Pirates Expected To Cut Ties With $77 Million Hurler In Trade Deadline Deal
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The Pittsburgh Pirates would be buyers at the trade deadline if it were up to Paul Skenes. Skenes seems ready to bring a World Series to Pittsburgh. Unfortunately for the Pirates faithful, Skenes is seemingly the only one with that mindset.
For what feels like the tenth year in a row, the Pirates will be sellers at the trade deadline. It's unclear how aggressively they'll sell, but it's almost certain they'll trade a few valuable assets in the coming days.
USA Today's Bob Nightengale recently reported the Pirates were expected to cut ties with pitcher Mitch Keller in a trade ahead of the deadline on Thursday.
PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA - JULY 2: Mitch Keller #23 of the Pittsburgh Pirates in action during the game against the St. Louis Cardinals at PNC Park on July 2, 2025 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA - JULY 2: Mitch Keller #23 of the Pittsburgh Pirates in action during the game against the St. Louis Cardinals at PNC Park on July 2, 2025 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania."The Pirates continue to listen to offers for everyone on the team but Paul Skenes and Oneil Cruz and are still expected to move starter Mitch Keller," Nightengale wrote. "The Cubs desperately want another starter at the deadline, targeting Mitch Keller of the Pirates, and would include outfield prospect Owen Caissie to make it work."
The idea behind trading Keller makes a lot of sense.
The righty is never going to have more trade value than he does right now. He's having a solid season, but his value comes from his team control. If a team trades for him now, they'd be getting the rest of this season, all of next season, all of 2027 and all of 2028 with Keller under affordable team control.
For the Pirates, this would mean they'd net a haul in return. And they don't necessarily need Keller on their roster.
The Pirates have a loaded farm system of arms, with a lot of the top pitching prospects nearing their big league debuts. Names like Hunter Barco, Thomas Harrington, and Bubba Chandler jump off the page at you, but the Pirates' system is even deeper than that.
Trading Keller wouldn't hurt the team. In fact, it would likely help the team moving forward. It's the right move to make.
More MLB: Mariners 'Aggressively Pursuing' Trade To Reunite With $66 Million Slugger
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