3 trade targets from the Pittsburgh Pirates for the Colorado Rockies

The Pittsburgh Pirates are not a very good baseball team. In fact, as much as the Colorado Rockies need help to be a contender like they think they will be in 2022, the Pirates are many years away from contention and a far cry from what they were in the 1970s or even what they were in the early- to mid-2010s.

In the 1970s, the Pirates won two World Series (1971 and 1979) and made it to the playoffs four more times in an era where there were only four playoff teams among the 24 or 26 teams (starting in 1977). In fact, in the 1970s, they only finished below second place in the NL East once (and they finished in third place but only 2.5 games back of the NL East winners, the New York Mets, in 1973).

In the early- to mid-2010s, the Pirates made the playoffs three times. Their 2013 Wild Card berth was their first playoff berth in over two decades.

However, similarly to the Colorado Rockies, the Pirates were competitive for three years (the Rockies for two in 2017 and 2018) but in their three playoff appearances (2013-2015), they didn’t get past the NLDS even once.

The Pittsburgh Pirates aren’t in contention for some of the same mistakes made from yesteryear, which is familiar for Colorado Rockies fans.

Since then, they haven’t made the playoffs and, by repeating many of their mistakes from 1993 through 2012, the Pirates will not in playoff contention and won’t be for a few years. Sound familiar Rockies fans?

The Pirates do have a well-rated farm system (#4 in baseball, according to MLB.com) but as baseball fans know, farm systems don’t mean anything if they aren’t developed well and made into major leaguers.

With the Colorado Rockies hoping to be buyers when the lockout ends, here are three realistic trade targets from the Pittsburgh Pirates that the Rockies should examine further.

Pittsburgh Pirates reliever David Bednar could help the Colorado Rockies bullpen

David Bednar had a very good first full season in the majors for the Pittsburgh Pirates and, with the bullpen issues for the Colorado Rockies in recent years, Bednar could be a good reliever for them.

Bednar, 27, was acquired by the Pirates from the San Diego Padres last January in the three-team deal that sent Joe Musgrove to the Padres. He only made 17 appearances in the majors with the Padres in 2019 and 2020 with little success (6.75 ERA) but he was very good for the Pirates.

He made 61 appearances and he had an ERA of 2.23 (190 ERA+). He had a FIP of 2.69, a sub-1.00 WHIP (0.973 to be exact), and he averaged 2.8 walks and 11.4 strikeouts per nine innings.

The Rockies have seen success (especially at Coors Field) in their rotation due to their high groundball rate. The bullpen, though, has not had a high gorundball rate, which is part of the reason why they have struggled so much at Coors Field. Bednar’s groundball rate in 2021 was 41.4 percent, which is a little bit below league average but with the high strikeout rate, it may not be a huge problem.

Like with Reynolds, Bednar is not even eligible for arbitration yet so while his salary would be cheap, he would not be cheap to get for a trade because his controllability.

Pittsburgh Pirates reliever Chris Stratton could also help the Colorado Rockies bullpen

Pittsburgh Pirates reliever Chris Stratton could also help the Colorado Rockies bullpen and as an innings eater.

Rockies fans probably best remember Stratton, 31, as a starting pitcher for the San Francisco Giants but he has been with the Pirates since mid-2019 and he has done well in a relief role for the Pirates but also, as a multi-inning reliever. Essentially, Stratton could help Jhoulys Chacín fill the Chacín/Chi Chi González role from 2021 as a veteran swingman.

In 2021, he appeared in 68 games (all in relief) and he had an ERA of 3.63 (ERA+ of 116) and even had 8 saves. But he still had 79 1/3 innings pitched. 11 of his 68 outings were at least two innings pitched, which would help the Rockies out. He had a 3.76 FIP, a 1.298 WHIP, and he averaged 3.7 walks and 9.8 strikeouts per nine innings.

In 2020, he made 27 appearances (30 innings) and he had a 3.90 ERA (116 ERA+). He had a FIP of 3.19, a WHIP of 1.3, and he averaged 3.9 walks and 11.7 strikeouts per nine innings.

In 2019, he started the season with the Angels as a starter but had little success (8.59 ERA) before the Pirates picked him up and used him as a reliever. With the Pirates, he made 28 appearances (all in relief) and had a 3.66 ERA (118 ERA+) in 46 2/3 innings. He also had a 4.11 FIP, a 1.393 WHIP, and he averaged 2.9 walks and 9.1 strikeouts per nine innings.

Stratton is entering his second year of arbitration.

Our Colorado Rockies trade target series finishes up the NL Central with the St. Louis Cardinals up next before we finish our series up in the NL West.