Hopefully Santa isn't leaving any boys and girls a Josh Bell Pirates jersey for Christmas.
The Pirates on Thursday traded their All-Star first baseman for a pair of right-handed pitching prospects, Wil Crowe and Eddy Yean.
"It was just very clear to us that this was a decision we had to make," Ben Cherington said in a Zoom call with local reporters after the deal was consummated. "Although difficult as much as we appreciate Josh and respect Josh, our focus, more than that, is on the Pirates and building a winning team. A team that our fans can be proud of over a long period of time.
"We knew that in order to do that, in order to build that winning team and get to that winning team it's going to require some difficult decisions at times. This is one of those."
Baseball America ranked Yean as the Nationals' 8th best prospect ahead of the 2021 season and Crowe their 10th.
In MLB Pipeline's update of the Pirates' top prospects, Yean is now ranked 7th and Crowe 17th.
"We're excited about the pitchers we got in this deal," Cherington said. "We think both Wil Crowe and Eddy Yean have a chance to be starting pitchers in the major leagues and help us be a part of what we're building in Pittsburgh."
Bell was one of the faces of the franchise ever since his promotion to the majors in 2016. After finishing third in the National League rookie of the year voting in 2017, he earned his first All-Star nod in 2019, hitting 37 home runs with 116 RBIs and a .936 OPS. That included an outrageous month of May, where he was named the National League's player of the month after batting .390 with 12 home runs and 31 RBIs.
He never found his footing in 2020, though, struggling for almost the entire 60-game season. He hit just .226 with eight home runs and 22 RBIs, and was worth -0.4 WAR, per Baseball Reference. He cited timing issues as the main reason for his struggles, but also said not being able watch video of his at-bats midgame hurt. That change was one of the health and safety protocols for the 2020 season. In his All-Star campaign, he and hitting coach Rick Eckstein looked for "cues" in his mechanics midgame to make sure all was going well.
“Without those cues I kind of felt like it was definitely tough baseball,” Bell said in late September.
An argument could be made the Pirates could have received more in a trade midseason if Bell regained his 2019 form. Then again, if they hung on to him and he continued to slump, it would have hurt his trade value even more.
"We weighed all of those factors and felt like this was the right decision for the Pirates,” Cherington said.
Bell has two years of team control remaining and is in his second arbitration season. MLB Trade Rumor's arbitration projections have him slated to make somewhere between $5.1 and $7.2 million in 2021, with the actual salary likely on the lower end of that range. That would have likely made him the Pirates' second-highest paid player for next year, behind Gregory Polanco and his $11.6 million salary.
Trading Bell does clear a bit of a logjam the Pirates had at first base. Bell and Colin Moran swapped time at first base and designated hitter last season. While Cherington said he does not expect the DH to return to the National League in 2021, that didn't impact why Bell was dealt.
In return, the Pirates are getting two arms with some upside.
Crowe, 26, broke into the majors in 2020 but was hit hard, going 0-2 with 11 earned runs allowed over 8 1/3 innings.
He has a five-pitch mix with a fastball sitting in the low 90s. His slider gets above average movement, both vertically and horizontally, based on his brief time in the majors.
"He’s got the pitches and the know-how and the physical characteristics and the history that suggests he can be a starting pitcher in the major leagues, and we still see some improvement opportunities for him," Cherington said. "Looking forward to getting him in our system and working with him."
Crowe had Tommy John surgery while still in college at South Carolina, but the Nationals still selected him in the second round in the 2017 draft. Crowe gained attention within the Nationals organization in 2018 when he was named the high class A pitcher of the year in the Carolina League after going 11-0 with a 2.69 ERA in 87 innings.
In his last full season of baseball, Crowe remained on a solid path in Class AA, going 7-6 with a 3.87 ERA and 8.4 K/9 in 16 starts before he was promoted to AAA in mid-July, where he went 0-4 with a 6.17 ERA in 10 starts.
With the recent departure of Trevor Williams and trade rumors surrounding other starters such as Joe Musgrove, Crowe will have an opportunity to compete for a spot in the Pirates' starting rotation this spring.
"I think Wil’s at a point in his career, certainly that he would come into spring training and be a starting pitcher in spring training, and be competing for opportunity to make starts," Cherington said. "We don’t know when that’ll happen, exactly when that’ll happen, but I think he’s certainly at a point in his career where he can be a factor in 2021 and have an opportunity to earn more opportunity over time."
Crowe is already on the roster, so the 40-man remains full.
On that note, I am extremely excited to be joining the @Pirates organization. Pumped for the opportunity and ready to get to work! #LetsGoBucs
— Wil Crowe (@WilCrowe15) December 24, 2020
Yean, 19, has yet to pitch above class A, but is well-liked by scouts. FanGraphs' bio on him says his "stuff [is] typical of most late first or early second round high school arms."
He throws both a four-seam and two-seam fastball, along with a slider and changeup.
Since joining the Nationals organization at the ripe age of 17 in 2017, Yean has gained 50 pounds, and now weighs in at 230. Baseball America describes him to have a "muscular, linebacker-like build," standing at 6-foot-1.
Yean has a unique three-quarters arm slot delivery that adds some extra spin to his breaking ball. His best pitch, however, is his fastball, which has been clocked up to 97 mph.
Cherington said Yean came onto the scene in 2019 and his "stuff started popping." He also said his slider shows potential and the changeup is developing.
"He’s a strong, physical kid who we think has a chance to be durable," Cherington said. "All the reports we did in terms of the background work were really positive, so looking forward to getting to know him. He’ll join a group of young pitchers in our system kind of at the lower levels, low, full-season levels that we’re excited about."
The trade caps what had been several weeks of discussion behind the scenes. Assistant general manager Kevan Graves played a key role in those talks.
Cherington said he and the organization respect Bell, but with him nearing free agency and the team needing to acquire more talent, a trade like this "are the kinds of things that we're going to have to be willing to do."
He added latter that "we've had a lot of dialogue with a lot of teams about our players."
"[This trade] likely won't be the last one," he said. "There will probably be more."
