Neal Huntington is already adding pitching depth.
The Pittsburgh Pirates general manager who has made a knack for adding buy-low pitchers picked up his first of the off-season when he traded for pitcher Trevor Williams on Saturday.
Williams, who was acquired from the Miami Marlins in exchange for now-former Gulf Coast League Pirates pitcher Richard Mitchell, has already started pitching for the Pirates’ affiliate in the Arizona Fall League, the Glendale Desert Dogs. He made an early impact, striking out two of the three batters he faced in the top of the seventh inning Monday while throwing 10 of his 16 pitches for strikes.
The acquisition of a player like Williams should be no surprise for Pirates fans. One of Huntington’s biggest go-to moves when adding personnel is finding players drafted high that ended up disappointing, with the hope that they can still contribute. The Pirates have had some success with this approach, particularly with pitchers.
Calling Williams a disappointment at this stage of his career is pre-mature, since he has not really struggled since he was drafted only two years ago in the second round of the 2013 Major League Baseball Entry Draft out of Arizona State. In 2015, he had an up-and-down year in Double-A Jacksonville with a 4.00 ERA in 117 innings, but saw much better results in his brief time in Triple-A New Orleans, pitching 14 innings with a 2.57 ERA. He was also the Marlins’ eighth best prospect according to Baseball America.
Williams does not the ceiling of fellow Pirates pitching prospects Tyler Glasnow or Jameson Taillon, since he does not strike out batters as well. He had a 6.8 K/9 ratio, which falls in line with his career ratio of 6.7, for Jacksonville last season, though did post a 8.4 ratio in limited time with New Orleans.
Instead, Williams falls more in line with the Steven Brault/Chad Kuhl/Jason Creasy group of pitchers that have good control and could be good back-end-of-the-rotation starters. Baseball America lists Williams as having both a four- and two-seam fastball that can reach 96 MPH, a low-70s curveball, changeup and a cutter that sits in the upper 80s.
Where Williams starts next season could be dependent on the health of Taillon, Nick Kingham, Brandon Cumpton and Casey Sadler. He may be pushed to the bullpen in Triple-A Indianapolis or the rotation in Double-A Altoona when everyone is healthy, though could still pitch in the Majors in 2016 as a depth option.
Overall, this is a very curious trade. Mitchell, the player sent to Miami, was one of the oldest pitchers in the GCL last season, and was not considered one of the GCL Pirates’ top pitching prospects, so the trade seems disproportionately favorable for the Pirates. It is probably not a coincidence that they acquired Williams the day after pitching guru Jim Benedict was hired to be the Marlins’ vice president of pitching.
Perhaps the Marlins sent Williams in exchange for hiring away Benedict? Maybe Williams had red flags to Benedict before being hired? Or maybe Benedict really like Mitchell and wanted to keep working with him?
Regardless, it is hard to say the Pirates did not win this trade, because even if they get minimal impact from Williams in the majors, it would still likely be more than what Mitchell ever would have given.
Notes
• The Pirates claimed 27-year-old right-handed pitcher Jorge Rondon off waivers from the Baltimore Orioles, who was designated for assignment after the Orioles acquired Vance Worley from the Pirates. Rondon has seen time in the Majors with the St. Louis Cardinals, Colorado Rockies and the Orioles over the last two seasons, with a career 0-2 record and 12.33 ERA in 15.1 innings. This move seems like the Pirates just want a flier on Rondon, and could let him go in Spring Training if not. The right-hander has a mid-90s MPH fastball that has touched 99 MPH and a hard slider. He is out of options, so he would need to make the roster to avoid going through waivers again, though considering that he made it past every team but the St. Louis Cardinals, it should not be a worry on if he will clear waivers.
• The Pirates had informal discussions with former Boston Red Sox general manager Ben Cherington, architect of the 2013 World Series champion Red Sox. Cherington, who is friends with Pirates general manager Neal Huntington, was being discussed about a possible front office role under Huntington. Cherington, however, was hired on Monday by Columbia University as an instructor in the Masters of Science in Sports Management degree program. It now appears unlikely he will join the Pirates, or any team, this off-season.
