The Pirates are acquiring outfielder Bryan De La Cruz from the Marlins, according to multiple sources. The Marlins receive right-hander Jun-Seok Shim and infielder Garret Forrester in return.
De La Cruz, 27, was in the midst of his fourth season as a Marlin prior to this deal. An international signing of the Astros, he went to Miami in the 2021 deadline trade that sent Yimi García to the Astros. He’s now appeared in 431 major league games with his standout trait being his home run power.
In his 1,654 plate appearances, he has walked in 6.2% of them and struck out in 24.4% of them, with both of those rates being a bit worse than average. But he has launched 55 home runs in that time and stolen 12 bases. His .258/.305/.419 batting line translates to a wRC+ of 97.
Though De La Cruz has been three percent below league average at the plate in his career, the Bucs likely still consider that a notable upgrade. Pittsburgh outfielders have hit a collective .227/.300/.352 this year for a wRC+ of 83, or 17% below league average. That includes a monster showing from Bryan Reynolds, who is hitting .288/.354/.483 this year for a 133 wRC+. The rest of that output includes rough performances from Jack Suwinski, Michael A. Taylor, Edward Olivares, Joshua Palacios and others.
Defensively, De La Cruz doesn’t get strong grades. In over 3,000 innings at all three outfield spots, he’s currently been worth -10 Defensive Runs Saved and -16 Outs Above Average. He’s been close to league average in right field but that only makes up roughly 600 of those innings, as he has spent most of his time in left field.
The Bucs use Reynolds in left field almost every day so perhaps they are hoping that De La Cruz can be passable in right field and around average at the plate. While that might not be the most exciting development, it could still be a notable one for the Pirates. The club is just two games out of a playoff spot despite its warts, so a patch here and there might be enough to help them retain more water and stay afloat.
For a low-spending club like the Pirates, they are also undoubtedly attracted to his contract status. De La Cruz has not yet qualified for arbitration and is earning around the league minimum. He will pass three years of service time this season and qualify for arb this winter, with the Bucs able to retain him for three seasons after this one.
As for the Marlins, despite making the postseason last year, they have been in sell mode for a while. They did almost nothing in the offseason and then their cold start in 2024 prompted them to start selling early. It was in early May that they flipped Luis Arráez to the Padres for prospects. In the past week, they have leaned hard into that process, sending out A.J. Puk, Jazz Chisholm Jr., Trevor Rogers, Tanner Scott, Bryan Hoeing, Josh Bell, JT Chargois, Huascar Brazobán and De La Cruz, which has totally remade their farm system with a pile of new prospects.
In this deal, they get the 20-year-old Shim. He’s missed a lot of time due to injury, with just eight official innings on this ledger so far. However, Baseball America lists him as the Pirates’ #28 prospect at the moment. Forrester, 22, was a third-round draft pick last year. He’s hitting .273/.413/.382 in High-A this year while splitting his time between catcher, first base and third base.
Last week, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reported that the Bucs were interested in De La Cruz. Jon Heyman of The New York Post reported on X today that he was indeed going to Pittsburgh. Mark Feinsand of MLB.com first reported Shim’s inclusion on X while Christina De Nicola of MLB.com had Forrester on X.
Nice addition
U like any mediocre scrub guy punches out like crazy and never walks u said the same thing about ikr I sound like u have made all the garbage moves for the pirates over the years
Have you seen their lineup?
Lot of worthless single hitters (at best)
They added a power RF and a veteran 2B
I never thought they were going all-in this season , but I like that they’re adding some veteran depth to the lineup.
These guys replace Palacios/Joe and Alika Williams , and are obviously upgrades
punctuation and spelling can be your friend
Blah, he’s not a good player. He’s a worse version of Connor Joe.
Hate this trade. Doesn’t move the needle at all so he better have cost peanuts.
But…at least now the fans might possibly shut up for 5 minutes that they did something.
They’ll be booing this guy at Tellez in May levels by the end of August.
LMAO good call birdsfan. I agree they’ll be booing him. He’s a DH that can’t hit very well. He’s not good.
So you think they should have sold or just did nothing regardless of being a promising team? When it costs very little to get a bat like this? I’d rather better but he’s an upgrade and maybe some untapped potential still in there. More upside than a Pillar or Pham.
Why is it De La Cruz or nothing? Why can’t they add someone else?
He’s also not an upgrade. They already have a better version of him in Connor Joe.
I disagree, Connor Joe doesn’t have any power and strikes out too much
I happen to like this trade and that includes the fact that he’s around for another 3 years. Hopefully at the end of the season they will discard some of the dead weight
You are stuck on repeat. Please reboot or shut down.
