The Pittsburgh Pirates had a very active trading deadline day Monday. They sent starting pitcher Francisco Liriano to the Toronto BlueJays along with two of their top minor league prospects for right-handed starter Drew Hutchison. The 32-year old Liriano had struggled this season with 5.46 ERA and was leading the league in walks. The prospects leaving the Pirates are outfielder Harold Ramirez and catcher Reese McGuire. The 25-year old Hutchison was pitching for the BlueJays Triple-A club this season and will begin with the Pirates Indianapolis club. McGuire is a former number one draft pick of the Pirates. Ramirez was considered one of their top 10 prospects.
The Pirates also traded pitcher Jon Niese back to the New York Mets for reliever Antonio Bastardo. The Pirates had acquired Niese for second baseman Neil Walker duirng the off-season and had let Bastardo go as a free agent. Niese had recently lost his spot in the Pirates starting rotation after posting a more than five ERA in 18 starts in Pittsburgh.
Also coming to the Pirates is pitcher Ivan Nova from the New York Yankees for two players to be named. Nova will move into the Bucs starting rotation.
The moves Monday by general manger Neil Huntington will save the Pirates around $13 million over the next two seasons.
The Pirates are in Atlanta to begin a series with the Braves tonight. Gerrit Cole wil start for the Bucs. He is 6-6 this season with a 2.78 ERA. First pitch is 7:10pm. Pre-game on WISR 680am is 6:45pm.
The Pirates lost more ground to the Chicago Cubs who shut out Miami 5-0 last night. The Bucs are now 11 games back in the National League Central. The Cubs win, though, did allow the Pirates to move to within 3-1/2 game of the Marlins in the Wild Card chase.
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