The Pittsburgh Pirates will hopefully be aggressive over the coming days. With the trade deadline approaching and the Pirates firmly in the Wild Card race, they should look to improve the team. The bullpen is the team’s biggest need right now. However, a recent rumor has made the Los Angeles Angels a prime trade partner for the Pirates.
According to Ken Rosenthal and Will Sammon of The Athletic, the Angels are looking to acquire some young catching help. Angels backstops currently rank second to last in fWAR at -0.5. Logan O’Hoppe has been the Angels’ incumbent catcher since they acquired him from the Philadelphia Phillies at the 2022 trade deadline. While O’Hoppe was a consensus top 100 prospect in the sport heading into 2023 and had a promising 2024 season, his first full extended look in MLB, he has not been able to recapture that kind of production.
Since the start of the 2025 campaign, O’Hoppe is batting .212/.264/.347 with a .269 wOBA and a 68 wRC+ over his last 696 plate appearances. He has only hit 23 home runs with a 5.9% walk rate, and has struck out at a 28.6% clip. His defense has also not graded out well, with -23 defensive runs saved, -13.8 framing runs, and -24 fielding runs. His -1.6 fWAR is the lowest of any backstop, and the second lowest of any position player since 2025 Opening Day.
The Angels also do not have very many catching prospects. They have just three players who can play catcher among MLB Pipeline’s top 30 Angels prospects. One is Gabriel Davalillo, who is 18 and has not played catcher since last year. Another is Juan Flores, who is 20 and just reached Double-A. The third is Marlon Quintero, who is just 19 and is still stationed at A-Ball.
However, the Pirates do have some interesting young backstops among their top prospect ranks. Easton Carmichael is having an excellent first pro season and was recently promoted to Double-A Altoona. Axiel Plaz is crushing High-A pitching and could soon join Carmichael at Altoona. Edgleen Perez is still at A-Ball, but is a strong defensive backstop with good bat-to-ball skills and plate discipline. All three were recently ranked among the Pirates’ top ten prospects per MLB Pipeline.
The Pirates could part with one or multiple catching prospects between Carmichael, Plaz, or Perez. Henry Davis is starting to figure things out at the dish, and Endy Rodriguez was having an outstanding season before an unfortunate hip injury. The Pirates also have Rafael Flores Jr. on hand.
Not only do the Pirates have some interesting catching prospects that may interest a team in need of young catching help, but the Angels also have players that may interest the Pirates. Chase Silseth, Sam Bachman, and Ryan Zeferjahn are all relievers that could get moved at the deadline. One-time Pirates prospect Jose Soriano and Reid Detmers are two starting pitchers that could help solidify the Pirates’ rotation.
With the Angels’ multitude of interesting pitchers that could get moved at the deadline, their want for young catchers, and the Pirates’ having multiple top catching prospects and a need for pitching help, the two make prime trade partners. The Pirates should get aggressive and look into the possibility of moving one of their top catching prospects for one or more of the Angels’ pitchers.