He’s hitting around 150 with 18 home runs. If he does that with the pirates going forward it will be fine
I don’t wanna hear it.
If you had to put up with this misery year after year after year after year, you would have the same d*m attitude.
When pirates make a move or “try” it usually equates to nothing
He’s better than Joe and Ward. Not a CF out there and not first base upgrade as well. Plus they aren’t taking DH at bats from Cutch
He’s not better than either. Are you joking?
Connor Joe has a higher career OPS and is a better defender. Taylor Ward is significantly better.
Not saying he’s a superstar but he has had a better year than Ward but looks like Angels are holding their cards. They had to do something. Not quite sure who you think they were going to get
Conner Joe is hitting like 150 since mid May
Connor Joe doesn’t play against RHP which boosts his peripheral numbers.
But when it comes down to it Joe is a .240 hitter with no power or speed
Idk how you can be so high on Joe and so low on Bryan …
Such an oxymoron
Goku, Joe has played mostly against right handers this year. I’m assuming you don’t watch the Pirates. He’s had to essentially be an everyday player the last two years because of injuries and poor performance. He MASHES left handed pitching.
I’m higher on Joe because he’s the better player. It’s not really debatable if you look at the stats.
Joe started off hot hitting around .290 by the end of May, he’s hovering around .235 now
Buctober2 if you look at the stats it’s 100% debatable and De La Cruz has better numbers. Your opinion doesn’t count as fact because you want it to. You can look it up and see Connor Joe’s numbers aren’t as good as De La Cruz. You must be the one that does not watch the pirates very much and just look at stuff on the Internet.
You’re right, they’re better! Thanks for proving my point!
I watch every game btw. But, looking at stats is all you’d need.
Lol you don’t know how numbers work, do you?
Higher WAR, better defensive metrics, better career OPS, and a MUCH better career OPS against left-handed pitching? Is that how it works?
Well you’re picking and choosing the stats that attempt to “help your cause” but you can only find a few stats that were actually better the DLC… Oh, and Joe’s career OPS is .733 and DLC is .724… Funny that’s the biggest stat you can come up with for Joe and their career OPS is virtually identical…
I’m sorry you don’t understand baseball… Truly, I am.
Ahhh the classic “you don’t understand baseball” comment. I’ll take that as the white flag.
Joe also has the higher WAR this season and higher career WAR (also hits LH pitching much better). But, I’m done here.
Lololololol you were done here a long time ago based on these comments
If you hear the classic line a lot, it’s a sign
You can’t get rid of me, kid! I own these boards! Especially Pirates topics (respect to DreamGM of course). You’re lucky I let you hang around 🙂
CJ has a higher WAR/650 than DLC. Almost an identical OPS+ for their careers, but CJ is a better fielder. It could work out, but I wouldn’t trade a real prospect for a minimal upgrade.
Mute gets rid of you awfully quick lol
They traded a high upside pitcher that’s injured. Didn’t give up a lot. That’s the redeeming quality of this trade, even if he’s a worse version of CJ. DLC can fill a bench role next season for minimal cost as well.
he’s playing tonight against a right hander, let’s see how well he performs
TheMan, so far 2-2 with a run scored, and also made a really nice catch in RF. He’s playing like he doesn’t want to lose his job lol.
In all honesty they both will play against lefties
even a broken clock is correct twice a day
I will concede that he had a very good game last night but by season’s end and before arbitration he will non tendered
He’s currently making over $2 million, Cherington won’t want give him the increase from arbitration and quite frankly, neither do I.
We need youth, he’ll be 32 next year
and before you mention Cutch’s age, he’s 20 times the player Joe will ever be
Who are you arguing with? Are they in the room with you right now?
I’ve said countless times Joe is probably non-tendered after the season (unless he agreed to a discount rate), so I have no idea who you’re even talking to. Joe is a better version of DLC, he’s best suited as a weak side platoon and he mashes left-handed pitching. He should hit near the top of the order against them. He’s a spot starter and injury fill in against right-handed pitching.
Again, who are you talking to? Why the constant need to argue even when people agree?
I am responding to the comment you directed at me last night about Joe being 2 for 2
Don’t you remember?
Don’t be mad because you were arguing with a wall. That’s all you ever want to do. It’s not that serious. You’re allowed to agree with people on things.
you are annoying. Don’t you have posters of Connor Joe to kiss?
Is that the best you’ve got? We have basically the same opinion on Joe, so wouldn’t you also need to ask yourself that question as well?
You trying to pretend like someone that thinks Joe is a mediocre, part-time player loves him. You realize how dumb that makes you look?
