Trade Talk: Rodriguez to Oakland For A Pair
It is that time of year again in Major League Baseball when the trade rumors start flying and the "mystery teams" will soon start flying. The 2021 MLB Trade Deadline is just over a month away, and for the Pirates, that means looking for deals that are going to help add talent to their system and build for the future. Unfortunately, this also means that the Pirates are going to have to say goodbye to some of their most productive players on the Major League club. The obvious names like Adam Frazier and Tyler Anderson have already been circling in rumors, but don't be surprised if other names you didn't expect start to be moved.
For the Pirates, one of the strengths for their team has been the bullpen, and especially the work of closer Richard Rodriguez. Although Rodriguez has hit a few bumps in the road, he has had an overall big year going 3-1 with a 1.84 ERA over 29.1 innings of work. He is 9-11 in save opportunities this season and has used his fastball to strike out 25 batters. He is one of the big trade chips the Pirates have this season, and Oakland seems like a move that makes sense. The Athletics lost closer Trevor Rosenthal for the year, and have been looking for a steady replacement ever since. Today, we propose a trade that would bring the Pirates a package of prospects for their closer.
The Deal: The Pittsburgh Pirates Trade RHP Richard Rodriguez to the Oakland Athletics for C Kyle McCann and OF Brayan Buelvas
The Pirates Get: C Kyle McCann
With the Pirates desperately in search of catching depth, the first part of this deal aims to address that. Kyle McCann is the brother of former catcher Brian McCann and is currently the A's #16 overall prospect according to MLB Pipeline. He has a ton of power as a left-handed hitter, but with that power has also come a lot of strikeouts. So far in 2021, McCann's numbers don't look the greatest at .193 with three home runs and 20 RBI. But the intriguing thing is his .341 on-base percentage. He has good power to all fields and has racked up 10 extra-base hits so far. Lefty power also plays very well in PNC Park and could be a selling point for the Pirates on the 23-year-old catcher. However, as is the case with a lot of power hitters, strikeouts are a big problem.
McCann has struck out at a rate of 35.8% this season, which is just off the pace of his 2019 numbers when he struck out 36% of the time. The big thing for McCann to work on before getting promoted towards the Big Leagues would be to at least slow down his strikeout rate at the plate. He is a career .204 hitter to this point, but if he can shorten his swing a little and cut down strikeouts, it would be a big step in the right direction. However, the plus that you get with McCann that you may not get with other power hitters is a good eye at the plate. Even though his average is just .193 this season, his on-base percentage is a tidy .345. This is because he walks at an amazing 16.3%, which is one of the top walk rates in Double-A. What this tells me is McCann is swinging at strikes, he just has to get his timing down. If he can find that timing consistently, he could be a big-time power threat in the Big Leagues.
Pirates Get: OF Brayan Buelvas
While McCann is the higher prospect in terms of being Big League ready, the big piece in this deal is outfielder Brayan Buelvas. Beulvas was promoted to Class High-A Stockton this season and came into the year as the Athletics #12 overall prospect according to MLB Pipeline. At just 19-years-old, Buelvas still has a lot of development to go through, but he has been a solid hitter throughout his career. In 30 games this year, Buelvas is hitting .242 with eight home runs and 20 RBI with 14 walks and 39 strikeouts. After hitting three home runs his first season, he is beginning to show some power, doubling that total in 2021. He has above-average speed, and scouts say he is aggressive on the base paths, making him an intriguing young player.
He has played all three outfield spots in his career, but the one Scouts say he will likely stick at is centerfield. With Hudson Head, who the Pirates acquired last season, spending time in center, it could be a move where the Pirates send Hudson in left and play the speedy Buelvas in centerfield. Beulvas brings a good mix of speed and power, and just looking at the stats reminds me of an Andrew McCutchen-type player. He is projected to be ready for the Big Leagues by 2023-2024, which puts him right in the time that the Pirates want to be good again. In the playoff years of 2013-2015, the Pirates had one of the best outfields in baseball. Cherington is trying to build that again, and adding a young outfielder into the system could get him started on the right foot.
Athletics Get: RHP Richard Rodriguez
As we stated before, the Athletics are desperately looking for a closer after they had to see Trevor Rosenthal land on the 60-day IL. Sergio Romo has been filling in for now, but the A's need another power option in the back-end of the bullpen. This is where Rodriguez would come in, bringing with him a dominant 92 mph fastball that he has pounded the zone with this season. Rodriguez does not give up a lot of free passes, with only three walks on the year, and is pitching the best baseball of his career. Opponents are hitting just .173 against him and he has allowed just five extra-base hits all season for the Pirates. He isn't getting very many save opportunities in Pittsburgh, and heading to Oakland would give him more chances.
The A's currently sit in second place in the American League West, just two games behind the Houston Astros. In order to stay competitive, they need to add some dominant relievers to their bullpen, as their bullpen ERA ranks 16th in baseball at 4.06, ten points higher than the Pirates. Adding Rodriguez would give the Athletics another option to go to along with Sergio Romo late in games. It would give Rodriguez a chance to go to still a smaller market, but be able to compete on a playoff-caliber team. In the end, it is a move that makes sense for both teams and checks off needs. Rodriguez to Oakland seems like a good fit, but we will see what Cherington has cooking this trade deadline.
The Pittsburgh Pirates (26-46) start a four-game weekend series with their NL Central Division rival St. Louis Cardinals (36-38) tonight at 8:15 pm. Chad Kuhl (1-4, 5.66) is on the hill for Pittsburgh coming off his first win of the year as he goes against Carlos Martinez (3-8, 6.62) for the Cardinals. You can watch the game live on AT&T Sportsnet, listen on 93.7 The Fan, or follow along with us on Twitter by following @Buccos_Cove.
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