About the only thing the Pittsburgh Pirates have done right since the All-Star break is how they handled the trade deadline.
The Pirates desperately needed to improve their leaky bullpen to have any chance of reaching the postseason for the first time since 2015. General manager Ben Cherington was able to make over the relief corps in the span of three days by trading for the New York Yankees’ Camilo Doval, the New York Mets’ Luke Weaver, the Miami Marlins’ Lake Bachar and the Los Angeles Angels’ Kirby Yates.
Weaver was the prize acquisition after notching a sparkling 1.84 ERA in 42 games in his first season with the Mets after signing a two-year, $22-million contract in the offseason. While the Pirates gave up shortstop prospect Sammy Stefura, they got the Mets to pay down a significant portion of Weaver’s contract.
Pirates were ecstatic to acquire Luke Weaver
The Mets are covering $2.01 million of Weaver’s remaining $2.03 million for this season and will pay $6 million of his $11 million salary next season. For the low-budget Pirates, getting the Mets to add that much money into the deal was pivotal.
Cherington was ecstatic about acquiring Weaver.
“He’s been one of the best relievers in baseball for the last three years, really,” Cherington said at the time of the trade. “Since he became a full-time reliever, he quickly turned into one of the better relievers in the game. He’s done it in a big market, obviously. He’s done it on good teams in meaningful games. He’s pitched in the ninth inning. He’s pitched in high-leverage spots before the ninth inning, so really felt like he was sort of an ideal – if you were circling someone to add to the bullpen, if you could- we felt like he was the ideal type of guy to do that.”
However, it feels like the Pirates placed Weaver in the government’s witness protection program upon his arrival. He has rarely been seen since joining the team on Aug. 4. Weaver has made only one appearance for the Pirates. He pitched one scoreless inning on Aug. 7 – against the Mets -- of all teams – in a game the Pirates lost.
The biggest reason manager Don Kelly hasn’t used Weaver more is that the Pirates have had few leads to protect. They are 1-7 since Weaver joined the club and have not had any save opportunities.
Pirates other bullpen additions have helped
The other deadline acquisitions have pitched well for the most part. Doval and Yates have each allowed one run in five innings. Bachar has worked seven innings and given up four runs.
So, Cherington did fine work in fixing the relief pitching. However, the Pirates’ lack of starting pitching depth and struggles against left-handed pitching have been fatal flaws. That has left the Pirates six games out in the National League wild card standings.
The seven losses in eight games since the deadline are part of a rapid fall for the Pirates. Since winning twice in a three-game series against the Guardians in Cleveland coming out of the All-Star break and holding the third wild card spot, the Pirates have since gone 6-16.
The Pirates believe they can contend in 2027, so a bright side is that Weaver is signed for next season and Doval and Bachar will be under contractual control. So, the Pirates should have a better bullpen than this year’s version.
Heck, if all goes well, Weaver might get the opportunity to pitch more than once a week.
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