What Was This Trade Deadline?

8-1-2025 – By Michael Castrignano – @412DoublePlay on X

The dust has settled and the anger – to a small extent, at least – has started to subside. Unexpected players were dealt and numerous rentals who were assuredly going to be sold remain with the team. So let’s break this down talking about who we lost, who we gained, who remains and where we go from here:

Who We Lost

Adam Frazier and Caleb Ferguson were both one a 1-year deal for 2025. If this team wasn’t contending – and that certainly has been the case for a while now – there was no reason for either of them to continue playing on the team, especially if they had value in a trade and could continue providing said value for a contending team. 

Frazier batted .255 over 235 at-bats with the Bucs prior to being sent to Kansas City. It was unexpectedly thrust into an everyday role following the injury to Nick Gonzales in Game 1 but played decently enough and, as a supplemental piece, can contribute to a Royals team looking to contend this season. 

Ferguson was a soft-contact merchant and, for as good as he was, that’s not a ton of value for another club. Sure, they can look at him as a solid lefty reliever to cover middle innings but the Mariners aren’t looking to get him in high-leverage situations and he will still be able to provide that value after posting a 3.74 ERA over 43.1 innings through 45 games with the Pirates this year.

These are both players who can impact their respective teams in small but meaningful ways. 

The others who headed out – Ke’Bryan Hayes, David Bednar, and Bailey Falter – all had control beyond this season. Sure, Hayes has been among the worst hitters in MLB this season (.569 OPS) but he has continued to provide the best defense at the hot corner that can sometimes make fans overlook the appalling approach at the plate. 

Bednar has been one of the faces of the franchise – not only on the main stage but locally as well, doing essentially every event he can in the community. Despite nearly being run out of town following significant struggles the last two months of 2024 and the first week of 2025, he took being optioned to Indy in stride, worked on things, came back and was locked in as he returned to the dominant closer that we all came to know over the previous few years with the team, posting a 1.70 ERA through 37 innings after returning to the club. 

And Falter, while not being the ace of the rotation, has been an innings-eater who has provided solid production and the occasional elite outing; a lefty who has excelled pitching in the friendly confines of PNC Park while giving the team a chance to win every fifth game even when he doesn’t have his best stuff. The reports that he may have been a non-tender candidate this upcoming offseason when he has a 1.2 bWAR, 7-5 record and 3.73 ERA over 113.1 innings this season are suspect but also, that this is even floated at all on a very affordable arm leads to question whether the evaluations of these players can be trusted.

Who We Gained

Ok, so cut the cord because these guys are gone and, for better or worse, we have to accept that. Looking at the pieces we obtained though, it’s a bit of a mixed bag: 

Cam Devanney was the return for Frazier from the Royals and he might be the most exciting acquisition right now – and that was two weeks ago(!). After hitting 18 home runs and posting a .931 OPS through 288 plate appearances with the Royals AAA affiliate, he has continued to hit since joining the Pirates top minor league club as he has 42 plate appearances with the Indianapolis Indians with a .294/.429/.382 slash line with one home run so far through his first ten games there. He’s also playing solid defense at shortstop, which is sorely an area of need for this club.

Shortstop Sammy Stafura came back from the Reds (alongside Taylor Rogers but more on that later) in exchange for Hayes and immediately became a top ten prospect for the Bucs. He currently is listed at #7 but that is before factoring in the 2025 MLB Draft signings. The 2023 2nd round pick is only 20 and was assigned to Bradenton once acquired but the biggest stand-out parts in his profile are his ability to get on-base and his skill with stealing bases. In 88 games a low-A ball this season, the 20-year old has gone 28-for-33 in stolen base chances while posting a .393 OBP.

The return on the Ferguson trade was RHP Jeter Martinez and, while he has shown some control issues in the early going (89 walks through his first 149.1 professional innings), the stuff is there as he can touch 100 with a developing changeup and slider that can help him as he rises through the minor leagues provided he can get more control on his arsenal.

The biggest surprise for fans was the deal that sent David Bednar to the Yankees in return for a bundle of prospects. Reports were that Cherington wouldn’t start the conversations unless New York was including one of their better prospects, Spencer Jones, but he would not be part of this plan. 

The reported centerpiece of the deal, Rafael Flores, is listed as a catcher and first baseman, ranking 8th on the Yankees top prospects, per MLB Pipeline, and was their organization’s 2024 minor league player of the year when he hits 31 doubles, 21 home runs and posted a .875 OPS through 506 plate appearances between A/AA levels.

There are some concerns about contact with a 41.7% whiff rate at AAA this season, albeit in a very small sample size. Despite that, the plate discipline is off the charts (22.4% walk rate this season) and when he does make contact, it is BIG contact with a 48% hard hit rate so he likely will factor into this team’s plans in the near future. Where exactly though is anyone’s guess.

