Pirates are so bad they had no trade deadline takers

The Pittsburgh Pirates have the worst record in baseball, and they are so bad they had no trade deadline takers.

The Pittsburgh Pirates have won six of their last 10 games entering Monday, but they still have the worst record in baseball at 10-21 (.323 winning percentage). General manager Ben Cherington’s plan has been clear for awhile, and he did make a deal before Monday afternoon’s trade deadline. Outfielder Jarrod Dyson went to the White Sox in exchange for international bonus pool money over the weekend.

Trade rumors surrounded a few Pirates, but starting pitchers Joe Musgrove and Trevor Williams, reliever Keone Kela, second baseman Adam Frazier, outfielder Gregory Polanco and first baseman Josh Bell all stayed put before 4 p.m ET on Monday. Starter Derek Holland could have been a tradeable asset, but that went up in proverbial smoke as he has allowed eight or more runs in two of his last four starts on his way to a 7.64 ERA.

Injuries diminished the stock of Pirates’ best trade options

Injuries and slow starts really diminished the stock of all of the Pirates’ best possible trade assets. Musgrove, Chris Archer, Jameson Taillon and Kela are on the IL, out for the season without pitching in the middle two cases, and Williams has a 5.34 ERA. Polanco is hitting .120, Bell doubled his home run total for the season (four) over the weekend and versatility only goes so far when you’re hitting .207 like Frazier is. Even shortstop Kevin Newman, who hit .308 with 64 RBI in 2019, was off to slow start (.264) and has recently been bothered by an abdomen injury.

Cherington was reportedly “trying to sell everything” as of the middle of last week. But it takes two to tango, and Cherington was trying to sell a litany of injured pitchers or underachieving hitters to any contender with even a passing interest. No wonder he only managed to trade a 36-year old fourth outfielder (who was hitting .157) for international bonus pool money.