Pirates trade idea lands Pittsburgh 12-year MLB veteran, two-time World Series champion as huge upgrade from Joey Bart
Pirates trade idea lands Pittsburgh 12-year MLB veteran, two-time World Series champion as huge upgrade from Joey Bart originally appeared on The Sporting News . Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here .
The Pirates are enjoying their first great start to a season in years, with a record of 11-7 and tied for first in the NL Central. However, they do have a few weak spots in their roster, and if they want to contend, they need to fix that.
One of those spots is their catching, as both Joey Bart and Henry Davis are doing abysmally as hitters. Bleacher Report’s Joel Reuter proposes that the Buccos strengthen this weakness by trading with the Houston Astros for their veteran catcher, Christian Vazquez .
The trade would look like this:
Pirates get: C Christian Vazquez
Astros get: PIT No. 30 prospect UTL Tyler Callihan
“This might not look like the sexiest trade proposal on paper, but a veteran catcher helping to lead the young Pittsburgh rotation would go a long way in helping a team on the rise reach the next level. The Pirates are currently rolling out the underperforming tandem of Henry Davis (40 PA, 81 OPS+, 0.1 WAR) and Joey Bart (26 PA, 41 OPS+, -0.2 WAR) behind the dish, and both former top prospects profile more as organizational depth than impact talent at this point. Meanwhile, Vázquez is enjoying a resurgent season playing on a one-year, $1 million deal after winning the backup catcher job as a non-roster invitee to Astros spring training,” Reuter wrote.
So far this season, Vasquez is slashing .370/.393/.630/1.002 with four doubles, one home run, and nine RBI in eight games. His catching abilities would work wonders for Skenes and all the other Pittsburgh pitchers, and his hitting would be an upgrade from Bart and Davis’.
Another key thing he brings is his championship experience, as he’s got two rings to his name. For a team that’s leading their division, their roster lacks the experience of October baseball, and Vazquez could be the perfect guy to fill that void.
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