Pirates GM Addresses Players They Didn't Trade

PITTSBURGH — The Pittsburgh Pirates completed trades at the deadline, but also didn't make trades that fans of the team expected would happen.

The Pirates sent players with team control on trades, like right-handed relief pitcher David Bednar to the New York Yankees, left-handed relief pitcher Bailey Falter to the Kansas City Royals and third baseman Ke'Bryan Hayes to the Cincinnati Reds.

Bednar had one year of arbitration, Falter had three more years and Hayes was in year four of an eight-year, $70 million deal he signed in 2022.

The Pirates had three players on expiring contracts that they didn't trade, which included left-handed starting pitcher Andrew Heaney, outfielder Tommy Pham and infielder Isiah Kiner-Falefa, who are still with the team and that they didn't trade.

Heaney and Pham signed one-year deals in the offseason, $5.25 million and $4.025 million, respectively, while Kiner-Falefa is in the last year of his two-year, $15 million deal he signed with the Toronto Blue Jays ahead of the 2024 season.

Pirates general manager Ben Cherington said during a press conference after the trade deadline that he didn't feel pressured to trade anyone and that they made trades on a case-by-case basis."

"I think I would speak of them one at a time. First of all, we didn't feel like we had to trade anybody," Cherington said. "There was no sort of requirement to trade anyone. We were going to take it a case at a time..."

Cherington said with Kiner-Falefa that he didn't think he needed to move him, especially after the Hayes trade. He also praised Kiner-Falefa for his play and how that benefits younger players.

"...I think in those three cases, if we start with IKF, I think once we knew that the Ke'Bryan trade was happening, we knew that that opened opportunity, at least for Triolo, and maybe others. But there was at least one really big opportunity opened up there in the infield, which we felt was an important step towards creating that opportunity," Cherington said.

"I think we probably felt less motivation to move more of our infield, once we knew the Ke'Bryan trade was done. Doesn't mean there won't be opportunities for other young infielders to come up and play. We may do that.

"We were just in a position to look at that on its merits, and Izzy's been a really solid, dependable player for us at shortstop. He plays his tail off every game. Sets a great example for younger players.

"Obviously I know I talk about building towards the best team we possibly can in 2026. Tomorrow night's game in Denver is important to us too. We're not going to make a trade just to make one."

Pham has hit .411 in his past 26 games, after batting .194 in his first 51 games, serving as one of the most important hitters for the Pirates in the past month.

Cherington said that it made more 'sense' to hold on to Pham and that he has loved his bounce back from a rough start.

"I think in Tommy's case, it's somewhat a similar theme," Cherington said. "He's been a pretty remarkable example for younger players in how he's pulled himself out of a very difficult start to the season and showing the toughness to do that.

"I still think there's going to be opportunities to get him in the lineup and also get others in the lineup in the outfield over the course of August and September. Again, another case where we didn't feel like we had to trade him. We were open to it. Ultimately felt like it made sense to hold on.

Heaney had a strong start to the season, with a 3.33 ERA over 78.1 innings pitched in his first 14 starts and 59 strikeouts to 24 walks.

He then struggled over his next six outings and five starts, not allowing less than three runs in an appearance. He allowed 28 earned runs over 23.2 innings pitched for a 10.65 ERA, including nine home runs.

Cherington said that once they knew they were trading Falter, they wanted to keep Heaney around. They also expect right-hander Johan Oviedo to come back soon, which will likely happen once he finishes his rehab assignment at Triple-A Indianapolis, and take a spot in the rotation.

"And then in Heaney's case, I do think we felt it probably made sense to trade one of our starters to try to open up some opportunity for other starters going into August and September," Cherington said. "Certainly Oviedo is on the cusp. He's up to a reasonable pitch count now in Triple-A and he's someone we want to see Major League innings for.

"I think we felt it was probably a good idea to trade one starter. We were open to trading more if the return was the right return and just didn't find those opportunities. Once we knew that the Falter trade was happening, we just decided to hold on Andrew and expect he'll pitch tomorrow night. Looking forward to seeing him pitch tomorrow night."