The Pittsburgh Pirates swung a trio of 11th-hour deals at the trade deadline Tuesday, acquiring outfielder Bryan De La Cruz from the Miami Marlins and infielder Isiah Kiner-Falefa from the Toronto Blue Jays and sending starting pitcher Martin Perez to the San Diego Padres in moves that involved minor league prospects.
De La Cruz addresses the Pirates’ most pressing need, a corner outfielder with some pop to improve their offense, whereas Kiner-Falefa can fill the void created at second base with Nick Gonzales (groin) on the injured list. Both are right-handed hitters.
De La Cruz, 27, is batting .245/.289/.417 with 19 doubles, 18 home runs and 51 RBIs with 118 strikeouts and 25 walks in 105 games this season. He has split his time between playing left field (47 starts) and designated hitter (50 starts), with eight games in right field.
The 6-foot-2, 175-pound De La Cruz has a career .258/.305/.419 slash line, with personal bests of 32 doubles, 19 homers and 78 RBIs in 2023. De La Cruz comes with years of club control: He’s eligible for arbitration in 2025 and doesn’t become a free agent until 2028. The 5-11, 190-pound Kiner-Falefa, 29, is batting .292/.338/.420 with eight doubles, two triples, seven homers and 33 RBIs in 82 games this season. He started 35 games at third base, 27 at second base and 11 at shortstop for the Blue Jays. The seven-year veteran, who also has played for the Texas Rangers and New York Yankees, has a career slash line of .264/.317/.354. Kiner-Falefa has another year remaining on his contract, at $7.5 million for 2025.
In exchange for De La Cruz, the Pirates sent a pair of top-20 prospects to the Marlins in 20-year-old right-hander Jun-Seok Shim (No. 17 by MLB Pipeline) and and corner infielder Garret Forrester (No. 18). The 6-4, 215-pound Shim, signed from South Korea, had 13 strikeouts in eight innings over four starts in the Florida Complex League last year but is on the 60-day injured list with a right shoulder injury this season. Forrester, 22, a 2023 thir-round pick out of Oregon State, batted .273/.413/.382 with nine doubles, one homer and nine RBIs at Low-A Bradenton before being promoted to High-A Greensboro.
The return for Kiner-Falefa was Double-A infielder/outfielder Charles McAdoo, ranked their No. 10 prospect by Baseball America.
The Pirates signed Perez to a one-year, $8 million deal in the offseason, and the 33-year-old left-hander was 2-5 with a 5.20 ERA and 1.65 WHIP in 83 innings over 16 starts, including five quality starts, and missed a month with a left groin strain. In return, the Pirates received 18-year-old pitcher Ronaldys Jimenez, a 5-11, 165-pound lefty who had a 1.50 ERA and 0.67 WHIP in six innings over three starts in the Dominican Summer League.
Earlier Tuesday, the Pirates acquired left-handed reliever Josh Walker from the New York Mets for a prospect.
The 6-foot-6, 225-pound Walker, who was designated for assignment July 26, has elite extension and a three-pitch arsenal that features a curveball, four-seam fastball and sinker. Walker had a 5.11 ERA and 1.54 WHIP in 12 1/3 innings over 10 appearances in the majors this season. He also had a 2.83 ERA and 1.29 WHIP with a .157 batting average against in 25 appearances for Triple-A Syracuse. Walker, 29, will report to Triple-A Indianapolis.
The Pirates are sending 18-year-old lefty Nicolas Carreno to the Mets in return for Walker. Carreno is 0-1 with a 3.74 ERA and 1.29 WHIP, 36 strikeouts, 17 walks and five hit batsmen in 21 2/3 innings over eight starts in the Dominican Summer League.
On Monday, Pirates general manager Ben Cherington traded right-handed pitcher Quinn Priester to the Boston Red Sox for Triple-A second baseman/left fielder Nick Yorke, who was sent to Triple-A Indianapolis, and acquired lefty reliever Jalen Beeks from the Colorado Rockies for Double-A lefty reliever Luis Peralta.
