With the trade deadline rapidly approaching, rumors are starting to swirl about the Pirates, specifically with the bullpen. Relievers are always in high supply and demand at the deadline, so there are endless paths for the Pirates to take should they bring in help. In this article I’ll outline one path that I think would be reasonable for the Pirates, where they keep their big-ticket prospects and bring in value to solidify, not completely overhaul, the bullpen.
Luke Weaver has experienced all the ups-and-downs of the MLB journey, and as it stands right now, he is on a massive “up.” The former highly touted starting pitching prospect transitioned to the bullpen in 2024 when the Yankees couldn’t find room for him in their bullpen, and ever since then, he has been absolutely elite. Since this move, he has posted a 2.96 ERA with a 3.42 FIP and a stellar .938 WHIP. Those numbers are great, but he has taken an even bigger step up this year on a dreadful Mets team – a 2.03 ERA and just a single loss. On top of this, unlike some of the other elite bullpen arms that have been rumored at the deadline, Weaver’s team has already accepted the fact that they are selling, meaning his price tag could potentially be much lower than other targets like Mason Miller or Aroldis Chapman.
The Pirates need Weaver this year to anchor the back of their bullpen, but it wouldn’t just be a single-year move. Weaver is also under contract for 11 million dollars next year, a more-than-reasonable number for a back of the bullpen stud. Recognizing that Weaver isn’t just a pure rental might bump up his value a little, but it is far from something that the Bucs should be scared of offering.
A reasonable package for 2 years of Weaver would probably need to include a headline prospect that is close to the majors, coupled with a younger lottery ticket to round out the deal. The Pirates could offer Jhostynxon “The Password” Garcia, who is basically MLB-ready but blocked by the Pirates’ loaded outfield. They could also toss in an arm like Zander Mueth, a former high pick that has struggled this year but dominated in his first taste of professional ball in 2024.
While there may be a bidding war that could drive up Weaver’s price, he could potentially be the most important move the Bucs could make this deadline. In this hyper-competitive NL Wild Card race, the current bullpen isn’t going to cut it. Weaver would be a fantastic headline to this deadline, and coupled with some other moves, would completely overhaul this struggling bullpen.
While the Pirates’ system is deep, it is also a poor idea to trade a majority of your organizational depth for rental relievers. Garcia might be blocked, but he should have legitimate value. After subtracting him (and maybe even more), the Bucs should look to acquire cheaper rentals from bad teams that could hit and have huge impacts down the stretch. Lucky for the Pirates, there is a perfect trade partner to fit these needs.
Similar to every year, the Angels are completely horrific. They also have a number of bullpen arms that have no role on a team out of the playoffs and rebuilding.
The first of these is Kirby Yates. The 39-year-old has been a top-5 reliever in baseball multiple times throughout his career, most recently in 2024 with the Rangers, when he posted a 1.17 ERA over 61 games. While he isn’t as dominant as that anymore, he still sports a 3.00 ERA and 12 K/9 this year. A two-pitch guy, he relies on his great fastball and split-finger to put hitters away, and would cost next-to-nothing. For an example, last year the Angels traded for two older expiring relievers in Andrew Chafin and Luis Garcia, and just had to give up two prospects outside their top 30. Both Chafin and Garcia had ERA’s under 2.7 last year, too. For the Pirates to acquire Yates, it would take a young guy that likely doesn’t even have star upside – think relief prospects Carlson Reed or Derek Diamond.
Along with Yates, the Pirates could look to acquire another reliever with more team control. While the options are slim on the Angels, there is an intriguing arm. Ryan Zeferjahn is a 28-year-old righty that is enjoying a solid season, posting a 3.89 ERA across 44 inning of work. He features an absolutely disgusting sweeper that he uses nearly 40% of the time, and for good reason. It’s run value of 8 makes it the fourth most valuable sweeper in the entire MLB this year – a huge reason why he has a 94th percentile whiff rate and a 96th percentile strikeout rate. Zeferjahn still has 5 years of team control left, as he won’t even hit arbitration until 2028. One might assume this would make him expensive, but Zeferjahn is already 28 and has been up and down from AAA over the last three years.
A comparison I found for a Zeferjahn move would be a move the Phillies made at the 2024 trade deadline when they acquired LHP Tanner Banks from the White Sox. At the time, the White Sox were the worst team in MLB history, and simply were releoading their system by getting value from whoever they could at the deadline. Banks had four and a half years of team control left, and was sporting a 4.13 ERA for the White Sox. The Phillies gave up a 45 FV infield prospect to get him. For the Bucs, this could look something like Edgleen Perez, a 20 year old catcher in A ball who has posted solid stats this year.
Overall, if the Bucs went down this route, they would acquire three solid righties to bolster their bullpen down the stretch, and give up marginal value. All in all, the incoming pieces would be Luke Weaver, Kirby Yates, and Ryan Zeferjahn. The outgoing pieces would be The Password, Carlson Reed, Zander Mueth, and Edgleen Perez, with maybe another lottery ticket thrown in.
The Bucs’ bullpen after this would be:
RHP Ryan Zeferjahn
RHP Kirby Yates
RHP Yohan Ramirez
LHP Brandon Eisert
RHP Carmen Mlodzinski
LHP Mason Montgomery
LHP Gregory Soto
RHP Luke Weaver
This would leave Isaac Mattson, Dennis Santana, and Wilber Dotel as secondary options, all of whom have struggled this year but have shown flashes.
This is a much improved bullpen that wouldn’t blow anyone away, but looks much better than the 22nd ranked pen the Bucs have been rolling out this year.
