Transaction Analysis

A former 14th-overall pick, McGuire has long been lauded for his defensive prowess, showing off the agility, soft hands, and arm of a superior defender behind the plate. He’s consistently an asset on defense, showing strong intangibles to pair with his athleticism.

The questions on McGuire all stem from his bat. While he’s generally been young for the level, he’s yet to show much aptitude with the stick. The contact ability is there to make him an average (or perhaps slightly above) hitter, but he’s yet to show the kind of power that would stop pitchers from challenging him, and more than his fair share of at-bats end in weak contact. He works deep counts and shows an advanced approach at the plate, and will flash average raw power in BP, so there’s something to latch onto for the dreamers out there, but the likelihood remains a player who makes his bones on defense who might not kill you in the bottom third of a lineup —Craig Goldstein

Ramirez was a seven-figure sign by the Pirates out of Colombia in 2011, on the strength of his polish and feel to hit. Those are still his calling cards, and though the raw tools aren't dripping with upside, his steady output and rise through the system placed him on our Top 101 prospects entering 2016 (80th overall, to be exact).

He's a very muscular 5-foot-10, with broad, round muscularity on a frame that looks like that of a fullback. Despite a thick lower half, Ramirez played most of his games this season in center field for Double-A Altoona, though he's spent time in both left and right field as well. The width of his frame—as well as a history of leg injuries—likely limits his defensive profile to more of a true corner guy at the big-league level, and the Pirates are as deep in team-controlled options at those positions as any team in baseball. Despite the natural strength, his swing plane is fairly level, and his base doesn't keep balanced through the swing's finish in order to drive the ball. Ramirez has never demonstrated much ability to be an over-the-fence power threat, which will put pressure on his pure hitting and on-base ability if he's competing for everyday playing time in a big-league corner. The Jays see a prospect who just might hit enough, though, as Ramirez's above-average pure hitting tools have always drawn favorable reviews from evaluators. He's got good natural bat-to-ball skill, with fluidity and looseness to a line-drive-oriented swing--not to mention numerous .300-plus seasons on his professional resume. A detracting factor from his hit tool is the fact he's never demonstrated much willingness to walk. He doesn't swing and miss much, but he'll likely be at the mercy of his contact rates and BABIP to reach base as a "hit over power" corner player without high walk percentages.

I saw Ramirez numerous times this season in the Eastern League, and while he isn't an elite prospect, he's more than just a toss-in on the back of a deal. The ceiling is that of an unspectacular everyday player—likely in left field—who can be the type of player that quietly lengthens a lineup in an otherwise polarizing era of power and strikeout. —Adam McInturff

Fantasy Impact

Francisco Liriano

How do you fix a pitcher with a matching 5.46 ERA and BB/9? I don’t know, but the answer isn’t sending him to Toronto, where he’ll pitch in a hitter’s park in the tougher league and away from the pitching coach who helped save his career. Liriano will always be capable of shutting down any opposing lineup on any day, but his value is the lowest it’s been since 2012 right now. It’s possible he’s headed to the bullpen in Toronto, too. Woof.

Harold Ramirez

Prospects are rarely truly blocked, but with Andrew McCutchen, Starling Marte, Gregory Polanco and Austin Meadows all in front of him, Ramirez’s path to playing time in Pittsburgh was murky, to say the least. It’s a lot clearer in Toronto, and when you add in the better park this is a clear upgrade. —Ben Carsley

NEW YORK METS Team Audit | Player Cards | Depth Chart

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Acquired LHP Jonathan Niese from Pittsburgh Pirates for LHP Antonio Bastardo [8/1].

RESET!! This offseason, the Pirates traded Neil Walker to the Mets for Niese, and the Mets signed Bastardo as a free agent formerly of the Pirates. Both of these teams probably wish they could turn back the clock to August 2015—both teams are between two and four games back from the second Wild Card slot, and neither appears to be in contention for the division title at all. But, at least in terms of left-handed pitchers, each team has moved the needle back to where they were in the previous season.

If you listen to the BP Mets podcast For All You Kids Out There, you know that host Jeffrey Paternostro has often reminded listeners that the Mets value clubhouse consistency, and this deal proves that rule. Niese was kind of a vestigial piece last season, with the team focused on their rising “four aces” in Jacob deGrom, Matt Harvey, Noah Syndergaard, and Steven Matz, Niese’s veteran competency was something of an overlooked commodity. And though last season’s 4.13 ERA was well in line with his 4.00 career mark, his 5.13 DRA was representative of a replacement-level starting pitcher. Despite throwing 177 much-needed innings, Niese probably wasn’t an improvement over the Logan Verrett-Sean Gilmartin types that the Mets had at Triple-A.

