31-07-2025
Sammy Stafura, former Panas star, traded to Pirates in Ke'Bryan Hayes trade deadline deal
With the MLB trade deadline set for Thursday night, teams across the league are looking to make moves to better their position for October. As was the case in 2021 and 2022, this deadline has local implications.
Wednesday, ESPN's Jeff Passan reported that the Cincinnati Reds are acquiring third baseman Ke'Bryan Hayes from the Pittsburgh Pirates, in exchange for reliever Taylor Rogers and shortstop Sammy Stafura.
Stafura is a 2023 graduate of Walter Panas High School in Cortlandt Manor, where he helped the Panthers to a Section 1 title that season, before being drafted in the second round by the Reds that season.
At 20 years old, Stafura is enjoying his best season in minor league ball in 2025. In 88 games for Class A Daytona, Stafura is hitting .262 with an OPS of .804. The shortstop has also gone 28 for 33 on stolen base attempts with 18 doubles, nine triples, four home runs, and 48 RBI.
Familiar names from the Hudson Valley in Pirates organization
Stafura is the ninth-ranked prospect in the Reds organization, according to MLB Pipeline, and will join a Pirates organization that already boasts some talent local to the Lower Hudson Valley.
Henry Davis serves as the Pirates' backup catcher. He was drafted first overall back in 2021, after attending Fox Lane High School and the University of Louisville. Adonys Guzman, another catcher, was drafted in the fifth round this season out of the University of Arizona. Guzman attended Salesian High School in New Rochelle.
In the swap, the Reds are picking up Hayes, who is among the best defensive third basemen in MLB, but has struggled offensively, hitting just .236. Rogers, a veteran left-handed reliever, will go with Stafura to Pittsburgh.
In 2021, Josiah Gray (New Rochelle) was traded from the Dodgers to the Nationals in the Max Scherzer-Trea Turner blockbuster. A year later, Harrison Bader (Horace Mann) was sent from the Cardinals to the Yankees for Jordan Montgomery.
Now, it's Stafura who finds himself on the move ahead of the July 31 deadline.
This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: MLB trade deadline: Sammy Stafura dealt in Ke'Bryan Hayes trade
