ATLANTA — To cut costs and create playing time for prospects, the Pirates traded third baseman David Freese to the Dodgers and shortstop Adeiny Hechavarria to the Yankees late Friday night.
The deals were announced shortly after Freese started at third base in the Pirates' 3-2 victory over the Braves at SunTrust Park, barely before the deadline for him and Hechavarria to be eligible for the postseason. In return, Neal Huntington acquired Jesus Manuel Valdez, a 20-year-old infielder who played this season for the Dodgers' Dominican Summer League team, and cash or a player to be named later from the Yankees.
Freese went 1 for 4 with an RBI single Friday night, and the 35-year-old batted .282 in 94 games this season. Hechavarria, 29, played in only 15 games for the team after being acquired from the Rays on Aug. 4, and he expressed a desire to return to the Pirates next season. The moves clear two spots on the 40-man roster, while also saving money, as Huntington explained in a statement to announce Freese's departure.
"We made the difficult decision to trade David to give him an opportunity to pursue a World Series championship this season," he said. "We truly appreciate all that David has contributed to the Pirates these three seasons and wish him well. This move will free up valuable playing time for some of our younger players, while clearing some salary. We are also pleased to add a player with interesting power, athleticism and defensive versatility to our system in Valdez.”
It's a dramatic shift from the Pirates' strategy only one month earlier, when they made the biggest splash at the non-waiver deadline by trading for starting pitcher Chris Archer and reliever Keone Kela. Archer, a 29-year-old front line starter for the Rays, is under contract for three more seasons, while Kela, only 25, is arbitration-eligible for two more seasons and saved 24 games for the Rangers before the trade.
Valdez, a 6-foot right-handed hitter, batted .230/.343/.412 with 11 doubles, 16 stolen bases, six home runs and 27 RBIs in 60 DSL games this season.
The Pirates, now 66-69, went 10-17 in August to fall out of contention. They're in fourth place in the Central Division, 13 1/2 games behind the first-place Cubs, and 9 1/2 back in the wild-card race. Freese made $4.25 million this season and has a club option for 2019 worth $6 million, including a $500,000 buyout. He was a catalyst for the club's ascent in July, hitting .364 with a 1.044 OPS in 20 games that month.
Freese batted .289 with 10 doubles, eight home runs and 32 RBIs in 53 starts this season. The former World Series MVP signed a one-year deal with the Pirates in 2016 to start until Jung Ho Kang returned. However, he played 141 games that season and signed a two-year extension with a club option.
Freese became a bench player this season after the club acquired Colin Moran as part of the Gerrit Cole trade, though he remained the team's most vocal leader. Upon arriving at Pirate City for spring training in February, Freese expressed frustrations with the clubhouse culture, saying "The demand to win just hasn’t been in the air."
He also criticized the front office, and the Pirates' lack of spending after an offseason where they traded Cole and Andrew McCutchen.
David Freese tells reporters that it was time for change after two non-playoff seasons. You might want to watch this: pic.twitter.com/E6aHZotH4p
— Lance Lysowski (@LLysowski) February 16, 2018
He entered Friday in a 2-for-23 slump and hadn't played in a week because he was sick during the team's series in St. Louis. It seemed a deal wouldn't get done since he was in the lineup again for the series opener against the Braves, but he drove in Starling Marte with a single and spoke candidly with reporters afterwards about the Pirates' fall from contention.
"It’s just frustrating," Freese said. "We’re just not winning. We’re fighting, but when you play teams that are better than you and they come out hot, they’re going to beat you. We’ve got a club that we’ve got to grind. We talked about it all year. Right now, the talent in this clubhouse, you’ve got to fight all day, every day. We don’t have a lineup where you can kind of — not relax — but just expect four guys to show up. Our [pitching] staff is doing an unbelievable job. Offensively, we just haven’t been doing it lately, but real proud of the pitching and where they’ve come from."
The Pirates scored the third-fewest runs in the majors in August, while Archer hasn't been effective. Hechavarria, meanwhile, was acquired for minor-league reliever Matt Seelinger, and Hurdle said they were going to consider Hechavarria as an option for beyond this season. The veteran is a free agent this winter and made $5.9 million this season, though the Rays reportedly picked up most of the salary owed to him over the final two months.
He was mired in a 2-for-18 slump entering Friday and hadn't played since Tuesday, when he went 0 for 3 with a strikeout. Jordy Mercer, also a free agent this offseason, will now likely split time at shortstop with Kevin Newman, while Kevin Kramer could be recalled from Triple-A Indianapolis once rosters expand Saturday. Newman has three hits and nine strikeouts in 24 at-bats since being recalled earlier this month.
Kramer, a second-round draft pick in 2015, will need to first be added to the 40-man roster, which had only one open spot prior to the trades. He's batted .310 with a .856 OPS, 15 home runs and 59 RBIs in 127 games for Indianapolis. The left-handed hitter homered and drove in four runs Friday night. He can play second base, third base and shortstop.
Jose Osuna, who will also likely be recalled, and Francisco Cervelli could also back up Josh Bell at first base, though the latter may not be able to since Elias Diaz injured his hamstring Friday night.