Trade Central: Pirates Unload Liriano, Prospects For Hutchison

THE DEAL

The Pirates weren’t done shuffling their rotation after acquiring Ivan Nova on Monday and trading away Jonathan Niese in two separate deals. In one of the final trades of the day, the Pirates acquired starter Drew Hutchison from the Blue Jays for struggling lefthander Francisco Liriano and two promising prospects whose path to the majors was blocked: catcher Reese McGuire and outfielder Harold Ramirez.

While the Pirates get rotation help now, the Blue Jays add two well-regarded prospects to bolster their future outlook and take a flier on an established veteran having some major control issues.

BLUE JAYS ACQUIRE
Reese McGuire, c
Age: 21

The Pirates drafted McGuire 14th overall in the 2013 draft and moved him slowly but steadily up their system. While his defense has remained sharp outstanding receiving and framing skills and a quick, accurate arm, his lefthanded swing has just never developed. He is a career .269 hitter, with that number inflated by higher totals earlier in his career at lower levels, and he has just four home runs in more than 1,350 career plate appearances. McGuire rarely strikes out, but his inability to drive the ball or consistently make solid contact keeps his average and on-base percentage well lower than what someone with his batting eye could be at. His projection is starting to change to that of a defense-first, backup or time-share catcher in the majors, not what was hoped for when he was taken right ahead of Braden Shipley, J.P. Crawford and Tim Anderson in the 2013 draft.

Club (League)	Class	AVG	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	SB	OBP	SLG
Altoona (Eastern)	AA	.259	77	266	29	69	16	2	1	37	29	26	4	.337	.346

Harold Ramirez, of
Age: 21

Ramirez ranked No. 6 on BA’s Midseason Update of Pirates prospects on the strength of his third straight year batting over .300. A line drive hitter with above-average speed he is still learning to use, Ramirez uses the whole field and consistently makes hard contact, making good on the $1.05 million signing bonus the Pirates gave him as an international free agent out of Colombia in 2011. He plays center field well, but could shift over the left if needed. His arm is not strong enough to profile in right, and the lack of power as he climbs the ladder was slightly unexpected. Still, he is a major-league caliber prospect who was blocked by a glut of outfielders in Pittsburgh, but has a chance to make his debut in Toronto as soon as next year.

Club (League)	Class	AVG	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	SB	OBP	SLG
Altoona (Eastern)	AA	.306	98	379	58	116	16	7	2	49	21	66	7	.354	.401

Francisco Liriano, lhp
Age: 32

Liriano has always been somewhat of a wild man, but that has been taken to a whole new level this season. The 11-year veteran is averaging a career-worst 5.5 walks per nine innings this season and led the National League with 69 walks. His ERA has jumped more than two runs over last season as a result, and he is also giving up more home runs than ever (career-high 1.5/9) because he so often is working from behind in the count and is forced to come back over the middle of the plate. The Blue Jays will take a flyer and see if they can fix him, and maybe turn him into a useful back end of the rotation option as they make a playoff push and keep an eye on Aaron Sanchez’s innings.

Club (League)	Class	W	L	ERA	G	GS	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	SO
Pittsburgh (NL)	ML	6	11	5.46	21	21	113.2	115	76	69	19	69	116

PIRATES ACQUIRE
Drew Hutchison, rhp
Age: 25

Hutchison had his ups and downs the last two seasons in the majors and began this year at Triple-A, where he moved up and down to and from the majors as the Blue Jays de facto sixth starter. His last three starts before the trade came at Triple-A, but he is likely to jump immediately into a Pirates rotation desperate for arms. Hutchison relies on 92-94 mph fastball and mid-80s slider as his two primary pitches, mixing in a low-90s sinker and mid-80s changeup as well.