way out of Pittsburgh's future. His venture to 2022 free agency is closer than you'd think, and if the Pirates don't plan on ponying up the big bucks to keep him, they might want to trade him for a small mountain of assets.

As Joe Starkey opined for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, the Pirates might already have a Bell replacement on the roster in the red-hot Colin Moran. Should Pittsburgh deal Bell in the offseason, Starkey wrote the team could slide Moran, a third baseman, into the first base spot and clear a path for celebrated hot-corner prospect Ke'Bryan Hayes.

This all comes down to how much the Pirates believe in Bell and whether they're willing to spend what it will take to keep him around.

His 2019 breakthrough was breathtaking at times, but it was also a tale of two halves. He went into the All-Star break with a .302 batting average and 27 homers with 84 RBI in 88 games. But after intermission, he managed just a .233 average with 10 homers and 32 RBI in 55 games.

The Pirates—and any possible trade suitors—will surely keep close tabs on Bell this season to try and get a feel for whether he's more like the first-half or second-half version. The former was a cornerstone. The latter was a liability.

               

Could Pirates Put Colin Moran on Trade Block?

The sixth overall pick of the 2013 draft and a former top-100 prospect who found his way to Pittsburgh in the 2018 Gerrit Cole trade, Moran is loudly hinting at a breakout.

It's obviously early, but considering the prospect pedigree, it's OK to get excited about Moran's quick start: 6-for-15 with three homers, a double and five runs. For someone who delivered just 25 homers over his first 309 games, this mini-power binge suggests something might have clicked with his bat.

If it has, it leads the Pirates to an interesting crossroads.

"What do the Pirates do with Moran if he continues to bash the baseball?" Starkey asked. "'Trade him' would be on answer. His stock might never be higher. His price is soon to go up."

With Moran stationed at the hot corner, he's standing directly in the path of Hayes, a 23-year-old who can't develop outside of the majors when there is no minor league ball this year. If Pittsburgh thinks Moran might be a flash in the pan, trading him is a chance to strike while the iron is scorching-hot.

Then again, if the Pirates think Moran is turning the corner, they might want to be careful about letting him go. As mentioned above, Pittsburgh's infield of the future could easily include Moran at first base and Hayes at third.

But when taken in conjunction with Bell's uncertainty, the biggest takeaway is that the Pirates could have a series of important infield decisions to make sooner than later. If Hayes, son of longtime major leaguer Charlie Hayes, is as good as advertised, then one of Moran or Bell likely has to go.

Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Felipe Vazquez is reportedly facing one count of furnishing pornographic materials to a juvenile.

Rich Cholodofsky of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reported the news, noting Vazquez is facing the Class A misdemeanor in Missouri after court records from the St. Louis Circuit Attorney's Office revealed police said Vazquez sent pornographic pictures of himself to a then-15-year-old girl when his team was in St. Louis for a game against the Cardinals.

Cholodofsky noted Vazquez was also charged with statutory sexual assault, possession of child pornography and unlawful contact with a minor in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, in September for alleged improper sexual conduct with a then-13-year-old girl.

Police also filed charges against him in Florida, where he has another home. 

Vazquez has been held in county jail since the arrest.

Westmoreland County Assistant District Attorney Jim Lazar said he believes the victim in the St. Louis-based charges is the same one from the Pennsylvania and Florida charges.

Defense attorney Gary Gerson previously claimed in court documents that the victim lied about her age and led Vazquez to believe she was an adult.

Vazquez's major league career started in 2015. He has pitched for the Pirates and Washington Nationals.

The KBO League suspended veteran infielder Jung Ho Kang for one year because of multiple arrests for driving under the influence, according to South Korea's Yonhap News Agency. 

Kang has spent four seasons in MLB, all with the Pittsburgh Pirates. He made 65 appearances in 2019, batting .169 with 10 home runs and 24 RBI.

The Pirates designated Kang for assignment last August, and he failed to return to the majors with another team.

In April, the 33-year-old began working toward a return to the KBO League. In doing so, he opened himself up to a a lengthy suspension from the league.

Kang missed the entire 2017 MLB season after the Pirates placed him on the restricted list. He had been arrested for DUI and fleeing the scene in South Korea in December 2016. It was his third DUI charge since 2009.

The Yonhap News Agency's Yoo Jee-ho noted Kang could've been suspended for up to three years under KBO rules.

Kang last played for the Nexen Heroes in 2014, and the Heroes retain his contract rights. Nexen will have to remove him from the KBO's "voluntarily retired" list before can return to the field.

The Pittsburgh Pirates have suspended benefits for their baseball operations employees amid the coronavirus pandemic. 

Per The Athletic's Ken Rosenthal and Evan Drellich, the Pirates are the first Major League Baseball team known to stop contributing to their employees' 401(k) plans. 

Rosenthal and Drellich noted the cuts will allow the Pirates to keep paying full employee salaries after some higher-up executives took a voluntary pay cut. 

