Trade Deadline Preview Part 1
What the Pirates Have to Give Up
With the trade deadline fast approaching I am going to take a look at what prospects the Pirates have who they could deal for help this season. For the purposes of this article I am going to focus just on the current minor league rosters so that means players like Presley, d’Arnaud and Harrison will be excluded. I am going to look at the top 4 levels and list the top 5 prospects at each level and mention other players of possible interest.
AAA
1. Rudy Owens
2. Jordy Mercer
3. Justin Wilson
4. Gorkys Hernandez
5. Matt Hague
Others: Pedro Alvarez, Brad Lincoln, Daniel Moskos, Garrett Olson
AA
1. Starling Marte
2. Tony Sanchez
3. Jeff Locke
4. Matt Curry
5. Andrew Lambo
Others: Tim Alderson, Phillip Irwin, Kyle McPherson, Bryan Morris, Aaron Pribanic, Jeremy Farrell, Brock Holt
A+
1. Robbie Grossman
2. Jarek Cunningham
3. Brett Lorin
4. Nathan Baker
5. Ramon Cabrera
Others: Aaron Baker, Elevys Gonzalez, Evan Chambers, David Rubinstein, Quinton Miller, Diego Moreno, Jeff Inman
A
1. Jameson Taillon
2. Colton Cain
3. Zach Von Rosenberg
4. Zach Dodson
5. Mel Rojas Jr
Others: Victor Black, Brooks Pounders, Tyler Waldron, Eric Avila, Drew Maggi, Dan Grovatt
As far as the lower levels go it isn’t likely anybody gets traded and even if they do there is hardly anyone who would net a major return (outside of Allie and Heredia). Obviously there are other potential trade candidates than the ones I have listed but these seem like the most valuable ones to me. By the way I do not see the Pirates trading Alvarez I just listed him because he is a valuable player on the AAA roster.