Pirates Add Prospect Package in Huge Three-Team Deal With Padres and Mets
After trading Josh Bell back in December, it was clear that Ben Cherrington and his staff were going to be cleaning house this off-season. That message was pushed further on Monday night when the Pirates traded RHP Joe Musgrove to the San Diego Padres in a three-team deal that brought back a package of five prospects for the Pirates. Musgrove heads back to his hometown of San Diego while the Pirates receive OF Hudson Head, LHP Omar Cruz, RHP David Bednar, RHP Drake Fellows, and C Endy Rodriguez (more on him tonight). It was an impressive haul by Cherrington as he continues his efforts to build upon what was ranked as the third most improved Minor League system.
Three of the four prospects coming from the Padres rank on their top 30 prospects list and will most certainly make their way onto the Pirates list as well. The headliner is outfielder Hudson Head, who is said to be a five-tool prospect in the future and has a significant power bat. Unfortunately, the Pirates had to give up their best trade chip in Joe Musgrove, but Ben Cherrington waited for the right deal and the right package of prospects. There was a fifth player involved in the deal for the Pirates, LHP Joe Lucchesi, but he was shipped to the Mets in the Endy Rodriguez part of the deal. We examine the four players the Pirates got from the Padres in the deal, and their impact on the organization moving forward.
OF Hudson Head
The headline prospect in this deal for the Pirates is outfielder Hudson Head, who was the Padres' #7 overall prospect. Head is just 19-years-old and stands six-foot-one, 180 pounds. He came from a small high school in Texas and wasn't on many scouts' radar due to the fact he came from a small school. However, the Padres took a chance and weren't disappointed in his debut. He played in rookie ball during the 2019 season and hit .283 with one home run and 12 RBI. One of the most impressive numbers in Head's stat line is his extra-base hit ability. In 34 games, he compiled 11 extra-base hits, including seven doubles and three triples. He has a short, compact swing and that helps him get the head of the bat to the ball and drive pitches down the line.
Head was said to have impressed at the San Diego Padres alternative training site in 2021, and at 19-years-old he might be looking at a quick rise through the Minor Leagues. Look for him to start at Class Low-A Bradenton to start the season, but it wouldn't surprise me if he is in Advanced-A Ball by the end of the year. Head will be 20-years-old at the start of the season and he is beginning to add muscle to his 6'1 frame. The only question with Head is whether or not his power is going to develop. Scouts have said he can be a five-tool player and, at least based on the numbers from his first professional season, he looks like he will be a great pick-up for the organization down the line.
LHP Omar Cruz
If there is one thing the Pirates organization lacks, it is left-handed pitchers. The Pirates only have three on the Major League roster, and the Minor Leagues don't look much better. The Pirates tried to fix that with the addition of Cruz, who has been consistently solid through his first two seasons in professional baseball. In 2019, he made it as high as Low-A Fort Wayne and was solid making 10 starts, going 2-2 with a 2.76 ERA in 49 innings of work. One of his best qualities is his strikeout rate, as he set down 32.7% of batters last season while walking just 8.1%. Cruz doesn't have any overpowering pitches, but he has three quality pitches that he can put anywhere in the zone and throw them for strikes.
Cruz will likely get the bump to Advanced-A Greensboro to start 2021, where he can show his pitches against tougher competition. He has had success at every stop in the Minor Leagues thus far, never posting higher than a 3.60 ERA. His fastball clocks in at the low 90s and he has a curveball and change-up to back it up. He does a good job at changing speeds and fooling opposing hitters and that is what he will have to do to be successful. He will join a Grasshoppers rotation that will likely include Pirates #4 prospect Quinn Priester giving them a nice 1-2 punch atop the lineup. Left-handed pitchers are hard to come by in general, but a good lefty can make a difference when you are trying to be competitive.
RHP: David Bednar
The player who will make the most impact on the Major League club first in this deal is RHP David Bednar. The Mars High School alumnus has pitched parts of the last two seasons in the Big Leagues, going 0-2 with a 6.75 ERA over 17 relief appearances. However, that 6.75 ERA is not indicative of his ability. He has a fastball that hits in the upper 90s and he can spot it very well. In 2019, he worked as a closer for Double-A San Antonio and pitched to a 2.95 ERA over 58 innings of work while converting 14 saves. He also struck out an impressive 35% of the men he faced while walking just 7.5%. He doesn't allow a ton of hits, but he has been burned by the long-ball in the past giving up four home runs in both 2018 and 2019.
Bednar adds to the Pirates group of young hard-throwing right-handed relief options the Pirates have. He will more-than-likely compete for a spot on the Pirates Big League roster this season with guys like Blake Cederlind. However, being that he has never pitched in Triple-A, it is also likely that the Pirates might want to start him there and let him develop some more before heading to the Big Leagues. The plus with Bednar is that you are getting a hard-throwing pitcher who also knows how to pitch and not just throw hard. If he can paint his 96 mph fastball on the corners, he could become a tough pitcher to hit and one that inspires fear into his opponents.
RHP: Drake Fellows
The final piece that the Pirates are receiving from the Padres in the Joe Musgrove trade is right-handed pitcher Drake Fellows. Fellows was a stand-out at Vanderbilt and a 6th round draft pick by the Padres in 2019 but has yet to make his professional debut. During his junior year at Vanderbilt, he posted a 13-2 record with a 4.09 ERA over 19 starts for Vanderbilt. He is another guy who can strike out a lot of batters with 133 in 116.1 innings of work while walking just 47 batters. Standing at 6'5 and 215 pounds, Fellows is another imposing figure on the mound and he is looking to develop into another power pitcher in the Pirates system.
Fellows comes into 2021 at 22-years-old and is one of the older college prospects in the system. Because of this, he is another guy who will more than likely end up at Advanced-A Greensboro in the starting rotation. His fastball averages in the low to mid-90s, and he balances it out with a slider that hits in the mid-80s. Where he has gotten into trouble in the past is when he leaves his fastball up in the zone. He was one of the best high school pitchers in the state of Illinois, but as the competition has caught up, he hasn't been as dominant. He will have to learn how to pitch against better competition using his full-frame and his easy mechanics to locate his pitches in the zone.
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