The Pirates traded outfielder Gilberto Celestino to the Cubs yesterday (h/t to Andrew Destin of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette). Celestino, who was on a minor league deal with Pittsburgh and will therefore not occupy a spot on the Cubs’ 40-man roster, is making his organizational debut at Triple-A Iowa tonight. It’s likely that the Pirates received a small amount of cash in return.
Celestino had spent the entire season with Pittsburgh’s top minor league team. He was hitting .271/.348/.356 through 264 plate appearances. Celestino only had three home runs but was striking out a lower than average 20% clip and had gone 9-10 in stolen base attempts. He played all three outfield spots in Indianapolis with a plurality of time in center field.
The 25-year-old Celestino played in the majors with the Twins between 2021-22. He got into 122 games in the latter season, hitting .238/.313/.302 over 347 trips to the plate. Minnesota kept him on the injured list or on optional assignment to Triple-A for all of last year and waived him at the start of the offseason. He went unclaimed and joined the Bucs in November.
Pittsburgh has had one of the least productive center field situations in the majors. Neither Michael A. Taylor nor Jack Suwinski has offered much offensively. Celestino’s Triple-A work was nevertheless not enough to convince the Pirates to give him a big league look. He’ll have a couple months to try to snag a roster spot in Chicago.
I’m pretty such our triple A team would beat the Major league team. The only few offensive players worth keeping are Hoerner, Busch and Happ. Wasting outstanding pitching performances over and over again because the team can’t hit.
Are you sure you’re not describing the Mariners?
Hoerner, Busch and Happ are mid asf. The problem with the Cubs roster is the lack of big league talent. Too many Indians; not enough Chiefs.
I don’t understand what happened to Dansby Swanson.
Swanson had one good offensive year and then signed a big contract with the Cubs assuming he would be repeating that, when it seems to have been an outlier.
Why keep Happ or Hoerner? Both seem just a bit above average at best. I’d keep Busch, Suzuki and PCA only because he is fun to watch. They need to overpay for at least one quality bat at minimum.
Sean, we’re stuck w Happ bc boy-genius Jed gave him an extension w a NTC. I like Happ but his production as a LF is very replaceable. His walk rate is great and defense is solid but not enough power for a LFer.
I’m not sure I see Hoerner as a keeper. He has intangibles off the page, he’s a GG 2B w an above-avg hit tool and a good base stealer. His OBP and SLG are non-existent. Id prefer to try Morel at 2B or move Busch to 2B and put Belli at 1B, or acquire a 1B slugger like Vlad Guerrero Jr. That depends on faith in PCA and retaining Bellinger. Trading Nico would hurt the defense but could really boost the offense.
When you waiting all night for a Pirates trade!
Jed Hoyer has got to go. Even though Ricketts didn’t want to pay the tax, 230M is still a lot of money for that collection of talent.
Hoyer refused to add to the bullpen this offseason, and that’s hurt them since they’re playoff attempt last season. He really needs to do better. He’s not going anywhere, at least not for now it seems.
Wow did the cubs really get Celestino.
A+ AAA roster clearing dump.
Like it! The Iowa Cubs are going all in this year!
I imagine he’s glad to be out of there. Was stuck behind Taylor in 23 at Minnesota. Then goes to Pitt and ends up stuck behind him again
This is the big splash pirates fans have been waiting on