(Photo by Charles LeClaire/USA Today Sports)

After the Pirates traded veteran first baseman (and rental) Carlos Santana, Pirates Twitter, er, I’m sorry, “X”, had some very mixed reactions. 

Some, and I think rightfully so, were frustrated at the return for Santana: an 18 year old infielder who we won’t see in the majors for years, if ever at all. 

On the other side, however, were those who believed that this trade could pay off in spades much later down the road. To this side, it’s not necessarily about Jhonny Severino himself, the kid the Pirates acquired for Santana, but rather the unknown. The unknown of what a young kid like this could become. 

Amongst many of those who shared this argument, they pointed out the Tony Watson trade several years back, a deal that sent the veteran lefty out west to the Los Angeles Dodgers. 

So let’s take a quick trip down Pirates past, and look at how influential that trade really was, both for the future of the Pirates and the remaining career of Watson. 

The year is 2017. The glitz and the glamor of Pittsburgh’s relevancy has all but faded. After slipping out of the postseason the year prior, the Pirates were barely staying above water in July as the trade deadline creeped closer and closer. Coming into the month seven games under .500, the Pirates rallied to even out their record, but a four game slide brought the Pirates back to 51-54 on July 31st, when the Pirates had a decision to make with their former closing pitcher. 

With the Pirates still flailing in the standings, and the rise of a new clutch pitcher named Felipe Rivero (who had bumped Watson out of his closer role a month prior), the Pirates leaned harder and harder towards moving on from him. 

In the end, Pittsburgh would deal Watson, sending him to the Dodgers for two young pieces who we will get to in a moment. 

At the time of the trade, both players the Pirates acquired were not regarded as a blockbuster return. Neither name was dominating the rumor mill, and neither were ranked particularly high within the Dodgers’ system. 

Before we get to the return, however, let’s take a quick look at Watson’s career after the trade.

He spent the rest of 2017 with the Dodgers, having a decent end to the regular season but upping his game dramatically in the postseason, including being credited with two World Series wins as the Dodgers controversially fell to the Houston Astros in seven games. 

While LA had gotten good value for Watson for the rest of 2017, that would be all they got. With his contract up after the year, Watson opted to explore free agency, signing with the San Francisco Giants soon after, where he spent the next three years of his career. He became a free agent again after the 2020 season. 

After a tryout with the Philadelphia Phillies did not entice Watson to stay in 2021, he signed with the team just down the street from the Dodgers, the Los Angeles Angels, playing the first half of the 2021 season before being re-acquired by San Francisco. 

Now, as for what the Dodgers gave the Pirates. 

We’ll start with right handed relief pitcher Angel German. At 21 years old, German was playing in Single-A Great Lakes, with rather unimpressive stats. German’s story is rather quick; he never made it past Double-A ball in Altoona, getting there in 2019. 

The second player in this deal? Oneil Cruz. 

When he was dealt to the Pirates, Cruz was just 18 years old, and mostly unheard of. He was ranked as LA’s 27th best prospect, and playing in Great Lakes with German, there was only so much to know about the lanky infielder. Given his size, a 6’ 7 frame, some were skeptical he could stick it out at his natural shortstop position, and his high strikeout rate in his early days was a bit of a red flag. 

While no one would have really predicted it at the time, Pittsburgh had received an absolute gem in exchange for the rental in Watson. Cruz, now regarded across Major League Baseball as a big power bat and a franchise cornerstone for a young Pirates team, broke out in development a few years after the trade, becoming a young player the Dodgers likely wished they could still use. 

Cruz’s injury will forever be a big “what if” for the 2023 Pirates, but even with that, the Pirates will be reaping the benefits of that trade for years to come, and several sources since then have revisited the gaffe LA made by moving on from Cruz. 

The frustration from the Santana trade is understandable and shared. The Pirates are in year four of Ben Cherington’s rebuild and they are so far behind that they are still selling off players at the trade deadline for young players we may never see. It shouldn’t still be this way. 

But, with all of this team’s endless struggles, you have to find the little things when you can. While we definitely don’t know if Severino is the next Cruz (and I’m not here to proclaim he is), it’s the trades like these that can become the most intriguing years down the line, if the kid pans out.