The Pirates have acquired outfielder Billy McKinney from the Yankees in exchange for international bonus pool money, reports Jack Curry of Yes Network. As noted by Curry, McKinney just recently signed a minor league deal with the Yanks. That means he wasn’t on the 40-man roster and won’t take a roster spot with the Bucs.
It’s an unusual trade as McKinney, 29, just signed that deal with the Yankees last week. The former first-round pick and former top 100 prospect hasn’t been able to put it all together at the big league level. In 311 big league games dating back to his 2018 debut, he’s hit .209/.284/.390 for a wRC+ of 81.
He got into 48 contests for the Yankees this year, walking in 11.6% of his plate appearances but also striking out at a 26.5% rate. His .227/.320/.406 batting line amounted to a 101 wRC+, indicating he was right around league average overall, but the Yankees outrighted him off the roster at season’s end. He elected free agency and returned on a minor league deal but will now jump to the Pirates’ organization.
It’s possible that McKinney’s acquisition is related to the Pittsburgh catching situation. Prospects Endy Rodríguez and Henry Davis both debuted in 2023, but Rodríguez got the majority of the catching duties as Davis spent most of his time in right field. The club has maintained that they still viewed Davis as a catcher and his path to doing so opened up when it was reported this week that Rodríguez will require UCL/flexor tendon surgery and miss the entire 2024 season.
If Davis isn’t an option for the outfield, then the Bucs will have an opening in right field, with Jack Suwinski in center and Bryan Reynolds in left. They have some options on the roster in Joshua Palacios, Connor Joe, Ji Hwan Bae and Canaan Smith-Njigba but McKinney will give them some non-roster depth.
In order to add that depth, they are sending some unknown amount of international bonus pool space to the Yankees. The current international signing period ends tomorrow, so it’s possible the Bucs had a bit of their pool left and weren’t going to use it, while the Yanks had someone in mind to spend it on. Most clubs spend large chunks of their pools right as the period opens, so the amount could be on the low side.
In the event McKinney gets a roster spot, he is out of options but has just over three years of service time. If he has his long-awaited breakout, the Bucs could keep him around beyond 2024 via arbitration.
This dude has been everywhere…
Everywhere and back again.
He was part of the trade that involved Jeff Samardzija to Oakland in 2014. It was just days before the all star game. He was named an NLAll star. Being traded to the AL he wasn’t allowed to play for the AL. He wore a hat with just the mlb logo on the front. I believe he was part of the trade Chapman for Torres.
Cherington likes this for Blue Jay great.
Pirates looting Yankees of talent…
Billy Mckinney tied Jon Voigt to a tree on the banks of the Chatooga River in 1971.
I think he was wearing an Arrow shirt.
Thanks for giving me flashbacks of Letterman playing banjo.
Huh. Nice catch.
Nice detail with the Arrow shirt ref. 😉
Yankees building the money pot for the top international FA, who reportedly wants to sign with the Yankees. Stockpiling the farm….
Roki?
Yankees won’t be signing two guys that they were connected to — OF Stiven Martinez (connected to Orioles now) and SS Stiven Romans.
No, sorry, I should’ve written it more clearly by using “prospect” instead of FA. I was referring to the prospects for which the IFA money is used.
Gotcha. Yankees never have a big pool and then they lost 1M for signing Rodon last year.
Everyone should get the same amount in international bonus money. Give everyone the same chance at signing guys.
Commie!
Clipper, pretty sure the money is for the current period that ends tomorrow. The best guys have long signed.
Good dude.
lol
Billy McKinney? Who cancelled? Was Greg Allen too expensive?
And the Pirates tell the Dodgers, hold my beer…
Argh
International pool money…to help pay off say a posting fee perchance?
Another year of bottom feeding.
I’ve been a Bucs fan since 1970, but I’m close to just not caring anymore.
Another year of, signing a veteran pitcher and signing a first baseman to another one year contract all to just trade them away at the deadline
Cherington will use the excuse of signing players to one year contracts because of the depth of the farm system
The problem with that logic, our farm system lacks a good player development and has been a disaster for years
Plus he was counting on the maturity of young pitchers despite the lack of evidence in recent years this has ever happened
Indy doesn’t have a player at first base who’s even close to being a major leaguer.
I am afraid that 2024 will be a repeat of 2023
It’s tough man, I’m just happy the reds are doing something even if I don’t agree with it lol
It is sad. Do you think if Stargell or Clemente were alive today, they would be calling out Pirates ownership for their miserly ways??
Nah, they’d be in the broadcast booth.
If Clemente or Stargell were alive today they’d have signed a huge free agent contract with another team and wouldn’t care about how cheap the Bucs are
bottom feeding is the mantra of this organization. BC said and numerous times, they would raise payroll but so far it really hasn’t
They still need another starting pitcher yet they had been reportedly were interested in Jack Flaherty on a one year contract
With Detroit giving him $14 million the writing is on the wall that the Bucs will be diving into the dumpster again to find one because there’s no way they will spend significant money to really improve this team
It’s been yet another disappointing offseason by management
Bucs fan in the 70’s, eh? Great times. The underrated Al Oliver, Stargell, Roberto and, of course, Steve Blass (pre-disease).
