The Royals have traded outfielder Edward Olivares to the Pirates for minor league infielder Deivis Nadal, according to team announcements. Kansas City needed to clear a 40-man roster spot after their previously-reported deal with right-hander Chris Stratton.
Olivares, 28 in March, will be joining the fourth organization of his career. An international signing of the Blue Jays, he was traded to the Padres as part of the 2018 Yangervis Solarte trade and then to the Royals as part of the 2020 Trevor Rosenthal deal.
He got to play in the big leagues in a part-time role from 2020 to 2022 but got his most extensive action in the most recent campaign. He got into 107 games with the Royals in 2023, hitting 12 home runs and stealing 11 bases. He only walked in 5.7% of his plate appearances but he also limited his strikeouts to a 16.6% clip. His overall batting line of .263/.317/.452 translated to a wRC+ of 105, indicating he was a bit above league average.
That season matches a lot of his career. He doesn’t walk much but also doesn’t have terrible strikeout rates. He has a bit of power but nothing astounding. His highest home run total is the 20 he hit in 2021, 15 in Triple-A and five in the majors. He has speed, with Statcast putting him in the 83rd percentile, but doesn’t steal a ton of bases and his glovework has been graded poorly. He has career tallies of -15 Outs Above Average, -21 Defensive Runs Saved and a grade of -7.9 from Ultimate Zone Rating. His arm strength is considered to be in the 90th percentile.
There are some intriguing tools in there, which is surely why so many clubs have taken a chance on him. But there are also some warts, which is probably why he has bounced around a bit. He qualified for arbitration for the first time this winter, with MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projecting him for a salary of $1.8MM. The Royals tendered him a contract but it seems he was on the roster bubble. The club agreed to a deal with Hunter Renfroe today, adding him into an outfield mix that also includes Nelson Velázquez, MJ Melendez, Kyle Isbel, Drew Waters and Dairon Blanco.
For the Pirates, they have Jack Suwinski and Bryan Reynolds in two outfield spots but one of them is fairly wide open. Catcher Endy Rodríguez recently underwent UCL/flexor tendon surgery, opening the catcher spot for Henry Davis to perhaps get a lengthy audition there. Joshua Palacios, Connor Joe, Ji Hwan Bae and Canaan Smith-Njigba are on the roster and options to slot next to Reynolds and Suwinski.
Joe will probably bounce between first base, the outfield and the designated hitter spot, while none of the others have established themselves at the major league level. Olivares will be jockeying with them all for playing time, but he still has an option if he loses out.
Nadal, 22 in February, has played the three infield positions to the left of first base and each outfield spot as well. He has spent each of the past two seasons playing in Single-A. In 2023, he struck out in 33% of his plate appearances but also walked at a 15.1% clip and stole 33 bases. His .212/.344/.377 batting line translated to a wRC+ of 101.
The Royals still have to make their deals with Renfroe and Michael Wacha official, so they will need to open two more roster spots.
Anne Rogers of MLB.com first reported the trade terms.
Alleviates some of the logjam the Royals had after signing Renfroe. Pirates get an interesting piece who was the Royals best hitter early in the season
Brutal defender and baserunner
my guess, when he’s not in the outfield, he’ll platoon with Cutch at DH, because Cutch will be 38 and they won’t want to run the risk of him getting hurt if he plays everyday
Don’t have to be great or even good to play RF at PNC.
I get why you say that, but you’ll have to handle a lot of balls off the Clemente wall which requires good reads.
Practice can improve that. Not going to improve speed and arm strength. If you have a weak outfielder Pittsburgh Boston Houston seems like good spots for them.
I agree but when Joe played in right he wasn’t exactly the reincarnation of Dave Parker or Clemente
Speaking of Connor Joe, it wouldn’t hurt my feelings if he was included in a trade
Two more spots to clear (for now).
He seems like a pretty solid outfielder. Is Renfroe going to produce better, or will the others be that much better than Olivares?
I like this trade, at least for what the Pirates received
Should be more interesting once it’s revealed as to whom BC gave in return
I like it to, for a player who has power
Deivis Nadal
Not a bad pick-up for the Pirates. Maybe the Pirates RF. Wonder who’s going to them. I’m feeling Gonzalez, hope that I’m wrong.
I’m hoping it’s Bae. With the addition of another outfielder, Bae would seemingly be expendable. There’s already a glut of infielders so I am thinking he’s the odd man out
Royals partially did this to clear a 40 man spot. I would guess the return would not be another 40 man rostered player.
Good point, SouthernBuc
TheMan3 do you see a world where Endy Rodriguez goes to the Marlins for Jesus Luzardo and other players making this trade work?
Endy is out for the season so to answer your question, no.
And I realize that the Marlins are looking for a catcher and we are in need of a starting pitcher but the Marlins want immediate help at the catcher position, I doubt they would want to wait another year for a return of Endy
Still, it’s an interesting idea
I don’t want to say bye-bye to Bae just yet. I would, however, like to end the “Bae masquerades as an outfielder” experiment. Because he isn’t.
Watching Bae at second, he doesn’t seem completely comfortable.
