Kevin Gorman's Take 5: Pirates trading not to save on salaries but stockpile their system

Ben Cherington made headlines with his assertion that, despite trading Josh Bell and Joe Musgrove, the Pittsburgh Pirates “haven’t made a single move this offseason for any financial consideration.”

For the Pirates general manager, the deals weren’t so much about saving $10.75 million — both players avoided arbitration, with Musgrove signing with the Pirates for $4.45 million and Bell with the Nationals for $6.3 million — but rather stockpiling their system with young talent.

“There was no need to move money,” Cherington said. “We could have just kept the same roster and gone into 2021. There was no need to move payroll for the sake of moving payroll. There was no request to do that.”

Pirates fans, disillusioned by the lack of spending on major league payroll by owner Bob Nutting, might be unwilling to accept that answer now that payroll is around $43.5 million. They have watched the Pirates trade the likes of Gerrit Cole, Andrew McCutchen, Starling Marte and, now, Bell and Musgrove. And they’re probably not done dealing.

Cherington said he is “really aligned” with Nutting and team president Travis Williams on their vision for how they will build the organization from the bottom up. They are going to focus on player development to build a winner from within, then promise to add talent through trades and free agency when the time comes.

Problem is, the Pirates are asking a fan base that has run out of patience to wait even longer.

And there’s no guarantee their plan will work.

Christopher Horner | Tribune-Review

Pirates pitcher Jameson Taillon (left) watches from the dugout with Mitch Keller during the season finale at PNC Park against the Cubs on Thursday, Sept. 24, 2020.

1. Face plant: The turnover rate has made it tough for the Pirates to have a player serve as face of the franchise.

McCutchen was a natural who relished the role. Marte avoided the spotlight. Bell and Musgrove were chosen to model the Pirates’ new uniforms last winter. Now, they are down to Jameson Taillon, who is coming off a second Tommy John surgery, and their top prospect, rookie third baseman Ke’Bryan Hayes.

“I would speculate there probably is some value to it,” Cherington said. “I guess it’s a question of how do you get that, how do you get there? I don’t know that baseball operations can decide who that is. Those players sort of declare themselves by their performance on the field, with the way fans connect with them.

“I’m not good at predicting who that can be or who that will be. But, generally, I think there’s some value. We try to win baseball games, and we’re also trying to be a (team) that fans want to come watch. (We want) fans to connect with players over time.”

One thing is for sure: Cherington isn’t interested in the job, even if he’s the one making the moves. That puts the pressure on Pirates manager Derek Shelton, who has embraced his public persona.

“You don’t want this GM to be the face, I can tell you that,” Cherington said with a laugh. “Maybe some other GMs could pull it off. We’ve got Shelty.”

2. New deal: Trading Musgrove brings the Cole deal full circle. The Pirates sent their ace to the Houston Astros for four players, including three with major league experience.

That deal was designed to fill holes, with Musgrove replacing Cole in the starting rotation, Colin Moran starting at third base and Michael Feliz in the bullpen, with Jason Martin a future outfielder.

The Pirates, however, slipped from 82 wins in 2018 to 69 in ’19 to the worst record in baseball (19-41) in the shortened season last summer. That collapse made Musgrove and other Pirates entering their second year of arbitration trade bait.

No wonder Cherington took a different tact, seeking a handful of high-ceiling prospects instead. The Pirates got two potential starting pitchers, a reliever, a center fielder and a catcher in the three-team Musgrove trade.

“We just felt in the end that this particular combination of players represented the best combination of upside and volume,” Cherington said. “That there was both, and so that’s what we went with.”

Here's where Hudson Head, Omar Cruz, Endy Rodriguez and David Bednar land on the #Pirates' Top 30 Prospects list after being acquired in the 3-team deal with the Padres and Mets: https://t.co/oU7xSv6Hwo pic.twitter.com/nuOjbyrj4n

— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) January 19, 2021

3. The return: MLB Pipeline wasted no time updating the Pirates prospect rankings, moving center fielder Hudson Head to No. 6 — just ahead of 2018 first-round pick Travis Swaggerty — putting left-hander Omar Cruz at No. 18, catcher Endy Rodriguez at No. 20 and reliever David Bednar at No. 30.

Cherington called Head a “late bloomer” whom the Pirates have had an eye on for the “last year or so.”

“Excited about his upside,” Cherington said. “He’s athletic. We think he has potential to help a team on all sides of the ball: defense, baserunning, hitting, power potential.”

19-yr. old CF Hudson Head, a key to Pirates 3-way deal, was ambidextrous HS QB in San Antonio--roll left, t left, roll right, throw right. That was Don Mattingly as HS QB in Evansville.

— Peter Gammons (@pgammo) January 19, 2021

Rodriguez, who came from the Mets in the three-way deal, has played first base and outfield, but the Pirates see him as a switch-hitting catcher with plenty of potential. Rodriguez, 20, was signed by the Mets out of the Dominican Republic for $10,000 in July 2018.

