Although the Pittsburgh Pirates do not have a glaring hole in their rotation, teams always look to bring in as much quality starting pitching as possible. This is especially true for players who are still on their MLB entry contract with multiple years of control. Even more so, the Pittsburgh Pirates could use a left-handed starter. Well, there was a pitcher on the trade block who would have checked all of those boxes for the Bucs.
James Paxton very well could have been a really good fit for the Pittsburgh Pirates. The big lefty was recently dealt to the New York Yankees, and before that he was known to be available.