How Should Pirates Handle David Bednar Trade Interest?

If Pirates Internally Plan To Contend in 2024…

They should absolutely keep Bednar unless a team blows them away. It is rumored that the Arizona Diamondbacks are “heavily in” on the 29-year old. Arizona has a solid pool of prospects to offer up to the Pirates and General Manager Ben Cherington has dealt with them in the past when he sent Starling Marte to the desert in his first trade in Pittsburgh.

With Bednar gauging trade interest from multiple teams, the Pirates have to do their due diligence and listen. Unless someone comes along with a haul, I believe they should hold on to Bednar if they anticipate a 2024 return to contention. Finding elite closers in baseball is not an easy thing to do. The Pirates scooped one up in Bednar when they sent Joe Musgrove to the San Diego Padres way-back-when.

If the Pirates do a better job of building their bullpen this off-season, they could find a better bridge to Bednar. Relying on your starters to go five-or-six innings and then build a good setup tandem to get it to Bednar would be a solid plan. Good teams are always on the hunt for an elite closer. The Pirates would already have one built in with the right-hander.

If Pirates Don’t Plan to Contend until 2025…

Now things would get a little more interesting. If you plan on wasting another year of Bednar’s prime, then actual trade chatter may commence.

Bednar’s three additional years of team control would be a massive sticking point for the Pirates. If they’re going to give a commodity like that away, they’d better command a haul in return. The reliever market is very volatile depending on how many late-inning arms are out there and the quality of them.

Reynaldo Lopez came off the board on Wednesday night. Jordan Hicks could potentially be moved if contract talks don’t move over the next few days. Scott Barlow is an intriguing bullpen candidate. Bednar ranks up there with all of those names and, due to his control, could be the most expensive piece on the market.

An acquiring team would be getting a reliever that has had a cumulative of 2.14 in 144 appearances since the start of the 2021 season. He’s converted 42-of-49 saves in his three seasons in the big leagues. There is no doubt he can be a championship team’s ninth-inning guy.

Ultimately, the Pirates will likely keep both Bednar and Keller. They’re pieces of the puzzle that a team like the Pirates can’t afford to trade for when they finally hit that contention point. They have them in-house and it would take one whopping offer to pry Bednar away in a trade.