Rodriguez to Braves, Davis to Red Sox in final 'minutes' before deadline

The Pirates made a pair of buzzer beater trades to close the 2021 trade deadline, sending Richard Rodriguez to the Braves for a pair of young pitchers and Austin Davis to the Red Sox.

In return for their closer, the Pirates receive right-handers Bryse Wilson and Ricky DeVito.

For Davis, the Pirates received infielder Michael Chavis.

Ben Cherington said that both trades were made within "minutes" of the 4 p.m. deadline. The Rodriguez trade took weeks to orchestrate. The Davis one came together rather quickly Friday.

He emphasized shortly after the moves were announced Friday that they were done because he thought it made the team better in the long run.

"We did not feel like we had to trade him," Cherington said about Rodriguez. "We felt like we had an obligation to listen and see if there was an opportunity that made sense for us.”

Wilson, 23, has pitched in parts of the last four seasons, albeit in a very limited capacity. In 23 games, 15 of which were starts, he is 5-4 with a 5.90 ERA over 76 1/3 innings pitched.

Cherington says he expects Wilson to report to the Pirates Saturday. He will be used as a starter.

"We certainly want him to be making starts and over the course of the weekend," Cherington said. "We'll take some time to kind of reset with our staff and figure out what makes sense both with the Indy roster and the Pittsburgh roster."

The highlight of his career came in game four of the National League Championship Series last year, where he shut down the Dodgers over six innings, limiting them to one run.

Wilson entered the year the Braves' No. 5 prospect, according to Baseball America, and was that publication's No. 80 overall prospect entering the 2019 season.

He works with a five pitch mix: A four- and two-seam fastball which average about 93 mph, a changeup as his primary secondary pitch, a slider and a curveball.

DeVito, 21, was ranked as the Braves' No. 17 prospect in Baseball America's midseason updates. He has pitched to a 2.66 ERA over his five starts for Class High-A. He is currently sidelined with an elbow injury.

He has a mid-90s fastball, a serviceable curveball and a splitter which Baseball America calls an out pitch.

"[They're] two guys, obviously, at different points in their career, but two guys we think have a chance to be starting pitchers in the major leagues for us," Cherington said.

Chavis, who will turn 26 in August, has spent parts of three seasons in the majors with the Red Sox. He has played first, second, third and left field in the majors, with the majority of those reps coming at first base. 

In 622 major league plate appearances, Chavis has slashed .234/.291/.413 with 25 home runs and 83 RBIs. He has posted a .549 OPS in the majors this year and has received more playing time in Class AAA.

Cherington selected Chavis in the first round of the 2014 draft while he was the Red Sox general manager. Baseball America ranked him as the No. 85 prospect entering 2018 and the Red Sox No. 2 guy in 2019.

With the trades, the Pirates lose their closer and one of their go-to lefties of late.

Rodriguez had been hit harder of late, but still had an impressive 2.82 ERA and 33 strikeouts over 38 1/3 innings pitched with 14 saves. While Derek Shelton did not formally name him the closer coming out of spring training, he had been used almost exclusively out of the ninth innings this season.

In four years with the Pirates since joining on a minor-league contract, Rodriguez posted a 2.98 ERA over 196 games pitched.

Davis has spent a good chunk of this season either on the injured list with an elbow sprain or in Class AAA Indianapolis. He allowed six earned runs over 9 2/3 innings with the Pirates.

Without Rodriguez, Davis and Clay Holmes, who was traded to the Yankees Tuesday, the Pirates' bullpen is going to experience a shakeup, both in the backend and in middle relief.

"It's something that we'll talk through," Shelton said. "I think we have a couple guys who could pitch at the end of the game, but it's something that we will sit and work through, probably in the next day or two."

The Pirates ended up making three trades on deadline day, the third being trading minor-league left-hander Braeden Ogle to the Phillies for minor-league catcher Abrahan Gutierrez.

This week they also traded Adam Frazier to the Padres for three prospects, Tyler Anderson to the Mariners for two minor-leaguers and Clay Holmes to the Yankees for two prospects.

"We continue to talk about how we have to acquire as much talent as possible," Shelton said. "I think in four trades we acquired, what 11 or 12 guys? That's gonna help supplement us moving forward. That's extremely important to us."

Wilson and Chavis are already on the 40-man roster, meaning the Pirates' roster remain at 37 players. Chavis has one option year remaining after this, while this is Wilson's final option year.

The trades of Frazier and Rodriguez effectively closes the door of major league players that Cherington inherited that he is willing to trade right now.

What is the message to the group after those moves?

"The only reason we make any decision is if we think it puts us in a stronger position to win over time. Period," Cherington said. "That’s the only reason we would do anything. It's our obligation to them: To do whatever we can to build a winning team in Pittsburgh."