He won’t take any dh bats from cutch. He can and will mostly play outfield.
Joe can play first against lefties with de la Cruz in right. Have Tellez on the bench to pinch hit later in the game.
Other than Bellinger
Not by much he stinks
Connor Joe if he had power
Which is what they needed.
Not the best move, but a solid addition none the less.
Their moves have been pathetic so getting a C+ guy is a beggers ransom
Connor Joe has a higher career OPS and hits left-handed pitching significantly better. He’s a worse version of Connor Joe. He’s a DH that can’t really hit. He better have cost hardly anything at all.
please tell us about Connor Joe again… we’re all listening.
Joe isn’t even that good. It’s proving how mid DLC is. I figured it was an easy point to get. I guess it went over your head.
No, all 25 comments of yours about Connor Joe are painfully evident.
You caught me. I’m him.
It’s called a comparison. Most people understand.
I mean, stats don’t back that up
Dude has 18 homers this season will hit 5th and play RF every day for the next 2 seasons
Yep. Connor Joe’s hit 18 in the past 2 years combined
Joe also primarily sits against RHP making his .237 avg pathetic
Joe is awful , thus why I wanted Bell (I was being realistic not picky)
Well, Joe is better than De La Cruz, so what does that say?
Also, Joe played most of the time against righties this year because of injuries and poor play by others. Do you watch the games?
In what world?
Almost everyone would agree DLC is much better than Joe
Joe is worthless , had a hot start then has been ice cold singles hitter for months
And yes why are you comparing Joe’s career OPS then saying im only looking at this season when I say he sits against RHP?
Goku, have you watched the Pirates this year?
Joe has almost double the AB’s against righties than he does against lefties.
Joe is a better short-side platoon than DLC. It’s not really debatable if you look at the stats.
not a guarantee with Shelton as manager
His lineups change according to his analytics and he likes to give players a day off for some strange reason
Players can all of the time off during the winter
Dude, he’s what suwinski was supposed to be. He’s a power hitter. He’ll end the year with around 25 or so homers.
Do you follow the Marlins? It’s a decent bat with pop. I’ve seen the Marlins a few times. He’s not Rooker, but not going to wipe out the system either.
More power than Joe and another Joe is a big help.
He’s certainly better that C. Joe!
Nothing backs that up. Joe has a higher WAR, a higher career OPS, and is a better defensive player.
Joe is what De La Cruz hopes to be lol. He’s not useless, he’s just a bench player.
You obviously haven’t watched a game in months if you think Joe isn’t worthless
He had a phenomenonal first 2 months , and you’re averaging that out and saying he’s been great this year , when he’s batted like .150 the past few months
Joe also has absolutely no power, you haven’t addressed thar
Joe has a much better OPS against lefties than DLC.
He’s also the better defender.
Neither is a good player. Joe is just better.
.237 41r 7hr 31rbi 2sb
Or
.245 44r 18hr 51rbi 3sb
I’ll take the extra 11hrs and 20rbi and the guy who stays in the lineup!!
Connor Joe has been terrible for the past 2 months, offensively de la cruz is better
Exactly it’s not even close.
No clue why Joe was amazing to start the season , but his career numbers don’t back that up and has been abysmal ever since
Joe is below the 10th percentile of exit velocty, and below the 15th percentile of xWOBA, xSLG%, and xBA. De La Cruz is above the 50th percentile in each of those stats, including exit velocity. 18 home runs and a 11% barrel rate, he has the potential to hit better. I don’t know if I can say the same about Joe right now.
Miami is having quite the deadline
But are they going to have anyone left to play the game they have scheduled tonight?
Yes they are. Easiest thing to do is sell veterans for prospects but they aren’t messing it up.
this is what they needed
couldve gotten someone more solid but this will do
Same thoughts exactly
Solid is his thing. Doesn’t get any more solid. They could have gotten someone more good!
ikf
Typical pirates fans thinking this is good cuz they r soo used to trash
When you eat out of dumpsters and sleep on the street for years a dinner at McDonalds and a cheap hotel is very good. So yes this is good. Stop raining on our cardboard roof.
Not every position has to be manned by a superstar. Average players are better than half of what’s out there.
People who hate this trade haven’t watched our lineup full of sub .200 single digit home run hitters. Instantly leads the team in home runs and we have him for 3.5 years. Love this move.
Correct. Decent bat with power.
Reynolds has 18 homers too
Yep tied for the lead. That’s a testament to how good his power is.
Doesn’t mean anything he doesn’t hit much either
.250 with 18 home runs isn’t hitting much?
