Pittsburgh Pirates interested in 1B Mitch Moreland?

The Pittsburgh Pirates are reportedly interested in acquiring 1B Mitch Moreland from the Texas Rangers, per Rob Biertempfel of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.

According to Rob Biertempfel of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, the Pittsburgh Pirates have interest in acquiring Texas Rangers first baseman Mitch Moreland via trade.

MLB.com’s T.R. Sullivan believes that though the trade between the two clubs is unlikely, the Rangers would want at least a starting pitcher in return for dealing Moreland.

Moreland had one of his better seasons in 2015, helping the Rangers win the American League West in a platoon role with first baseman Prince Fielder. While it may suit Texas to keep both Moreland and Fielder in the lineup together with one at first base and the other as the designated hitter, Pittsburgh seems to like the idea of using Moreland in a platoon role with right-handed hitting Michael Morse.

Morse has tremendous power, but is likely not a full-time player any more at the big league level. Using the left-handed hitting Moreland in a platoon with Morse would give the Pirates a great deal of power from both sides of the plate to complement each other.

Should one of the two hitters get hot and win the starting job outright, Pittsburgh could move either player near the trade deadline for other assets. Pittsburgh has its first basemen of the future in AAA with Josh Bell.

Since both teams are coming off trips to the postseason that did not include advancement, there is clearly a need for Pirates and Rangers to get better. Texas almost always needs pitching in their hitter-friendly ball park, but would Pittsburgh be willing to part ways with decent arm talent for a stop-gap first baseman in Mitch Moreland?