In the past few years, the Pittsburgh Pirates have been in a rebuilding phase, and have gotten a lot of prospects from trades and from the draft. Now that the rebuild has come to an end, these prospects are now making it up to the major league level. But, the Pirates can’t have all of the prospects on the MLB roster, so, they will need to trade a few players.

Liover Peguero

One guy who likely will get traded is Liover Peguero. Peguero, a 22-year-old middle infielder, is a top 10 prospect in the organization. In 2020, the Pirates acquired Peguero and Brennan Malone for outfielder Starling Marte. Peguero is doing very well in AA with a .270 AVG, .342 OBP, .816 OPS, 120 wRC+, and a 17.6% K%. Peguero played one game in the majors last year, as he went 1-3 with a single and a walk. Peguero will most likely get called up next year, but the Pirates will have no room for him in the majors because of guys like Nick Gonzales, and Oneil Cruz who are already in the major leagues.

Matt Fraizer

Another guy who is likely to be traded is Matt Fraizer. Fraizer, a 25-year-old outfielder, was a third round pick with the Pirates in 2019, and was showing very good development in the minors. In 2021, he was called up to AA and he has been there since. This season, Fraizer has a .236 AVG, .309 OBP, .665 OPS, 83 wRC+, and a 18.4% K%. With Fraizers struggles, the Pirates will probably move on from him while he still has trade potential.

Travis Swaggerty

Travis Swaggerty, a former Pirates first round pick in 2018 may find himself traded soon. He made his major league debut last year, and had 9 at bats. In those 9 at bats he recorded only one hit and struck out four times. This year, Swaggerty has only had 65 at bats due to injury but he has a .200 AVG, .278 OBP, .647 OPS, 58 wRC+, and a 26.4% K% in that limited time. While Swaggerty is still on the 40-man roster, due to his AAA stats and his inability to stay healthy, I think that the Pirates will try to trade Swaggerty either this year or next year.

Rookie Infielders

With Oneil Cruz being injured for most of the season, the Pirates have had many middle infielders in the majors. Guys like Rodolfo Castro, Tucupita Marcano, and Ji-Hwan Bae have mostly been the shortstops and second basemen this season. But, the Pirates called up Nick Gonzales, and he looks like he will be their new second baseman, which limits playing time for the other three players. This season, none of the players have been amazing, while Castro has a .235 AVG, .321 OBP, .690 OPS, 90 wRC+, and a 25.5% K%, Bae has a .237 AVG, .297 OBP, .605 OPS, 68 wRC+, and a 24.7% K%, and Marcano has a .240 AVG, .293 OBP, .683 OPS, 85 wRC+, and a 14.7% K%. This season I don’t see the Pirates moving on from any of these players, but next year with Oneil Cruz healthy I can see them move one or two of these players.