For the second time in the past few days, the Pirates made a surprise trade, sending left-hander Francisco Liriano and two prospects to the Blue Jays in exchange for righty Drew Hutchison.
Liriano's banishment from Pittsburgh comes after a messy 21-start stretch in which all of his rate statistics had gone the wrong way compared to the rest of his Pittsburgh tenure. He'd allowed more hits, more walks, and more home runs per nine, and had notched fewer strikeouts per nine than in all but one of his previous seasons while wearing the black and gold. The Blue Jays, then, are acquiring a challenge as much as anything -- getting Liriano back to good. If they can, his $13 million salary for 2017 could look like a bargain.
It's that same salary -- as well as the inclusion of two prospects -- that makes this deal look financially driven from Pittsburgh's side. Catcher Reese McGuire and outfielder Harold Ramirez were recently ranked the eighth- and ninth-best prospects in a good farm system by MLB.com. The Blue Jays essentially did to the Pirates what the Dodgers do to teams all the time: taking on a potentially problematic contract in order to gain a few interesting young pieces.
On the Pirates' side, they do get something in return beyond budget space, in the person of Hutchison. It wasn't long ago Hutchison looked like he could become a staple of the Jays' rotation. He's since struggled to find consistent success in the majors, however, and he'd spent most of the 2016 season in the minors. If Ray Searage, Pittsburgh's revered pitching coach, can help Hutchison regain his fastball-slider magic of old, then the Pirates could well walk away with a younger, more affordable starter on their hands.
Otherwise, Pirates fans will remember this as a salary dump -- and one that might've cost them a solid young player or two.
