Last year at the trade deadline, the Pittsburgh Pirates decided to become “buyers” after it had appeared they would be “sellers” earlier in July and suddenly found themselves as the center of attention by acquiring Tampa Bay Rays pitcher Chris Archer. It was a bold, yet risky move by Pirates GM Neal Huntington, who dealt his top two prospects in the organization (pitcher Tyler Glasnow and outfielder Austin Meadows) and also threw in 2017 first round pick pitcher Shane Baz.
It’s not just that the Pirates gave up their top young talent, but they did so for a guy who just turned 30 in 2019 and had been starting to take a dip in production.