MINNEAPOLIS — Shane Baz, a starting pitcher selected 12th overall by the Pirates in last June's MLB Draft, was traded to the Rays Tuesday to complete the blockbuster Chris Archer deadline deal.
Baz, 19, was named the Appalachian League pitcher of the week Monday after throwing 9 2/3 scoreless innings with 12 strikeouts in his past two starts for short-season Bristol and was ranked the Pirates' No. 3 prospect by Baseball America entering the season. To acquire Archer, the club parted with two of its top three prospects — Baz and Austin Meadows, who was ranked No. 2 entering the season — and Tyler Glasnow.
Meadows has appeared in 11 games with the Rays' Triple-A affiliate, while Glasnow has allowed three earned runs over four major-league starts. Baz had a 3.97 ERA, 1.50 WHIP and 54 strikeouts to 23 walks in 10 starts for Bristol.
"Well, as we’ve all said, we’re excited to have Archer, and we knew Archer’s price tag was going to be high," Clint Hurdle said Tuesday afternoon at Target Field. "We wish [Baz] nothing but good things. I hope it turns out to be a great trade for both sides. The other hard part is not every minor league prospect ever pans out to be a great major league pitcher. You just don’t know. We love the kid, love the development, the progress and tracking he was on, just as we did with Glasnow, just as we did with Meadows. ... It’s all part of organizational development and success. There’s only two types of currency in today’s game to go get players you don’t have and you’re not raising: you either buy them or you trade for them. This was the option we were able to choose."
Baz, drafted out of Concordia Lutheran High School in Tomball, Texas, received a $4.1 million signing bonus from the Pirates one day before his 18th birthday, forgoing his commitment to play collegiately at TCU. He was ranked the No. 23 overall prospect in the draft by Baseball America and was assigned to the GCL Pirates, where he had a 1.69 WHIP with 19 strikeouts to 14 walks in 23 2/3 innings over 10 starts.
He wasn't ranked among Baseball America's top 100 prospects entering the season and was assigned to Bristol, where his fastball command was inconsistent. Baz allowed four earned runs in three consecutive starts and failed to pitch through the fifth inning four times. However, he was ranked the Pirates' fourth-best prospect according to MLB Pipeline, the second-best pitcher behind Mitch Keller, and the website ranked him as the No. 98 prospect in all of baseball.
Baz's fastball has reportedly reached 98 mph and he added a changeup that helped him hold left-handed hitters to a .250 average with Bristol. With his departure and Taylor Hearn being dealt in the Keone Kela trade, the Pirates have only one other pitcher ranked among their top 13 prospects: Luis Escobar, a 22-year-old right-hander who has a 1.46 WHIP in five starts since being promoted to Double-A Altoona.
Braxton Ashcraft, an 18-year-old right-handed starter selected 51st overall by the Pirates in June, is now their 14th-best prospect and has allowed three earned runs in nine innings since making his debut with the GCL Pirates. He pitched four scoreless innings with two strikeouts in his last start Monday. The system is otherwise relatively thin on starting pitching depth; however, Neal Huntington expressed confidence before Baz was announced as part of the deal because the club has young, controllable starting pitching in the majors and at Triple-A.
Jamson Taillon, Joe Musgrove, Trevor Williams and Chad Kuhl are all under the age of 27 and under contract through 2022. Plus, the Pirates have Nick Kingham, Clay Holmes, Brandon Waddell, J.T. Brubaker and Keller all in Triple-A Indianapolis.
Archer, a two-time All-Star, is under contract for next season at $7.6 million and has team options for the following two years. The 29-year-old had a 4.31 ERA in 17 starts before the trade. He ranks fifth in the majors in strikeouts over the past four seasons and has pitched at least 200 innings for each of the past three seasons. Over the last five years, Archer ranks 10th among all pitchers with 905 innings.
Archer hasn't pitched into the sixth inning in either of his starts with the Pirates, allowing five earned runs on 12 hits in 9 1/3 innings, although he earned his first win last Wednesday against the Rockies at Coors Field. Meadows, 23 years old and drafted ninth overall in 2013, is batting .333 with a 1.090 OPS, three home runs and eight RBIs for Triple-A Durham. He homered twice Saturday, including a two-run walkoff blast in the bottom of the ninth.
Glasnow, who was moved into the Rays' rotation, has 20 strikeouts with three walks in 12 innings, posting a 0.75 WHIP in that span. He isn't eligible for free agency until after 2023.