NEWSLETTER
Bit of a weird rumor coming out of the Winter Meetings from Pittsburgh, where the Pirates are reportedly open to moving starting pitchers Mitch Keller and Jared Jones. Indeed, the language used in the report by the Post-Gazette was that a source said Jones was “very available.” That’s wild.
The one caveat offered is that perhaps the recent trade of Luis Ortiz in the Spencer Horwitz deal may have changed the calculus, but it’s possible the Pirates are still listening on Keller and Jones.
Mitch Keller, because of his contract, age, and general average-ness (not an insult!), I could understand the Pirates trying to check two boxes at once. You deal him to unload some salary and also pick up offense and/or prospects in the process. With four years and around $70 million left on his recent extension, you could see Keller having value in the currently-overheated market. Maybe not a TON of surplus value, but even an average-ish pitcher on an average-ish deal has value.
But with Jared Jones, if the Pirates were truly putting him out there, I’d be reeeeeeally circumspect about their motivations. He is a 23-year-old stud pitcher who is still multiple years away from arbitration. Yes, there were ups and downs in his rookie season (overall results were just a touch better than league-average), but you’d expect that even for a top young pitcher. And you could see the substantial upside potential when he took the mound.
There is almost no reason for the Pirates to be out there shopping him, even for a huge return, unless they had some modest concerns about his future projection. Currently their rotation is Paul Skenes, Jared Jones, Mitch Keller, and then questions. They have tons of prospects coming, but it’s not like they have literally more than they can fit. Not yet anyway.
In other words, my guess is that, if Jones was in fact “very available,” he was available in the sense that pretty much all players are available: the price of pitching is so extreme that maybe some team would make the Pirates a truly obscene offer for Jones. Why not listen?
I guess we’ll keep our eyes on this, though, given the potential NL Central impact. The Pirates’ stacked pitching group – Bubba Chandler is coming, Braxton Ashcraft is coming, Thomas Harrington is coming, Anthony Solometo is coming – maybe does give them some flexibility to make moves, but it’s also kind of the scariest thing about their future competitiveness. If a couple of those guys pop, and pair with Paul Skenes and Jared Jones? With some young position players maybe taking a step forward? The Pirates could get good – and quickly.
