In the end, one of the contributing factors for trading Kevin Newman had less to do about him and more to do about the other Pirate shortstop.
On Friday night, shortly after the non-tender deadline, the Pirates traded their longest-tenured player to the Reds for right-hander reliever Dauri Moreta. Newman did have a bit of a bounce back campaign in 2022, posting a .274 batting average, .687 OPS and 1.1 WAR over 78 games after two very rough seasons at the plate, but with the middle infield options on the 40 man roster, it was determined that Newman was expendable.
The most notable of those options are shortstop Oneil Cruz and second baseman Rodolfo Castro, both of whom flashed their offensive potential but also their rawness in the field. That is especially so for Cruz, who made 17 errors in 2022 and was worth -9 Outs Above Average, according to Baseball Savant. Newman provided some depth and security at shortstop, but he also needed reps, which could have cut into Cruz's playing time.
So while the Pirates were willing to tender a contract to Newman, Cruz is considered a better option in the long term at shortstop.
"I think we got to a point where we’ve got a young shortstop in Cruz who we want to give opportunity to and we feel like we have some other players also on the 40-man and off the 40-man who can play that position," Ben Cherington said over Zoom Saturday. "We have some depth at that position. As we looked at our needs this offseason and how to strengthen the team for 2023 and beyond, we felt it was possible that we were at a time when considering a trade with Kevin might make sense and potentially for him as well. Kevin’s obviously been a shortstop his whole life. That opportunity was changing a bit now in Pittsburgh. Look at the Pirates’ needs and how we can get better and also kind of looking out for Kevin a little bit."
Cherington has stated multiple times that defense is a part of a player's game that can be improved with extra work, and the Pirates are certainly trying to get Cruz to click at shortstop. That includes bringing on Mendy López as an infield coach this winter. Cruz will undoubtedly be a starter next year, but if he doesn't improve at shortstop, he could be moved to another position, like the outfield.
Looking at the Pirates' roster, Castro, Diego Castillo and Ji Hwan Bae can all play either middle infield spot, but received more playing time at second base in 2022. The only other true shortstop on the 40 man is prospect Liover Peguero, who will likely start the year at Class AAA Indianapolis.
That doesn't mean Cherington is ready to verbally commit to Cruz being the starting shortstop next year yet.
"I think we want to create competition there certainly, whether it’s guys that are already here," Cherington said. "Wouldn’t rule out adding an infielder, either. I would emphasize the competition, but there will be a runway to be part of that competition and continue to earn it. He’s a really talented player, obviously, and is working hard at his game. We want to give him a chance to continue to improve and, in some cases of the young players, they have to have a chance to play a lot to do that."
Regardless, it became increasingly likely this year that Newman was not going to be a long-term Pirate, even if his play improved that season. Whether it's Cruz, Castro or someone else either on the roster or nearby in the minors, the Pirates are looking to hand those middle infield positions to players who could be with the club for years to come.
"We’d certainly like to get some more stability sooner than later," he said. "We've gone through a lot of change. There's been a lot of different guys playing out there. I think that means we're closer to (having) more stability because some of those younger players have had a chance to get some traction in the major leagues."
MORE FROM THE GENERAL MANAGER
• The Pirates went into this offseason looking for more swing-and-miss from their bullpen, and Moreta does provide that. He struck out 39 over 38 1/3 innings last year, but also recorded a 5.40 ERA.
"This is a young pitcher who we feel kind of at that point where he’s gotten a taste of the big leagues," Cherington said about Moreta. "He’s been successful in the minor leagues. He’s had some success in the Major Leagues. Another in a group of pitchers we have who we believe, we hope are on kind of on that verge of taking that one more step to becoming more regular established Major League pitchers. He’s a talented kid, athletic, plus fastball, plus slider. He’s got a changeup. I We’ve got a fair number of guys who are more two-seam, sinker-oriented fastballs. Moreta’s more of a four-seam so it’s a little bit of a different look there than some other guys we have. He’s someone we think can come into Spring Training and be part of the competition in the bullpen and make the team."
• On Tuesday, the Pirates added Mike Burrows, Endy Rodriguez, Jared Triolo and Colin Selby to the 40 man roster. But when it comes to Rule 5 decisions, it's almost more interesting which players a club doesn't add.
For the Pirates, that includes Malcom Nunez, Blake Sabol, Matt Gorski, Cody Bolton and more who were left off because the Pirates are planning to make more offseason moves and need the roster space.
"It's always a balance of what are the remaining needs, the things we want to do in the Rule 5. The protection day happens pretty early in the offseason. Typically on that day, there's still a lot of other things we want to do or other teams want to do and often you need 40-man minute spots to do those things. And so we expect that we're going to be adding more players to the 40-man over the course of the offseason and need spots to do that. So you try to account for how many spots you’ll need and predict the best you can and kind of work backward from that.
"We’re also making an assessment on how to have the best chance to retain much talent we can and. Every team is doing that and making a bet on the best way to do that. We understand that with that comes some risk that at some point we could lose a player in the Rule 5. At some point, it's likely to happen as our players get toward the upper levels of the organization. We saw last year some guys we chose not to protect ended up playing a lot in the major leagues for us this year. It's really not about whether we believe in the players or not. It's just you only have 40 spots and we have to use those as strategically as we can, particularly in the offseason."
• On Friday, the Pirates settled on a one-year deal with Miguel Andújar, avoiding arbitration. While Andújar has primarily played third and corner outfield in his time in the majors, the Pirates brought up first base in his exit interview, and he could end up being part of their answer at that position, along with Ji-Man Choi.
The Pirates will also continue to look at different options at first base and designated hitter.
• Since payroll is always in the discussion when it comes to the ball club: Cherington was asked about it during the Zoom after the subject was broached during a team town hall event with season ticket holders last week.
"Three thoughts initially come to mind. One is that we truthfully don’t know what our payroll number is gonna be next year. Even if we did know, I’m not sure it’s in our interest to share it specifically, but the truth is that we don’t know. No. 2 is I would bet on it being higher than it was in 2022 but don’t know precisely. No. 3 is that my belief is that whatever it is, whatever the number ends up being, is sort of secondary in importance to all the other stuff that we’re focused on this offseason. Which is just making the team better, whether that’s through internal improvement or finding the right acquisitions or finding the right fits in free agency or trade. Our focus is on executing at a level that helps us get better in 2023 and much less on precisely what the payroll number is."
According to Ronald Blum of the AP, the Pirates' opening day payroll was $62 million. An end of season payroll has not been reported.
