Selected in the 24th round of the 2019 draft by the Blue Jays, Spencer Horwitz progressed from rookie ball all the way to the big leagues without being moved to a different organization. But that all changed on Dec. 10, when he was traded not once but twice in the same day.
A 27-year-old who can play multiple positions, Horwitz was originally sent to Cleveland in a deal that brought Gold Glove infielder Andres Gimenez to Toronto. While he was excited to begin his new journey, Horwitz was told by Michael Chernoff that another team was interested in his talents — one that had a few familiar faces and an open spot in the lineup.
By the end of the evening, Horwitz was traded again, this time to the Pirates. After just over a week to allow things to sink in, Horwitz spoke with reporters Wednesday afternoon to discuss the beginning of his opportunity in Pittsburgh.
“Going to Cleveland, I was a little confused,” Horwitz said over Zoom. “I know they have some really good first basemen and they had Gimenez. I was curious if I was going to play second [base] there or what the plan was. Then when I got traded to Pittsburgh, I was super excited because I know they’ve been looking for some more offense.”
On the note of offense, few people have had more of an impact in Horwitz’s development as a hitter at the professional level than Pirates hitting coach Matt Hague, who coached Horwitz in Double-A, Triple-A and the big leagues during their shared time in the Blue Jays organization. Horwitz said the opportunity to reunite with his former hitting coach is one of the things he is looking forward to most as spring training approaches.
“I love that guy,” Horwitz said of Hague. “He’s helped me on the field, off the field. I can’t speak highly enough of him. He’s been tremendous in my career, and I know I wouldn’t be here without him. I know he’s going to bring great things, not just for me but for the entire organization, and I think that’s why they brought him in. [General manager] Ben [Cherington] had seen what he’s been doing with the Blue Jays, had worked with him before and seen how good of a person he is and how talented and smart he is.”
Familiarity certainly played a role in the Pirates’ pursuit of Horwitz. Pittsburgh was willing to part ways with three pitchers — major league right-hander Luis Ortiz and minor league left-handers Michael Kennedy and Josh Hartle — for a player that has appeared in just 112 big league games. But with an opening at first base, along with traits the organization has routinely identified to be valuable, Cherington and his staff were confident enough to make a long-term bet on a player they had their eyes on for years.
“He’s been a really consistent performer,” Cherington said of Horwitz last week at MLB’s winter meetings in Dallas. “Obviously, it’s a position that has been an area of need for us for a while now. So we’ve had a list of guys out there we’ve been kind of tracking, and he was one of them. We had dialogue directly with Toronto, I think probably back over the course of a couple years, about him and made some attempts to get him directly from Toronto. Just wasn’t able to do that. So it worked going through Cleveland this time.”
As mentioned by Cherington and manager Derek Shelton last week, the Pirates expect Horwitz to primarily play first base in 2025. After coming up in an organization that boasts one of the game’s top first basemen in Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Horwitz will arrive in Bradenton, Fla., in two months with an opportunity to become an everyday big league starter for the first time in his career.
“Just come in, ready to compete in camp,” Horwitz said. “Nothing’s going to be given to me. I know that. But it’s nice to feel wanted, and that’s exciting. I think it’s going to be a good opportunity for both of us.”
