HOW THE PITTSBURGH PIRATES SUDDENLY BECAME BUYERS AT THE TRADE DEADLINE

The 2018 season has been a month by month process for this year’s Pirate team. After April they were 17-12 and sat just a half game back of the division leading Chicago Cubs. During the month of May, the Pirates went 12-15 to bring them to 29-27 overall, but fell back to 4th in the division and three games back in a very crowded NL Central race.

Once the weather warmed up, the Buccos bats cooled off. In the sixth month of the year, Pittsburgh managed just 10 wins while piling up 16 losses in that span. After back-to-back subpar months, it looked as if the Pirates were the team everyone thought they were heading into Spring Training with a 39-43 record overall.

Here comes July! Since the first of the month, the Pirates are a whopping 52-49 and currently are on a 10-game win streak. They now sit just four games back from an NL Wildcard spot, and quickly have become buyers prior to the trade deadline. The offense has been absolutely blazing in the current month.

Starling Marte has returned to his All-Star form after being popped for 80-games during last years PED scandal. In July he is slashing .369/.397/.708 with six big flies, four two-baggers, 15 RBI’s, and seven stolen bases. His outfield comrades have come along for the ride as well. The Pirates biggest trade chip, Corey Dickerson, has 26 hits in his last 17 games as the Pirates table setter upon the top of the order. Of those hits, half of them are of the extra base fashion, pushing his OPS for the month to .813.

So, now that they have become a formidable team, who do the Bucs decide to go after on the trade market? As for position players, they are fairly stable. The outfield corps are arguably one of the best in the National League, while the infield has been humdrum to say the least. In the current trade market, Pittsburgh should have its eye on starting pitching.

The bullpen has been strong, with Felipe Vazquez being the anchor. They have no bonafide ace though. That guy that you are confident every time he steps on the hill that you are going to win the ball game, the Pirates don’t have that. You believe in guys like Jameson Taillon, Joe Musgrove, and Nick Kingham to give you a solid outing and compete, but are they really going to win you a Wildcard game? Probably not.

Ivan Nova has been shaky to say the least and is starting to tick up there in age, but also knows how to pitch, not just throw. The Pirates may be looking for a front-end starter at this point. So adding depth to the rotation is out the window in my opinion.

Here are some stud starting pitchers that Neal Huntington should be making calls about:

MICHAEL FULMER – CHRIS ARCHER – TYLER SKAGGS

These are all ace type guys with ace type stuff, but you will not have to unload the farm in order to get them. Archer most likely will call for the highest return, but would be worth it in the long run. On his current six-year deal, Archer still has three years left, all of which are under team control. This gives you a ‘guy’ now and in the future.

Fulmer on the other hand may not cost all that much. He is on the last year of his contract with three years of arbitration coming, so essentially he would become a rental. In addition, he is not having his best year on paper, but the explosive pitch repertoire is still there. He is currently sitting with a 3-9 record, 4.50 ERA, and 1.32 WHIP. None of which are numbers that necessarily jump off the page at you. He would be the biggest gamble of the three.

The Los Angeles Angels are in a time where they just can’t seem to find the right formula. They have the best player in all of baseball in Mike Trout, but continue to fall short of the playoff picture every year seemingly. Tyler Skaggs has been the Angel’s legitimate ace this year. Forget Ohtani, this guy has been there star pitcher. With a 7-6 record, Skaggs will enter his first of two years of arbitration this winter, and may be enjoying his winter somewhere other than L.A... With a 2.68 ERA and 1.22 WHIP with just over the century mark in K’s on the year, Skaggs will cost a pretty penny on the market.