The Pittsburgh Pirates have been one of the most surprising teams of the offseason, making trades left and right, signing solid free agents, and aiming to be contenders.
They traded for a slugger in Brandon Lowe and signed one in Ryan O’Hearn. Now, one last trade for another slugger with a Gold Glove could be the piece they need to try to win the NL Central. Fansided’s Chris Landers proposes that the last piece is Chicago White Sox All-Star Luis Robert Jr.
“You want pitching? The Pirates have it in spades, even after dipping into it a bit to land Brandon Lowe and more from the Rays earlier this week. What Pittsburgh still needs, even with Lowe on board, is offense, and particularly in the outfield. Oneil Cruz is an athletic freak in center field, but he's also prone to the occasional back-breaking mistake. Robert would raise the ceiling of this lineup considerably, and maybe take a little pressure off of Cruz's shoulders by giving him a running mate and sliding him over to left. Again, if you're not willing to spend, you need to get creative, and a Robert trade would certainly qualify,” Landers wrote.
Robert slashed.223/.297/.364/.661 with 12 doubles, 14 home runs, and 53 RBI in 110 games played. However, two years prior in his All-Star year, he slashed.264/.315/.542/.857 with 36 doubles, 38 home runs, 80 RBI, and 20 stolen bases in 145 games.
Putting Robert in center would force Oneil Cruz to move, as noted by Landers. However, it’s not too bad, as Cruz could move to left as Landers mentioned, or he could return to shortstop, his other natural position.
Overall, this could be a great move by a Pirates team trying to contend on a budget. If they land Lowe, O’Hearn, and Robert all in the same offseason, it would be their best one in recent memory.
MORE MLB NEWS