The Pittsburgh Pirates have made a trade, and while it is far from the names that fans were hoping the team could go out and acquire, it actually is looking to be a pretty solid deal for the team out of the gate.
Per Jeff Passan, the Pirates have sent right handed pitcher Quinn Preister to the Boston Red Sox in exchange for prospect Nick Yorke.
This is a deal that, on the surface, looks to be a decent swap for both sides. Boston needs pitching, and acquires a 23-year old Priester who has struggled in the big leagues so far, but still has tons of time to figure it out.
The Pirates, meanwhile, deal from a position of strength, sending out one of their many, many pitchers in exchange for an area where they far less exciting depth.
Priester, who had pitched 44.2 innings for Pittsburgh this season with a 5.04 ERA and 1.455 WHIP, very likely didn’t have a spot in the team’s long term outlook. The Pirates have too many pitching prospects and too many guys who are already ahead of him in the pecking order now. It just didn’t make sense to keep him.
In helping clear out that logjam, the team acquires Yorke, who is a 22-year old and a former first round pick by the Red Sox back in 2020. He was ranked as Boston’s 14th ranked prospect on Baseball America’s latest rankings, and 6th on Prospect Pipeline’s (although that list is more dated).
He started the year in Double-A with Portland, where he slashed .251/.325/.366 in 45 games, but was promoted to Triple-A in June, where he has since slashed .310/.408/.490 for an OPS just under .900 in 38 games.
He’s a very patient batter, and rarely strikes out, with his K rate clipping at 18.9% while in Triple-A.
It isn’t the greatest sample size, but it’s enough time to show that his success in Triple-A with Worcester isn’t a complete fluke. He has yet to make the big leagues, but his chances just went up with this trade, and there isn’t a better time than right now to give this kid a shot.
Largely thought of as an infielding prospect, Yorke has played 55 total games between Double-A and Triple-A at second base, where there just so happens to be an open spot now that Nick Gonzales is on the injured list. Gonzales’ recovery timeline has been described as “weeks, not days,” meaning that the Pirates will have a pretty big void in their lineup for the foreseeable future.
Pittsburgh has called up Alika Williams in Gonzales’ absence, a utility man that will backup Jared Triolo, who now presumptively takes over at second base. But while both of those gentlemen boast fine defense, they bring very little at the plate.
Triolo is slashing .198/.272/.266 this season in 77 games, and Williams has a career big league slash line of .202/.261./264 in 70 games.
They don’t inspire anyone to believe that now that either one of them will be getting more playing time, that the lacking Pirates offense will suddenly improve.
So, with no real batter ready to take over at second base, and the everyday starter at that position now out for weeks, this is the perfect chance to give the kid you just traded for a chance at the bigs.
Yorke at least brings with him the potential to provide some offense. With Williams and to much better extent, Triolo, you know what you have right now, and that’s below average batting.
Yorke is young and still full of potential.
If he ends up performing just as badly as the others with the bat, then you still at least furthered Yorke’s development by getting him some major league experience and seeing what you have in him.
He also isn’t locked in at second base. Though that is where he has spent the most time, Yorke also played 27 minor league games this year in left field.
The Pirates reportedly like his athleticism enough to consider getting him outfielding opportunities. Those also exist on the current major league roster, a further reason to get this kid with the big league team as soon as possible.
Let’s see what he can do.
(Featured photo by Maddie Malhotra/Boston Red Sox/Getty Images)
Fifth Avenue Sports 
Leave a comment