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Three Pirates Prospects Who Have Become Trade Chips
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- Three Pirates Prospects Who Have Become Trade Chips
The Pittsburgh Pirates are off to one of their best starts in quite a while. They are now 34-32, seven games out in the National League Central, but only half a game out of a wild card spot. After an aggressive winter, the Pirates need to stay on the attack when it comes to acquisitions. They are already looking out for bullpen help . As the summer heats up, so will the trade market , and plenty of opportunities to improve the roster will open up over the next two months. When those opportunities start to arise, this trio of Pirates prospects should be used as trade chips.
Three Pirates Prospects Who Are Possible Trade Chips
Lonnie White Jr.
If the Pirates want to capitalize on a prospect whose value is the highest it's been in years, Lonnie White Jr. is the player to trade. White Jr. was an overslot pick by the Bucs in 2021, and he made a good first impression in his first extended look in 2023. However, the young outfielder struggled to make contact on even a semi-consistent basis in 2024 and 2025, causing him to fall off many top prospect lists.
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However, that is a much different story this year. Over his first 221 plate appearances of the season, White Jr. owns a .292/.398/.573 triple-slash, with a .422 wOBA, and 146 wRC+. After striking out over a third of the time with a sub-65% contact rate between 2024 and 2025, he has now cut his K% down to 26.7% and upped his contact percentage to 70.3%. White Jr. is walking at a healthy 14.5% rate as well. Both his power and speed are showing up in the game, with 13 home runs and going 15-for-17 in stolen base attempts.
White Jr. is not only passing the test at Double-A, but excelling. He has only taken 117 plate appearances for Altoona since getting promoted there at the start of May, but he is one of just 34 Double-A hitters with an OPS over .900 (.939) and wOBA over .400 (.403) in at least 100 trips to the plate. The Pirates' outfield depth chart is crowded looking, with Bryan Reynolds , Oneil Cruz , and Ryan O'Hearn all under control for 2027, along with top prospects Jhostynxon Garcia and Esmerlyn Valdez on the 40-man roster. Plus, the Pirates still have Jake Mangum in pre-arbitration. White Jr. is Rule 5 draft eligible this upcoming offseason, so now might be the time to strike while the iron is hot and see what they can get back for the former second-round pick.
Khristian Curtis
Khristian Curtis consistently pitches better than the bottom-line results suggest. Last year, his 3.90 ERA, 4.09 FIP, and 1.238 WHIP over 110 2/3 innings of work between High-A Greensboro and Double-A Altoona look rather pedestrian. However, that came with a respectable 25.1% K%, 9.7% BB%, and impressive stuff on the mound. Plus, in terms of league and park adjusted stats like ERA- and FIP-, he was better than average at 96 and 97, respectively. The former 12th-round pick is producing more of the same in 2026.
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Curtis has spent the entirety of the 2026 season at Altoona. He has tallied 53 1/3 innings while posting a 4.73 ERA, 4.42 FIP, and 1.275 WHIP. Once again, ERA- (97) and FIP- (93) like his performances as a whole. While Curtis is maintaining a similar walk rate to last year, at 9.9%, his strikeout rate has increased to 28.8%. Batters are making far less contact against Curtis, as his contact percentage went from 71.1% to 67.9%, and his swinging strike rate has risen from 13.5% to 15.5%.
Curtis ranks as the Pirates' 11th-best prospect on Baseball America, and they are very bullish on his potential. His mid-to-upper-90s fastball projects as a plus offering. Meanwhile, his slider, change-up, and cutter all look above-average. The only pitch they don't see as an above-average offering is his curveball, which still is a usable fifth-average pitch. Curtis will become Rule 5-eligible this winter. With how much pitching talent the Pirates have, and will probably add in the draft, Curtis might get some real attention as a trade chip later this summer.
Reinold Navarro
Reniold Navarro 's career is best described as an "effectively wild" arm. The Dominican southpaw is one of the hardest-throwing pitchers in the Pirates' system. Last year, he struck out over 40% of the batters he faced (40.9%) while also handing out a free pass over a quarter of the time (26.8%). Navarro has spent the entire season at A-Ball Bradenton with many of the same numbers as last year.
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Navarro's 2.67 ERA over 30 1/3 innings of work is impressive. That is the 23rd lowest mark of any A-Ball pitcher with at least 30 frames under their belt this year. He has struck out 39.2% of batters with an awe-inspiring whiff rate of 47.6%. For reference, the highest single-season whiff rate in the Statcast era in MLB is 50.1% from Edwin Díaz in 2022 (min. 50 IP). On top of that, Navarro has also held opposing batters to just a 4.3% barrel rate and a 0.89 HR/9 ratio. The downside is that he still hands out walks like candy on Halloween. His 24.6% BB% is the second-highest of any A-ball pitcher with at least 30 IP.
Now there's no doubt Navarro's stuff is impressive. He regularly hurls fastballs in the upper-90s with over 20 inches of induced vertical break . His low-80s slider is a legit plus offering. Navarro occasionally throws a change-up, and he will need to improve the pitch if he wants to become a starter long-term; that, and his command. He still has the potential to become a breakout reliever in the future. Navarro's lack of location is certainly a downside to his game, but he is still just 19 and won't turn 20 until late October. He would certainly gain some attention for his upside if the Pirates included him in a trade.
Main Photo Credit: Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images
