During the offseason prior to the 2019 season, the Pittsburgh Pirates made a five player trade with the Cleveland Indians. While it was a large trade, it flew under the headlines as Erik Gonzalez and Jordan Luplow were the primary pieces exchanged.
However, there were also teenage pitching prospects coming back to the Pittsburgh Pirates in Tahnaj Thomas and Dante Mendoza. Both were projectable, right-handed starting pitchers who were considered to be really raw, but had potential. Thomas specifically was already on FanGraphs’ top 30 Cleveland Indians prospect list at number 26 in 2018.