Coming over to Pittsburgh and working with Ray Searage was supposed to revitalize Niese’s career; so far, no such luck. This season he’s allowed far too many home runs, and his ERA and FIP have risen considerably, but DRA (4.64) and WARP (0.8) are kinder to Niese than it was in 2015. If Niese, who left the Mets under slightly acrimonious conditions this offseason, can remain a one-to-two-win starter for this team, that could be an improvement over Logan Verrett as the team’s fifth starter. But given his distaste for the squad’s defensive limitations last season, it’s hard to imagine that the southpaw will be thrilled with the new-look Mets’ terrible glovework this year. Nevertheless, the team was in need of some starting pitching depth behind deGrom, Syndergaard, Colon, and Matz, and Niese was an affordable, familiar option for this Mets team. —Bryan Grosnick

PITTSBURGH PIRATES Team Audit | Player Cards | Depth Chart

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Acquired RHP Ivan Nova from New York Yankees in exchange for two PTBNL [8/1].
Acquired RHP Drew Hutchison from Toronto Blue Jays in exchange for LHP Francisco Liriano, C-L Reese McGuire, and OF-R Harold Ramirez [8/1].
Acquired LHP Antonio Bastardo from New York Mets in exchange for LHP Jonathan Niese. [8/1]

How many left-handed relief pitchers is too many? Over the past couple of days, the Pirates dealt away closer Mark Melancon for lefty Felipe Rivero, and the team already has southpaw Tony Watson as the squad’s new closer. Now, they’ve added Bastardo as the team’s third lefty in the bullpen, and that doesn’t even take into account Kyle Lobstein, who’d spent time on the big-league roster this season as well.

Bastardo certainly isn’t the best of the team’s lefties; despite being a solid relief option over the past several years, his time with the Mets has been something of a disappointment–though his strikeout and walk rates remained in line with his career numbers, his homers allowed have gone through the roof (up to 1.6 HR per nine versus 0.6 in the previous two seasons) and that has led to a heightened runs allowed (4.74 ERA) and DRA (4.72). His velocity is also down from his 2015 peak, but at around 92 miles per hour on average, that’s pretty close to his career velo.

Both Bastardo and the Pirates hope that he’ll regain some of the Ray Searage magic back in Pittsburgh, but this is an acquisition that seems more about ditching Jon Niese than it does about bringing in Bastardo. The Pirates didn’t particularly need another lefty in the ‘pen, but perhaps they figure they have a better chance to fix the guy they’ve worked with before, rather than fix the guy who didn’t seem fixable this season in Niese. Either way, the transaction doesn’t move the needle much for the Pirates, but if Bastardo can corral his homer problems, this one could be a win. —Bryan Grosnick

If you ignore the vowels, Ivan Nova is a palindrome. If you ignore the command and lack of a third pitch, if you only look at the starts where Nova is able to throw his curveball for strikes, Ivan Nova—6 feet, 5 inches tall, 234 lbs, with an easy delivery and a beautiful curveball—looks like a competent major-league starting pitcher. Alas, his name is no palindrome and his performance to date has rarely been that of a competent major-league starting pitcher. Nova posted an ERA of 5.07 last season in 94 innings in returning from Tommy John Surgery, and has followed that up with an ERA of 4.90 in 97 innings this season.

The Yankees, who went into full-out sell mode this trade deadline, had no need for the last two months of Nova’s contract, for they were not going anywhere and he was certainly not getting a qualifying offer at the end of the season. Why the Pirates, though, would want two months of Nova, let alone give up something to get him, is a bit of a head scratcher. So why acquire Nova if you are the Pirates?

For starters, his DRA indicates that he is better than his ERA—his previously mentioned ERA comes in at 102^nd of the 127 pitchers who have thrown at least 75 innings this season, while his DRA of 4.09 comes in at 67^th of 127. That is nice and all, but still? Well, from a DRA standpoint, Nova has actually been better than Liriano (DRA of 4.23) this season. Adding Nova, who will cost almost nothing, allows the Pirates to hedge, which is a perfectly reasonable strategy for a profit-hoarding cash-strapped team with a solid core that is four games back of the second wild card (also a team that has just seen its ace, Gerrit Cole, return to health). So maybe the Pirates can improve Nova’s command and he can help them make a bit of a run If not, which is the likely outcome, Nova will at least provide them with innings that will help them avoid overwork their young arms in this possibly lost season. He won’t cost much, and given the prospects they just gave up to dump Liriano’s contract, that is probably the only thing that matters to them. —Jeff Quinton

Fantasy Impact

Drew Hutchison

How do you fix a pitcher with a 4.97 ERA and a 2.84 HR/9? I don’t know, but getting him out of Toronto and into the National League is a good start. The odds that Hutchison ever matters for those of us in mixed leagues are pretty slim, but if anyone can fix him and his grounder-inducing ways, it’s maybe Rick Searage. At least, that's what fantasy owners have left to dream on. Feel free to buy low on him in super deep leagues or NL-only formats. Just don’t hold your breath.

Ivan Nova

Ray Searage. National League. It’s worth a shot. Truth be told it’s been three seasons since Nova was serviceable, so this is a longshot. But that’s what Pittsburgh is all about. —Ben Carsley