Are Pirates changing philosophy on prospects?
As numerous trade rumors swirl about the Pittsburgh Pirates, most notably their ongoing pursuit of White Sox left-handed starting pitcher Jose Quintana, a bigger question has emerged among Bucco observers.
Are they capable of deep, philosophical change in how they approach the value of prospects?
Some would say yes. Going out of their self-imposed “comfort zone” does not necessarily mean signing long-term contracts to suspect players. Nor does it mean unnecessarily hoarding prospects, which has been the Pirates’ modus operandi in the Neal Huntington era.
Some can point to the Francisco Liriano trade of last summer as a small smattering of proof that the Pirates are ready to change their hoarding ways. Giving up two valuable prospects in catcher Reese McGuire and outfielder Harold Ramirez along with Liriano will be debated for years in Pirates circles, but the fact that the team willingly gave them up could point to a slight change in philosophy.
In that instance, the club gave up McGuire — a solid prospect at a tough-to-develop position — to shed themselves of Liriano’s salary and acquire Drew Hutchison. Keeping the debated impetus for the trade out of this, the fact that the Pirates gave up McGuire so willingly caused many to do a double-take.
It is but one small example against a large swath of conflicting ones, but it could have been a signal that the club is ready to change.
Despite these meek signals of sea change, some are not so easily convinced.
Then again, this is the same club that flatly refused to send a package of Josh Bell, Kevin Newman and Steven Brault to the Tampa Bay Rays last summer in exchange for Chris Archer, a long-term controllable pitcher who draws strong parallels to Quintana. This trade scenario came about as the Rays and Pirates were in talks for Matt Moore, Jake Odorizzi or Drew Smyly. The talk turned to Archer briefly before both teams backed off.
What would have changed in the span of five months to change that type of thinking?
For one, the organization may have realized that with outfield prospect — and No. 9 MLB prospect overall — Austin Meadows in tow, they are more set on the diamond than they may have realized last summer. Also, do not discount the sneaky extension for David Freese. Factoring in the affordable extensions for Starling Marte, Gregory Polanco and Francisco Cervelli may also tip the scales in Huntington’s mind towards embracing a “window” mentality.
In reality, Huntington is likely hedging his bets. The re-signing of Ivan Nova coupled with remaining years of control for Gerrit Cole and Jameson Taillon provides a roadmap for Huntington in how he sees his team in two or three years. With that core to fall back on — keeping Cole’s up and down performance out of his mind for now — Huntington can feel more comfortable giving up six years of potential in Tyler Glasnow for four years of proven results in Quintana.
In that way, it may be less about the volume of prospects the club is giving up, but which prospects they can now part with.
The rotation’s future in two years no longer hinges on Glasnow developing a third pitch.
The starting eight position players may no longer require Bell’s bat, as attractive as it looked during his time in the majors last year.
Nothing is ever that simple with the Pittsburgh Pirates, but if the club reverses trend and gives up a substantial prospect haul for Quintana, perhaps the hypothetical column after that potential move can borrow a line from a classic musical for its title.
How about this one: “A Funny Thing Happened On the Way to the Pittsburgh Pirates’ Pipeline?”