Last week, Pirates president Travis Williams issued a statement announcing the team committed to paying full-time employees through May 31:

"Earlier today we held a conference call with our baseball operations employees who are on Uniform Employee Contracts to discuss the Commissioner’s decision to suspend all UECs across the league, and explain what that means for everyone.

"We informed the group that we will continue to pay them through May 31, while we evaluate the impact of the coronavirus on the 2020 season. We also told them that we are exploring an initial set of tiered salary reductions for highly-compensated employees in baseball and business operations, as well as other types of personnel adjustments."

A number of MLB teams have reportedly committed to paying employees for a period of time as the pandemic continues, per ESPN's Jeff Passan.

The San Diego Padres guaranteed pay for their baseball operations employees through Oct. 31; other full- and part-time employees had their pay guaranteed through May 15. 

MLB games have been suspended since March 12 when spring training was canceled because of the pandemic. The regular season was originally scheduled to start on March 26. 

The Pittsburgh Pirates are filling their free time with generosity.

The team announced Monday evening that Pirates players bought 400 pizzas and pasta for medical staff at Allegheny General Hospital in Pittsburgh:

Seriously. Our guys are the best.

Bucs players buy 400 pizzas for hospital workers
READ: https://t.co/8OkWOdGJHM pic.twitter.com/Q3BcDfYSsH

— Pittsburgh Pirates (@Pirates) March 23, 2020

Players such as pitchers Joe Musgrove and Trevor Williams posted photos from their visit:

pic.twitter.com/OdqrgWed8Z

— Joe Musgrove (@itsFatherJoe44) March 23, 2020

The @Pirates players thought to support a couple local businesses and show appreciation to our healthcare workers in this time of crisis. Stay safe!!! 🤟🏻🤟🏻 pic.twitter.com/2cWxHZ18JL

— Trevor Williams (@MeLlamoTrevor) March 23, 2020

https://twitter.com/mkeller11/status/1242163630591918080

Pitcher Jameson Taillon, the team's player representative, provided a statement:

"We might not be in Pittsburgh, and we don't have the opportunity to play in front of our fans and for all of us to be up in the city that's kind of become a second home to us and that's treated us so well. We know local businesses are getting crushed and they're really hurting and they're really affected by what's going on. Then obviously, the hospitals and the staff working on the front lines there, they're putting in extra hours, extra work, exposing themselves.

"We thought this was a way to help. Two birds with one stone. We can help local restaurants. We can help the hospitals and the workers and show our appreciation."

Major League Baseball canceled the remainder of spring training and delayed Opening Day on March 12 because of the coronavirus pandemic.

The Pittsburgh Pirates brought in a sanitation team to perform a deep clean of their spring training facility in Bradenton, Florida, on Tuesday as a precaution in response to the coronavirus (COVID-19), per ESPN's Jeff Passan.

Per Giuseppe Sabella of the Bradenton Herald, a Manatee County man is a "presumptive positive" case of the coronavirus.

Bradenton is the largest city in Manatee County, and Passan wrote that the deep cleaning came after the man's confirmed case. He also noted that the sanitation team used a "sanitizing machine to address surfaces in the team's clubhouse, offices, press box, suites, dugouts and concession stands."

Pirates vice president of communications Brian Warecki issued the following statement:

"In an effort to be as proactive as possible and perhaps in an overabundance of caution, we took advantage of our scheduled off-day to professionally sanitize and deep clean LECOM Park. We will continue to actively consider other efforts that we can implement to help maintain a healthy environment for our fans, players and staff."

Per Passan, the Pirates are taking a proactive approach beyond Major League Baseball's recommended guidelines, which include recommending "players not touching balls or pens handed to them by fans for autographs and ensuring players are up to date on their flu vaccines."

Per the New York Times, there have been more than 92,700 confirmed coronavirus cases worldwide, with 118 in the United States. At least 3,158 people have died.

The 118 confirmed American cases have occurred in 16 states.

Pittsburgh Pirates utility man Pablo Reyes will start the 2020 season serving an 80-game unpaid suspension for violating MLB's drug program, the league announced Wednesday.

The 26-year-old tested positive for a performance-enhancing substance called Boldenone.

Pittsburgh is in Bradenton, Florida, for spring training while Reyes is a roster member of the Triple-A Indianapolis Indians.

Reyes appeared in 71 games for the Pirates in 2019—most recently the team's regular-season finale on Sept. 29—and posted a .203/.274/.322 slash line for two home runs and 19 RBI across 143 plate appearances. He started 24 games in the outfield.

The Dominican Republic native made his major league debut on Sept. 2, 2018. He recorded 18 games with Pittsburgh to finish out the 2018 season, batting .293 with three home runs and seven RBI.

The Pirates have issues to sort out beyond Reyes' suspension. The franchise has not made the postseason since 2015 and finished last season at 69-93, the second-worst mark in the National League.

Starling Marte has been with the Pittsburgh Pirates his entire career, but that will change heading into the 2020 season. 

Pittsburgh has traded Marte and cash considerations to the Arizona Diamondbacks in exchange for shortstop Liover Peguero, right-handed pitcher Brennan Malone and international bonus pool space.