I’ve been a Pirate fan since 1966, my father would take my brother and I to games at Forbes Field
I witnessed Stargell hitting a home run over the right field roof, becoming only the second player to accomplish this feat. Babe Ruth is the other
I attended a WS game when they played the Orioles in 1971, the All Star game in 1994 at 3 Rivers Stadium and was a season ticket holder for 30 years
Those days are gone, I won’t go to another game again under the current ownership because of how miserly he is.
The Bucs have endured through the years but the pride within the organization especially with the owner is apparently only important for the profits he makes during every season
@hebner, my brother has been to almost every MLB park. He says PNC is top 3. so you got that going for you.
I’ll take it but why didn’t the Pirates just sign McKinney themselves before the Yankees did? That’s wasted int’l pool money which could’ve gotten them another prospect in their system.
100% agreed, you mean to tell me there aren’t any OTHER outfielders on the FA market you could have signed. You had to PAY the Yankees $$$ for a AAAA outfielder? Utterly ridiculous.
It’s not $$$$; it’s the right to spend the Yankees own money.
They have less than 24 hours to use the international space before it just goes away.
January 15th.
That’s when the period opened, it closes after the 15th of December.
The way I understand it is that the money is for the current international period, which ends today.
Yes but McKinney was only signed last week. They could’ve signed him to a split contract as opposed to the Yankees’ MiLB deal. Then flip a prospect and pool money to a team for a better prospect.
I have a feeling that McKinney wasn’t their #1 choice in a trade. But again, they have to use the money by the end of today. I don’t even know if McKinney is going to still be with the org by the end of Spring Training. But using the money for something is better than just letting it go to waste.
The situation changed for the Yankees due to the Soto and Verdugo trades; they went from needing anyone with a pulse to having a potentially good OF and didn’t need the depth (or at least they think). From the Pirates’ standpoint, I think they wanted to get like and 8th or 9th OF without giving up too much and didn’t find much they liked in terms of guys who were willing to sign minor league contracts, then had their hand forced with the bonus pool use-it-or-lose it and settled on McKinney. We’re in trouble if he shows up on the team, unless something REALLY clicks for him and he forces his way onto the team.
exactly! Cherrington isn’t the sharpest knife in the box.
He probably didn’t want to join this train wreck of an organization.
Bet he is not pleased but can’t do anything about it.
Don’t we have enough border line OFers ?
Maybe, but he was re-signing with the Yankees vs. making a lateral move to another organization. I don’t think most people would willingly take the same job with another employer with the same money if no other circumstance exists to make you want to leave – waiting on health insurance, new people and org rules – would be enough to make you stay in most cases.
Kinda like your catcher hurting his arm in winter ball when he had elbow problems last year. The pirates are a mess
Billy McKinney does a lot of things. He doesn’t do any of them especially well, but he does a lot of things.
McKinney is still around? He must be 30 by now and he has never done anything.
Must be his 7th or 8th team since he was a highly rated prospect.
He was never rated highly. He was a high overall pick.
He was a top 100 prospect in the A’s organization.
It says it in the article.
I’m surprised he hasn’t gone overseas yet. Rather bounce around milb and get brief opportunities at mlb level. Pirates are his 8th team, doesn’t turn 30 until next august
Hoping for lightning in a bottle for trade deadline bait? Former top prospect, still not 30? I honestly miss those good pirates teams of the early 90s and 10 years ago. Don’t forget they won 98 games in 2015.
And the team still finished 15th in MLB in attendance (behind teams that lost 90+). Maybe when Pirate fans complain about the owner not spending money, they should take a look in the mirror first.
Maybe you should take a look at TV ratings before you open that yapper. Pirates were 6th in baseball this year. TV deals—not ticket sales—are the reason $300 million deals get
handed out all willy-nilly across MLB. Nutting keeps his books closed but he is obviously making money hand over fist.
This team has ZERO outfielders in their system. Instead of paying Teoscar 4/80 or Lourdes Gurriel even less the Pirates trade for this guy lol. Bob Nutting has one goal: expand his families fortune. With a city full of saps (like me) to keep supporting the team no matter what can you blame him for continually being a bottom 3 payroll? This franchise makes BANK year-to-year and DOES NOT reinvest into any aspect of the overall baseball operation. Thats why Bucco fans are bunch of angry curmudgeons lol
I agree, but the Pirates aren’t acquiring McKinney to compete for an outfield spot next year. He’s not even being added to the 40-man roster.
