With the non-waiver trade deadline less than an hour away, Pirates players sat in the home clubhouse Tuesday afternoon refreshing the Twitter feed on their phones. Fourteen hours earlier, while many of them were sleeping, Neal Huntington was putting the finishing touches on a trade to acquire reliever Keone Kela from the Rangers in exchange for pitching prospect Taylor Hearn and a player to be named later.
"It's something we've been waiting for," Joe Musgrove, who pitched against Kela while a member of the Astros, said while scrolling through Twitter. Then, minutes before the 4 p.m. deadline, news broke of the Pirates acquiring Chris Archer.
An expletive was shouted in the clubhouse during Clint Hurdle's pregame media availability. Tyler Glasnow ducked out of the room. Austin Meadows hadn't been informed of a trade. In the end, both were headed to Tampa, and Huntington swiftly made his biggest trade deadline splash hours before the Pirates beat the Cubs, 5-4, at PNC Park to draw within six games in the Central Division.
Yet, it was only three weeks ago that Huntington was ready to pull the plug on 2018.
"It certainly pushed us in this direction we’re in today," Frank Coonelly, the Pirates' president, said Tuesday afternoon of the club's unprecedented success in July.
Huntington, speaking during his weekly press briefing July 8, told reporters he would sell at the deadline if his team did not gain ground in the standings during the final week before the All-Star break.
The Pirates were seven games below .500, 12 1/2 games back in the Central Division and losers in 31 of their last 45. They allowed 17 runs twice in one week and seemingly the entire offense was slumping. They responded with their first 11-game winning streak in 22 years, including six in a row before the break, and have now won 16 of their last 20 games, owning the best record in baseball since Huntington's warning.
With the deadline approaching, Bob Nutting, the Pirates' controlling owner, gave Huntington and Coonelly a directive: if the two believed in the young core then they had his blessing to make significant additions at the deadline, within reason. Huntington, in pursuit of bullpen help to complement Felipe Vazquez, struck first in the middle of the night, acquiring Kela, who saved 24 games for the Rangers this season, with Hearn, their seventh-best prospect according to MLB Pipeline, as the centerpiece of the deal.
"To get guys like that you have to give up some players, but man, it's exciting," David Freese said. "What we're doing now, winning ballgames in a city that kind of demands that and wants to feel victories, man, it's fun to be part of."
Hearn, a 23-year-old with a fastball that sits at 99, was acquired at the deadline two years ago along with Vazquez in the Mark Melancon deadline deal and reached Double-A Altoona this season, striking out 107 with 38 walks in 104 innings. He was likely to reach Triple-A soon; however, he was blocked from the majors by Jameson Taillon, Musgrove, Trevor Williams, Chad Kuhl, Nick Kingham and Clay Holmes, all of whom are under contract through 2022.
Plus, Mitch Keller, now the Pirates' top prospect, has reached Triple-A, and the club also has Shane Baz, their first-round pick from last year, at short-season Bristol.
Kela, 25, had 24 saves for the Rangers this season and ranked fifth in the American League in saves, converting all but one of his opportunities, while registering a 3.44 ERA with 44 strikeouts to 14 walks in 36 2/3 innings. He'll complement one of the most feared closers in the NL, as well as two promising high-leverage relievers: Kyle Crick and Edgar Santana.
Plus, Huntington was about to add another pitcher to the rotation. Archer, a 29-year-old two-time All-Star, was the top prize remaining on the trade market, and the Pirates seemed to be out of the running since their farm system contained only two Baseball America top 100 prospects. Huntington, for the first time in his tenure, traded two young players thought to be a vital part of the Pirates' future.
"We felt like because of our depth we were able to make two significant moves, not just the one significant move, and retain players we believe can help us next year and into the future continue to be a winning team," Huntington said.
The Rays insisted on Meadows being included in the deal, and he was unlikely to be in the Pirates' plans until 2020 since Corey Dickerson is under contract through next season. Glasnow, still only 24, was serving an apprenticeship in the Pirates' bullpen and his 72 strikeouts ranked third among National League relievers, but he was also averaging 5.5 walks per nine innings and was unlikely to earn a spot in the rotation anytime soon. His few high-leverage relief appearances didn't go well, and he'll now start for the Rays against the Angels Wednesday night.
Archer has a 1.38 WHIP with 102 strikeouts in 96 innings this season. He also has a pedestrian 4.31 ERA in 17 starts; however, his 3.62 xFIP — field independent pitching, which accounts for the ballpark and league — and .343 batting average on balls in play suggest he’s pitched better than surface numbers would indicate.
Archer ranks fifth in the majors in strikeouts over the past four seasons. He was scheduled to start for the Rays Wednesday, but it’s unclear when he’ll report to Pittsburgh or pitch for the first time.
Huntington, Nutting and Coonelly have said repeatedly since January the club's best shot at a World Series is making the postseason as frequently and consistently as possible, rather than trading prospects for a short-term playoff push. But Kela is under contract for two more years, and Archer for three more, which motivated all involved to meet the asking price.
"This is a clear statement that we have an opportunity we can seize and we have to take an aggressive position," Coonelly said. "And we’ve taken a position that is probably more aggressive than we have in the past in that regard."
Nutting, who was not available to reporters and did not attend Huntington's news conference, shared a similar sentiment in a statement released through a team spokesperson: "Our collective confidence in this core group of players made this the right time to seize an opportunity and continue in the clear direction that was set this offseason. We needed to get better then and needed to get better now. These moves should make us a stronger team this season and beyond."
Although Coonelly did not mention them by name, Gerrit Cole and Andrew McCutchen were influential in the club's pulling the trigger on both trades. After all, those two trades gave the Pirates both the prospect depth and financial flexibility to make two significant deadline additions.
Archer is owed $27 million over the next three years, including $7.6 million next season with two club options after that. Kela, meanwhile, made $1.2 million this season and will receive a raise in arbitration during the offseason. They add $2.945 million to the Pirates' payroll the rest of this season.
Now, the Pirates have contractual control of Starling Marte, Gregory Polanco, Josh Bell, Elias Diaz, Colin Moran, Taillon, Musgrove, Vazquez, Crick, Santana, Kela and Archer through 2020. Also, prospects such as Keller, Kevin Newman, Jason Martin, Kevin Kramer, Ke'Bryan Hayes and Cole Tucker are getting closer to the major leagues. Plus, shortstop Oneil Cruz, outfielder Travis Swaggerty and Baz are all still in the organization, although the player to be named later headed to the Rays is one of "significance," Huntington said.
"We felt like because of our depth we were able to make two significant moves, not just the one significant move, and retain players we believe can help us next year and into the future continue to be a winning team," Huntington said.
Coonelly added: "We believe in this team. ... We wouldn’t have paid the steep price that we paid today in terms of major league players and prospects for a player who was here for two months. But we were able to bring in somebody who we believe can help push us forward this year and then help us in ’19, ’20 and ’21."
Huntington, speaking to reporters Sunday during his final weekly briefing before the deadline, expressed regret over not completing a blockbuster trade in 2014, when the Pirates lost in the Wild Card round. Now, after making two significant moves with his club at 55-52 and within striking distance, Huntington is withholding judgement.
"Ask me in about five years," Huntington said with a chuckle. "We feel great, we do. You get a chance to add Chris Archer and Keone Kela to what we believe is a really good team and you’re not looking, 'Man, if the next two months don’t go well, it’s about the next two months, next three months,' but it’s also about the next season, two seasons, three seasons. I know I’m hammering that, but that is significant. We gave up a lot, but the belief was that this club’s good."
