5 best players available before the MLB trade deadline
By Mike Luciano
4. Pick Analysis. 1B. Pittsburgh Pirates. Josh Bell. 3. player. Scouting Report
The Pittsburgh Pirates are 4-17 in 2020. If extrapolated out to a full 162-game season, the Pirates are on a pace to win just 31 games.
Ben Cherington has stated in the past that no one is a sacred cow on this roster, and that decree includes 2019 All-Star Josh Bell, who is hitting just .200 with two home runs in 2020. If the Pirates want to start a fire sale, their best asset has to hit the open market.
Bell might be struggling, but he’s a year removed from clouting 37 dingers and will be under club control until 2023. For a team in rebuild mode, the Pirates have a fine minor league system, but they could use two or three legit studs in place of Bell as they look towards the future.
In a hypothetical Bell deal, the Pirates can move forward with a new era of rebuilding, while a contending team gets a ton of pop from the switch-hitting Texan.