Pirates acquire Keone Kela

While everyone was sleeping, Pirates general manager Neal Huntington and Rangers general manager Jon Daniels were busy doing work ahead of the 4 p.m non-waiver trade deadline this afternoon. The Pirates were the aggressor this time, acquiring closer Keone Kela from the Rangers in exchange for LHP prospect Taylor Hearn and a PTBNL (a lower-tier one than Hearn). 

Kela, 25, has had an interesting career to say the least. Though, it appears he’s finally put it together in 2018 after showing some of his potential in 2017 as well. This season, he’s pitched to a 2.97 FIP, is striking out nearly 11 batters per 9 innings and has already been worth 1 WAR, which is great for a reliever at this stage in the year. While he’s not the greatest reliever there is, he’s an effective one that can get outs regularly, and the Pirates will welcome that. 

He will likely step into the setup role for the Pirates to help Santana, Rodriguez and Crick get the ball to Vazquez (though this bullpen screams “play the matchups”). This move helps the Pirates shorten games even more significantly, which is a great strategy when the starters sometimes have trouble going 6+ innings. The bullpen is in great position to back up the starter’s flaws when they arise.

Going the other way is Taylor Hearn, a rising prospect that is held in pretty high regard. He was ranked 7th in the Pirates system according to MLB Pipeline and continually moving up and likely still will. He was the second piece acquired from the Nationals in 2016 for Melancon (Pirates impressively turned 2 months of Melancon into Vazquez and Kela). He’s a lefty with filthy stuff but is still a bit raw in AA. His ETA is 2019 but that rawness I mentioned might hold him back. He might also not stick as a starter, and there’s concerns he could flame out with that arm like many pitchers like that do. His ceiling is super high but his floor is super low. Yes, it’s a risk to lose him, but it’s a calculated risk in my opinion. 

As I said, Hearn is a tough loss for this system, especially one that has a lack of LHP depth. But Kela is controlled for the next couple years and is a legit bullpen arm to stick with Vazquez that gives this team a better chance to win the next couple of years, which is the goal after all. 

At some point, Huntington had to give up a legitimate prospect for big-time help at the MLB level, and he finally did it. This is a fair trade for both teams and I think both fan bases and both teams will like how this trade pans out.