.250 on this team would be third highest average
.250 on most teams would do that. Hitting for average is a lost art.
How many more players can Bendix move in the next 43 minutes?? if you show up to the Trop in the next 30 minutes you can suit up and play in a major league game for the Marlins tonight!
Upgrade over what we got! Now get a CF please
He literally has a worse career OPS than Connor Joe and is worse defensively. What exactly does he upgrade?
Okay we get it, you have a man crush on Connor Joe
s/
Nah, he’s a mediocre bench player. He’s just better than DLC.
I don’t even consider Joe a RF and look at him as a utility so I’m excited to see 18 dingers added to a lineup that has had Taylor, Olivares, and Suwinski playing a ton!
Right field at PNC Park isn’t a very challenging defensive spot and most importantly having a true power threat behind Cruz in the lineup on a daily basis, whether Tellez or de la Cruz depending on matchups, gives Cruz more fastballs and less low and away breaking balls. Definitely an upgrade over Joe.
He’s literally not an upgrade over Joe in any way currently. There isn’t a statistic out there that says that, they all say the opposite. He also better not be hitting cleanup under any circumstances. Why would we hit one of the weakest hitters in the lineup at cleanup?
Pillar please
You know what…I’ll take it. Good power numbers and anything is better than what we currently throwing out there daily
Sub .300 OBP
Definitely an “on brand” acquisition by the most risk adverse organization in MLB.
I’ll gladly eat these words if they trade for Rooker, too.
Rooker would be an amazing pickup, wow. Pirates are within striking distance – id love for them to do it!
Scott- Maybe we can hope for Rooker as a Christmas present.
De La Cruz! Oh it’s not Elly.
.245/.289/.417 doesn’t really move the needle and cost a decent prospect. Barffffff.
Agreed. Terrible trade. He doesn’t move the needle and we gave up too much. Hate this trade and I bet he’s non-tendered one of the next two offseasons.
I would rather Connor Joe be non tendered after this season
He will be 32 next year and is offensively terrible. They need younger players to compete
I said that in a different thread. If DLC keeps underachieving he’s at least a cheaper replacemet for Joe next season as a bench outfielder, and then probably non-tendered after the 2025 season. There is a chance they’d keep both, but I doubt it. If DLC taps into his potential a bit he could be a part-time player or an average regular.
Average regular already on team like Pirates.
I like Joe. If he wants to be here and agrees to reasonable amount he should be brought back. All star vs LHP. Plays 2 positions. All comes down to $.
I love Shim’s potential but he’s easily the most high risk pitching prospect the Bucs had in terms or reaching that potential and so far away from the majors that 3 years of control for a league average bat that can play the outfield on this current roster is a good deal.
Just pointing out that DLC isn’t a league average bat, he’s below league average by 4% this year and by 6% over the last two seasons. For comparison, Connor Joe is 3% better than league average over the last two seasons.
DLC has some untapped potential, but at the moment he’s a downgrade at the position if he’s playing everyday. I hope it works out, but I have my reservations (I think DLC should be a part-time player down the stretch).
well hes 1 for 1 with the bucs
thats a 1.000 batting average
Who is playing for Miami tonight? Skip looking in the stands for some bench players.
Keep looking – the three people in the stands won’t be enough to fill out the bench.
Triple A players gotta be excited. Like half the AAA team probably on the way up.
considering that we weren’t going to acquire the second coming of Babe Ruth , this was probably the best trade Cherington could manage
Bringing good players back requires the opposing teams to agree on the players being offered
A start
Cross reference!
All Peter Bendix all the time.
Amazing performance!
I really like this addition for Pittsburgh
Great… Probably means the Angels will be stuck with the most boring player in the league ( Taylor Ward) for years to come…. WTH Peary!!!!
He’s better than Benson.
Can we reserve judgement about the trade until we see the full package going back to the Marlins?
Boo you are thinking like me. Most fans should just be happy to get a bat and not worry about the cost. Last century fans wouldn’t even know who these prospects were.
Bryan Bullington comes to mind
BC making a bat move just to say he did. Does nothing for this offense
he has more homers than the total of the center and right fielders combined
a few lucky players get to leave Florida baseball hell, while 1000 young players get shipped in. Good on the Rays and Marlins for hosting the party!!!
I am happy for Pirates fans. They actually did something!! He is going to be helpful. Pretty clutch in Miami, and he’s warming up. I wish the Mariners could have grabbed him.
I am fine with it. He’s not a difference maker. It be best fits for the team were Jazz and Robert, and both were too inconsistent to trade a lot for.
Maybe they’ll circle back on Robert in the offseason?