“Got really strong scouting reports on him on the defense,” Cherington said. “Switch-hitter. Makes contact. We think there’s some power potential there. Good athlete. We’ve got good insight into the Mets organization from people who work here and just getting insight into Endy and the character and head and heart pieces of it. Feedback’s been really strong, so I’m really excited to get to know Endy.”

Cruz, a 21-year-old from Mexico, throws a fastball, curveball and changeup with what MLB.com calls an “excellent feel for his craft and flood the zone with all three pitches.”

“Pretty advanced approach, command,” Cherington said. “We like the delivery. Stuff is still developing, but this is a young left-hand starter that we think fits into that group of pitching prospects that we have.”

And the Pirates have been familiar with Drake Fellows, a 6-foot-5 righty, since his days at Vanderbilt. The former sixth-round draft pick won 13 games and had 133 strikeouts as a junior in 2019, when he went 7-0 with a 4.00 ERA in the regular season. He didn’t pitch last year, when he was treated for lymphoma, for which he has recovered.

“Drake Fellows is a guy that we’ve known for a long time because of the Vandy background,” Cherington said. “If you’re at Vandy, you sort of get known from an early point in your career. One of the few guys at Vandy who’s come in and pitched regularly as a freshman and been part of great teams in college, performed well, reputation as a great competitor, and, obviously, drafted and hasn’t gotten to pitch yet in minor league baseball.”

Bednar is a different story. The 26-year-old reliever was a successful closer (39 saves) in the minor leagues and has major league experience with the Padres. Cherington sees Bednar as a possible piece for the Pirates bullpen.

“We think he’ll be in a position to compete for a job this spring training,” Cherington said. “He’s got really good stuff, really good minor league track record, great reputation as a guy.”

I’m incredibly blessed to have the opportunity to play in my hometown for the team I grew up watching as a kid. Ready to get to work. @Pirates #letsgobucs pic.twitter.com/MiiEOKovSG

— David Bednar (@david_bednar) January 20, 2021

4. Homecoming: Bednar, a Mars alum, is looking forward to a chance to play at the ballpark where he grew up watching the Pirates. He never has pitched at PNC Park. In fact, Bednar hasn’t pitched in a game in Western Pennsylvania since his final high school game at Mars.

That’s a story in itself, given it featured a pair of future major leaguers on the mound.

“Hey Siri, Play I’m Coming Home.” pic.twitter.com/w3O2eb0nFP

— Pirates (@Pirates) January 20, 2021

Bednar went 13-2 with 145 strikeouts in 101 1/3 innings in his high school career, including a 4-2 record with a 0.95 ERA, 66 strikeouts and 10 walks as a senior.

In the first round of the WPIAL Class AAA playoffs, Mars met Blackhawk, and Bednar faced left-hander Brendan McKay, who was on his way to a 71 2/3-inning scoreless streak.

“I think you knew at the time he was something special,” Bednar said. “I knew going into it that it was going to be a tough one.”

Bednar struck out the first six he faced on his way to 12 K’s and allowing five hits, three walks and one earned run. But McKay threw a one-hitter in a 2-0 victory that eliminated Mars from the playoffs and ended Bednar’s high school career.

McKay became a two-way star at Louisville, where he won the Golden Spikes Award and Dick Howser Trophy as the nation’s top player. The Tampa Bay Rays took McKay fourth overall in the 2017 MLB Draft, and Bednar was selected in the 35th round.

“It’s crazy. I think back to that game with Brendan McKay. That was an unbelievable game,” Bednar said. “It’s always cool to see guys you grew up with go on to have success at the major league level.”

The one hit McKay gave up in that game was to Bednar.

“I think it was an infield single,” Bednar said. “That’s why I’m a pitcher now.”

To Pittsburgh, with Love. pic.twitter.com/zlNmR3Gt09

— Joe Musgrove (@ItsbuccnJoe59) January 21, 2021

5. Trading places: Being traded to the Padres also is a homecoming for Musgrove, who penned a farewell letter titled, “To Pittsburgh, With Love.”

Musgrove thanked the organization, his teammates and the fans and expressed his gratitude for the city. He even apologized for the Pirates not winning while he was here.

Damn. Damn. Gonna miss @ItsbuccnJoe59. This dude puts every ounce of himself into his teammates and his craft. The grit and passion y’all saw on TV is so real and authentic. He taught me so much, and we became more than just teammates or friends. We became brothers.

— Jameson Taillon (@JTaillon50) January 19, 2021

It’s exactly what you would expect from the 6-5 right-hander, who was a leader on and off the field and always stood tall, even in the toughest of times.

“There’s a certain standard that the City of Pittsburgh expects out of you, not only as a ballplayer but as a human being, as well, a certain level of grittiness and toughness,” Musgrove wrote. “If you need someone to hold your hand and tell you everything is gonna be OK, this isn’t the city for you. But that’s what I love about this city.”

It’s what Pittsburgh loved about Big Joe Musgrove, too.