MLB Network's Jon Heyman and Robert Murray reported the Pirates will receive $250,000 in international money in return for Marte. Per Bob Nightengale of USA Today, Pittsburgh will include $1.5 million in the deal.

#Pirates reportedly acquiring two #Dbacks Top 30 prospects & $250K int'l money for Starling Marte:

9. Brennan Malone (per @JonHeyman)
18. Liover Peguero (per @ByRobertMurray)

Here's the 2019 first-round #MLBDraft pick & the 19-year-old Dominican SS: https://t.co/spsILImudS pic.twitter.com/L9T1wUoYP8

— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) January 27, 2020

This decision comes after the Pirates picked up Marte's option for the 2020 campaign, which pays him $11.5 million. According to Spotrac, the contract features a $12.5 million option for 2021 with a $2 million buyout clause.

Even though the National League Central club picked up Marte's option, the outfielder's name was included in trade rumors during the offseason.

Heyman reported the Diamondbacks and the San Diego Padres were interested in him. Heyman and Murray also reported the New York Mets were interested in him because they were looking for a "strong defender" and right-handed bat.

Marte fits the bill as someone who developed into a cornerstone of the Pirates franchise. 

He was a 2016 All-Star with a .311/.362/.456 slash line and 47 steals, and he won Gold Gloves in 2015 and 2016 when he was primarily a left fielder. He was responsible for plus-82 total defensive runs saved in left field from 2012-17, per FanGraphs, although he was at minus-nine in center field this past year.

Marte also helped lead the Pirates to the playoffs three straight years from 2013-15. Pittsburgh lost two NL Wild Card Games during that span but won that contest in 2013 before losing to the St. Louis Cardinals in the NL Division Series. 

There are some concerns that come with Marte outside of his less-than-stellar defense in center field. He is 31 years old and was shut down in September after suffering a wrist injury and played just 132 games in a lost season.

Still, he impressed before the physical setback and slashed .295/.342/.503 with a career-best 23 home runs and 82 RBI. The power has been a welcome development of late seeing how he drilled 20 long balls in 2018 after hitting just seven in 2017 and nine in 2016.

He also still flashed speed on the bases with 25 steals.

While the Pirates are moving in a different direction after they fired Clint Hurdle following nine seasons and three straight years of finishing in fourth or last place in the NL Central, Marte could provide veteran leadership and stability to the Diamondbacks clubhouse in 2020 and beyond.

He brings postseason experience, power at the plate, speed on the bases and a proven glove to the outfield, and he figures to be a key piece in any potential playoff push for a team with enough talent to challenge in the National League West.

Spring training is set to begin on February 21, but there's still enough time for a Starling Marte trade to come to fruition.

According to MLB Network's Jon Heyman Friday morning, "talks are intensifying" for the Pittsburgh Pirates' All-Star outfielder. The San Diego Padres and New York Mets are named as interested suitors.

"Still a chance something gets done before spring training," Heyman added. 

On Thursday, The Athletic's Dennis Lin reported on the Padres' interest in trading for Boston Red Sox All-Star outfielder Mookie Betts, noting "talks with the Pirates have cooled, likely over the asking price" for Marte.

Talks between the Pirates and Mets seem to be headed in the similar direction:

https://twitter.com/martinonyc/status/1220734633479938049

https://twitter.com/martinonyc/status/1220746602966659072

The Mets were described as being "the most aggressive" in pursuing Marte during December's winter meetings, per the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. 

The 31-year-old two-time Gold Glove winner has spent his whole MLB career with the Pirates since debuting in 2012, though he's ready to move on.

"If I had the power, I would love at this point [to leave] because the caliber of player (the Pirates) have is not that of a team ready to compete for a World Series," Marte told MLB Insider Hector Gomez in late November (h/t the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette). "The Mets have everything they need.

Marte added: "If [the Mets] want me, I know I have the ability to help them. ... If it happens, it is a great opportunity for me. If not, I will continue to work hard to help my team."

Pittsburgh went 69-93 while the Mets finished 86-76 in 2019.

Overall, Marte has a .287/.341/.452 career slash line with 108 home runs and 420 RBI across 953 games. In 2019, Marte went .295/.342/.503 at the plate for a career-high 23 homers and 82 RBI, and all 128 of his starts came in centerfield.

Should Marte land with the Mets, he'd likely replace 26-year-old Brandon Nimmo in centerfield.

Chris Archer provided his parents with a Christmas they won't forget by gifting them a pair of new cars.

Who’s cutting those onions?#BiggerThanBaseball
📽: @ChrisArcher22 pic.twitter.com/d3yQmXmJdc

— MLB (@MLB) December 25, 2019

"Never felt more joy than this moment," he said in an Instagram post. 

Archer was raised by his grandmother and step-grandfather, who adopted him when he was two years old. In 2018, he penned a letter about race where he ended by telling his parents he loved them.

After eight years in the majors, he got a chance to pay them back in a big way.

The Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher is set to make $9 million in 2020, giving him plenty of disposable income for some cars and more.