Rooker Winker Pillar best fits. Jazz is up there too. Robert didn’t make cents.
Not sure i’m a fan of this.. waiting to see the full price tag.
But. Power + control is good. Sub .300 OBP worries me. Pirates get him to keep most of the power while getting deep into counts and on base more… then huge win.
regardless upgrade for this season. Probably a 3rd/4th type in most play off contenders(?).
Wait until we get our Haines on him. Obp will go up along with strikes looking.
The line they have been putting out there has been horrible last the 5th batter. 2 injuries last night to outfield and you can tell Telliz’s back is stiff. Cruz and IKF are better then Bae and Paliscous
He’s hitting between .240 & .250 with 18 HR so for you bunch of trolls bashing him look at numbers of Suwinski, Taylor, Palacios, Bae, all around .200 or less with single digit HR. He’s a young hitter only going to get better
So far a 1b who hasn’t shown power. A nice high upside arm that hasn’t pitched since 2023 and only 4 games so I have no idea what he is. Gotta trust your prospect hugging gm.
This is my redeeming quality of the trade. Pirates hardly gave up anything. So basically they did end up getting DLC for peanuts. Don’t hate it because of that, but still not a great roster fit.
I wouldn’t go that far. Shim could be a good starter and Gump could be a average 1b. But you have to give something and these were tradable guys.
Not a bad trade. De La Cruz has an above average xwOBA, xSLG, and xBA. Shim looked really promising when the Pirates signed him, but has been injured a lot.
Gotta know your audience bright eyes. To 90 percent of the older demographic bucs fans in here your post looks like above average jsjdjsjhs usuhsjhshhd ajdjjsbshsh sjsjhsjsh
LOL that made me chuckle.
DLC at least has upside, and after I saw what he was traded for I’m fine with it. If he doesn’t improve he replaces either Joe or Taylor’s roster spot next season for minimal cost and then is non-tendered after 2025. If he realizes his potential he could be a good par-timer/average starter.
Dream- You can say that again!
MLB might as well have been writing in Swahili!
I give this trade a B because I think he is an improvement as long as he is told that he does not have to listen to Haines on how to improve.
It is pretty obvious that the A’s wanted at least two of the Pirates best young pitchers for Rooker.
I do not think that too much was given up.
De La Cruz is not a favorite but he does have some power and is a better hitter than the others that have been in right field.I think that Olivares is booted and Palacios goes back down although I think that he is a good fifth outfielder.
In simple terms it ignores what his actual average and slugging results are and says what they should be. Removes luck.
What is removes is the aberration of reality from the statistical average norm based on various statistics.
And there seems to be several different methods of predicting the same or similar thing.
They all need to be based on an accurate equation to be able to be generally accurate.
Do the geniuses doing these + and – know to normalize them at the ends of seasons to find out whether they indeed predicted the norm?
For instance,and this is involving $ predictions.I saw a couple years ago that 1 WAR was worth $8M and some knuckleheads actually thought it to be true just because a computer spit it out.
That should be able to be easily calculated at the end of the year based on WAR input and $ input.
Just sayin’.
I was just sayin too. I don’t use any of those. How am I going to be smarter than the man animals if I use the same thing?
Good point.
I may be wrong with some of the stats but I doubt that anyone is vigorously and rigorously checking them at the end of each year to see if they make sense or should be updated.
The simplest one that I know is the money aspect and that did not seem to make sense.
So its wishful thinking, and ignores reality. Got it.
I’ll say it again, bunch of TROLLS bashing this guy. What do you have after #5 in the batting order, a bunch of sub .200 hitters with very little HR. Give it a break morons
I’ve long said Bryan De la Cruz is the type of player that goes somewhere else and becomes a much bigger deal. Like one of those guys that goes to the Dodgers and breaks out…probably the main thing Kim Ng did her entire time here. That seemed like a great move instantly; DLC is a ballplayer
I might be wrong, but I sort of also remember him being up there on some hitting metrics (possibly barrel rate can’t remember), so another reason to think he’s close to something.
Wish they could have gotten a little more, but they waited way too long to trade him, in my opinion. Obviously some intrigue with Shim seems promising if his medicals are ok. Probably have to hope Forrester is a catcher otherwise…
Shim feels like the type of arm the Rays would add that ends up working out extremely well for them, so that would obviously be great for the Marlins. Who desperately need talent in the organization, and more assets
Pirates made some interesting moves with eyes on 2025
Eyes on 2024. Having players for 2025 is just a bonus. If you are going to part with real prospects you might as well have them for more than 2 months.
He has played lf and rf against Pirates while with Miami?