Total revenue for 2022, $262 million
Total payroll for 2022, $54 million
Profits are Nutting’s only goal, it certainly isn’t putting a competitive team on the field
Revenue minus payroll does not equal profit. Include all the other expenses and taxes, then you might make a better point.
Also according to Spotrac, payroll was 61mil. Not that big of a difference but you should still get your facts straight.
My facts came from Forbes, which lists revenue and payroll every spring
Forbes is not Fox, they don’t mislead with misinformation
I didn’t say anything about Fox, I said Spotrac. Also, like I said, there are more expenses than just the incorrect major league payroll number you gave. All I’m saying is revenue minus payroll is not profit.
I’ll wait here for you to provide actual, non-implied evidence of Bob Nutting’s goals or the Pirates’ financials. All teams keep their books closed (except for the Braves, who must open them as a publicly-traded company) as a matter of policy among ownership; to do the opposite would cost them an enormous amount of bargaining leverage with the MLBPA.
Do you really think that the Pirates can get an enormous TV deal? All of the advertisers who essentially fund TV deals are in the same market as the Pirates; do you labor under the delusion that the Pirates would have the audience reach of the Yankees’ network and reasonably demand the same for ads?
You’re at least partially right in that $300 million contracts get handed out because the team giving that contract has a market that can keep the team solvent even if everything goes wrong, which is something the Pirates lack. In NYC, the Yankees need only about 15% of their population as fans within their market to reach $700 million in revenue, the Pirates would need 80-85% of their market to spend money on them to even come close to that number. Even if they could, what happens when the cost of players goes up beyond the point where 100% of the people in Pirates’ geographic area and extended market (natives who live elsewhere) can support it? The Yankees would be fine, by the way, they’d only need 20-25% of their market to survive consistent $400 million payrolls.
Bucco fans are a bunch of angry curmudgeons because their pappy’s pappy was a union guy and the half-truth rhetoric regarding businesses is taken as gospel instead of actually trying to even remotely understand how businesses operate (spoken by the son of UMWA member.)
Again, I’ll ask. Why should the owner spend money on the team when the fans won’t buy enough tickets when the team IS a winner. It’s not like that was a surprise contender. It was the third straight year of making the playoffs.
Although, Pirate fans not buying tickets but instead watching for free sounds EXACTLY like Pirate fans.
Move that team to a city that will support them.
They were competitive from like 2012 to 2016, when they had Andrew McCutchen in his prime years, a young Gerrit Cole. They were quite good, nice little stretch of good times for that fanbase.
And AJ Burnett found himself again
Man I don’t know about all this ripping Billy Baseball. I watched almost every Yankees game last year (154 to be exact) and while McKinney is certainly not Ken Griffey Jr, he was never the reason the team lost. I mean sure he was also never the reason they won either! He was a serviceable outfielder when 6 other guys were hurt and he plays hard and doesn’t make mistakes. He is not expensive and currently doesn’t require a 40 man roster spot. Watch the Yankees acquire him at the DL when they desperately need an outfielder!
Four-A players are rarely the difference makers for clubs that make the post-season.
I didn’t know the Pirates were planning on going to the post season! Ok, this probably didn’t help with that much.
He may have not been the reason the Yankees lost but he doesn’t have the potential to make the Bucs better and that was supposed to be the goal of this offseason
The player could hit a few HR yet sucked in the outfield and should use Florial or Bader….
You must be remembering the player formerly known as Harrison Bader, the guy who had one decent, non-injured season in 2018. Take away his numbers against the Pirates and he’s barely a replacement-level player with decent defense and a tendency to make easy plays look hard.
A + for Pirates. They are having a fantastic off season so far.
This is not a fantastic off-season. They’ve done nothing to move the needle significantly. This off-season has been a D- at best.
Don’t listen to YourDreamGM. He tried to play the long con troll but flipped too fast too early.
This move has to make the Pirates the favorite in the NL unless the Dodgers sign Yamamoto, Bellinger, Hader, and Snell. Even then, I’m not sure it would be enough.
I would’ve rather had Austin Meadows if we are looking at guys like this.
You need guys like this in spring training. If he makes it, you stole him from the Yankees for the price of a bus ticket. If not then it’s no biggie, at least he may push someone.
If he makes the opening day roster after spring training it will because the Bucs are desperate and the competition sucked
Why is our front office wasting their time even talking to teams about guys like this when they desperately need a starting pitcher?
sounds like the pirates wanted him but he wouldn’t sign. then they yankees are like.. no worries we got you Ben..
messing around of course but its probably true
Good pickup though. If nothing else he’ll help the Curve to the playoffs.
He will be batting third as Indy’s 1B/RF/DH. Someone has to do it.
He was a good utility player for the Brewers three or four years ago
Jack Curry reported that the Yankees signed “catcher Justin Capellan from the Dominican Republic for 450K”, which apparently was the bonus money pool money they got from the Pirates. twitter.com/JackCurryYES/status/173577345593978087…