That was my point about Bae being the odd man out
He’s a player without a position
I do give him some credit for the ability to hit the ball in the opposite direction often. But I would have thought for someone with alot of speed, he’d have bunted more often for hits
Probably someone like Deivis Nadal. Low level, slow progress, taking up space.
No power either, has never hit 10 home runs
This isn’t terrible. Probably a potential platoon partner for Suwinski in RF.
He’s not a very good outfielder (albeit small sample size), but he’s a good hitter that CRUSHES left handed pitching. Don’t hate it.
Combined they could have all star level production.
I was a big Eddie O fan. You’ll love his bat but his outfield play can be really frustrating.
Jack is CF. Hopefully a trade is coming for a solid SP
Jack could be either depending on how the roster plays out.
Bae is not an everyday player at Center or Second
Right now Bae is probably the everyday CF unless they acquire someone else. He has the ability to be a pretty excellent defensive CF and a high average leadoff type, but don’t know if he’ll realize that potential (he’s only 23).
I didn’t mention Bae. We still don’t know the final makeup of the roster, Jack is decent but not great by any stretch in center. In the perfect world he is probably not in center. Current makeup of the roster – yes I see Jack platooned in center.
Did you watch any games last year? How often was Jack not in center?
I don’t agree he is a pretty good defender in center yet. I think he makes exciting plays at times, but needs to improve a lot and his arm is not strong. I personally like Bae as the utility guy on the bench but I am far from ready to name him a starter.
Yes.. I follow the box scores or watch basically daily. Are we debating where he played or where he might fit the best? All I am saying is we don’t have the final roster. Jack is not the second coming of Andy Van Slyke in center, he is usable there. . If as an example they added Michael Taylor (not likely given these recent adds), then I Jack would be back in right.
Jack started in CF 112 games, so basically 2/3 of the season. Why do you ask?
Bae started 33 games as a rookie and would come in late in games and Jack would move to RF. Did you watch the games?
If they sign cutch, someone will go off roster though but yes I watch a lot of games. Probably to many for my blood pressure
After they sign Cutch the roster probably looks like this (for now):
C: Davis/Delay
1B: Tellez/Joe
2B: Triolo/Bae
SS: Cruz
3B: Hayes
LF: Reynolds
CF: Bae/Suwinski
RF: Olivares/Suwinski
DH: Cutch/Tellez
Last bench spot would probably be someone that can play SS unless they think Triolo can serve as the backup there. Peguero probably has the inside track, Palacios is also in the mix. If Palacios has a big spring he could maybe make it over Bae, but that would be a long-shot in my opinion.
Another former Padre recruit….
Maybe the Pirates won’t be pathologically averse to giving him playing time
You mean like how Shelton was last year with Andujar?
I wish they would trade Shelton and Haines
He’s certainly better than some of the refuse the Bucs have been putting in the OF at times recently.
I’m sure the Royals are picking up non-40 man guys since the point of the trade is to clear space for guys recently signed.
For sure
Decent platoon hitter who should pair well with Jack. But that defense is not promising.
It’s so sad watching these scrub teams shuffle these scrub players around to one another. Let’s quit pretending and just call the central divisions AAAA from now on. The Flyover League. They could have an annual award for the “best” slap hitting utility infielder.
Nice of you to stop by and share all that
A+ for Pittsburgh. Well above average mlb bat for one of the weakest prospects they could trade that another team would want.
With word that the pirates are finalizing a deal with Cutch it makes me wonder where all these guys are going to play.
With Olivares and Tellez on board the Pirates seem to want to platoon every position possible
Endy going down freed up Davis to catch, of course. But still, they have a crowd in middle infield and now in the right field spot.
So far, even at 38 Cutch seems like the best defensive option. But how many games can he play the field?
Interesting that they’re paying little attention to starting pitching. Maybe the idea is to package some of these guys in trades
Nice to see Nadal try his hand at another sport now that he’s mastered that tennis thing.
Maybe, but now he’s 28, exactly a league average hitter, with a below average glove. Not a lot of power. Not much else to talk about. Classic Pirates move. I feel like that franchise is always stuck in this rut. They never spend to put an exciting product out, but their attendance is weak too, not really supporting massive payroll increases. Not to mention, who the hell wants to go play there if they don’t have to anyway? Guys go there for two reasons. They were drafted and they don’t have a choice, or they are taking a one year show me deal, and hoping for a mid-summer exit to a contender. I legit feel for the fans. They deserve better than Bob Nutjob and his clueless ways.
Below average glove is being generous. Horrible glove and horrible baserunner.
I watched Eddie O in ST before he was traded away for SD. A lot to like as a prospect.
The Pirates and Royals are gonna be better than the Red Soxs..
I feel a trade coming up for Pirates
Suwinski for pitching maybe?
They like Jack’s power potential too much to trade him
With the glut of infielders, probably more likely Gonzalez in a package with Alika Williams
Better than a 29 year old scrub or a 270 ppu d 1B.
In KC we’ll miss his bat but not his glove. I think he holds the Royals record for most times sent to the Minors in 1 season.
Good trade for the pirates. Edward needs to improve his walk rates and a little more ‘luck’ hitting them where they are not. and he could be more than just around average offensively.
Not a sure thing by any means but definitely an upgrade to Davis’s offensive output last year from the OF position..