Another part of the return for Bednar is another catcher/first baseman in Edgleen Perez – who is maybe more intriguing than Flores as he rates plus defensively behind the dish with a powerful arm and an even better approach at the plate with 68 walks to 74 strikeouts this year with the low-A Tampa Tarpons. He doesn’t have nearly the power in his swing as Flores with only 8 extra-base hits (all doubles) through 301 at-bats this season, but profiles as a solid backup catcher with plus-fielding and a knack for getting on base.

The final player in the Bednar deal is outfielder Brian Sanchez, who is 6’3 and 170 lbs so plenty of room to grow into his frame but the bat is showing up this year at low-A. Over 63 games, Sanchez slashed .281/.373/.438 with 16 doubles, 5 triples and 4 home runs through 286 plate appearances. Additionally, he is a plus-baserunner going 24-for-28 in stolen base attempts.

Bailey Falter was dealt to the Royals, the Pirates second deal with KC in less than a month, and the return has underwhelmed fans. Heading straight to Colorado to join the active roster is lefty reliever Evan Sisk. 

Sisk is a 28-year old rookie who bounced around a few organizations before finally debuting this year, posting a 1.69 ERA across 5.1 innings with the Royals with 5 walks and 11 strikeouts. He’s prone to wildness, an issue which has plagued him throughout his professional career, but in small stints of relief, can provide a solid lefty option who can miss bats and get outs.

The second part of the deal involves 1B Callan Moss, an undrafted free agent signed following the 2024 MLB draft out of Seton Hall. Despite the terms of how he signed a professional baseball contract, he has provided solid production thus far with a .281/.391/.423 slash line between A/A+ ball over the past year. This season, in particular, he has done well driving in runs with 70 RBI through 393 plate appearances with High-A Quad Cities.

The final deal involved Taylor Rogers, who spent exactly one day in the Pirates organization after joining as part of the return for the Hayes deal but he was soon shipped off to his third NL Central team in as many days as he was sent to the Chicago Cubs in exchange for OF Ivan Brethowr.

Brethowr was a 7th round pick for the Cubs in 2024 out of University of California – Santa Barbara, and the early returns were a bit subpar, batting .169 through 95 plate appearances in Low-A ball last year, but rebounded a bit at High-A ball this year with a .221/.398/.312 slash line. Still not great but at least it’s an improvement – and, they managed to get something in return for someone who is on an expiring contract!

Who Is Still Here

For some reason, the biggest trade pieces coming into the season – Isiah Kiner-Falefa, Andrew Heaney and Tommy Pham – were not dealt at this year’s deadline with GM Ben Cherington because they “didn’t feel like they had to trade anybody” – which is a strange way to talk about players who have no control after this year and you are the 2nd worst team in the National League.

Kiner-Falefa hasn’t been producing lately as he slashed .224/.256/.263 with a 42 wRC+ since June 1 but, for a team in contention, he provides defensive versatility and a skillset that would play up in a more reduced role.

Heaney has also been having some struggles lately. After a very strong start to the year with a 1.72 ERA through his first 5 starts, he has posted a 6.07 ERA over 75.2 innings since then. In spite of that, teams could utilize his veteran presence, back-end rotational upside and ability to pivot to the bullpen as he did during the Texas Rangers 2023 World Series run.

Pham, somehow, has been one of the best hitters in baseball since he figured out how to see the ball. Over his last 99 plate appearances dating back to June 22, he is slashing .411/.455/.656 with 8 doubles, a triple and 4 home runs in that span. His average exit velocity is 94.1 MPH and his 206 wRC+ in that span is third behind only Kyle Stowers of the Marlins and Nick Kurtz of the Athletics.

It’s just strange that Cherington would be unable to find buyers for any of these seemingly useful pieces who will just rot on the vine that is the Pirates 2025 season.

Where We Go From Here

For starters, the cries for Cherington’s job are only going to get louder. In year 6 of a rebuild, the team has shown an inability to obtain talent via trade or free agency and development of any talent acquired via draft has been a toss-up. A team that was proclaimed to be needing to “win now” this season fired their hitting coach in the offseason, their manager in May and will likely see their GM get the pink slip in the coming months as well.

The organization appears to be rudderless, floating along while other teams rise to contention, break themselves down to the planks and then rebuild to rise again, surging with the tide while the Pirates list lazily along. And for a team and a GM who said that they can’t be risk averse and need to focus on improving in 2026, nothing he did this past week has shown any merit to those statements.

Sure, some of these trades may work out and some of these players could develop into something useful but if Cherington’s track record is anything to go on, I wouldn’t hold my breath.

And I bet you won’t either.

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