Poll: Will The Pirates Be Able To Trade Ke’Bryan Hayes?

The Pirates have been one of the league’s most obvious sellers for quite some time now. Most of the attention has been on pieces like Mitch Keller and David Bednar, both of whom could bring back substantial returns as quality pitchers with multiple years of team control. With that being said, third baseman Ke’Bryan Hayes has found his name in the rumor mill on occasion this summer. Noah Hiles of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette noted earlier this week that the Pirates have a “notable desire” to move on from Hayes, who will have $36MM left on his deal after this season, in addition to the balance of this year’s $7MM salary.

It’s not hard to see why Pittsburgh might like to part ways with their former top prospect. Hayes’s salary isn’t exactly pricey, but for a small market club like the Pirates, even a relatively cheap contract that’s underwater relative to the player’s production can be an issue. The 28-year-old has rarely been healthy throughout his big league career, and even when healthy has struggled on offense. This year, he’s slashing a paltry .234/.288/.300 with a wRC+ of 61. He’s striking out at a 20.9% clip, walking just 4.8% of the time, and offers virtually no power with the lowest ISO among all qualified hitters this year. He hits the ball hard but into the ground far too often.

While the Pirates wanting to move on from Hayes as they look to build a more potent offense around a strong rotation led by Paul Skenes makes plenty of sense, it’s an open question whether or not the club will be able to find a taker on his services. A player with virtually no offensive value and a long-term guaranteed contract isn’t exactly an attractive trade asset, after all. Hayes’s glove at third base is elite, with an incredible +14 Outs Above Average this year, but a glove-only player at a corner position is still a questionable fit on most contenders.

The Cubs, Yankees, and Tigers have all been connected to Hayes in at least some capacity, but it’s a somewhat open question as to how serious that interest may actually be. The Cubs have rookie Matt Shaw currently installed at the hot corner, and while his 79 wRC+ has been disappointing, Hayes would actually be a downgrade for Chicago offensively. Colt Keith and Zach McKinstry have been handling third base for Detroit and have both been above-average offensive contributors this year, meaning Hayes would hardly be a clear upgrade for them either. Hayes would actually be a clear upgrade for the Yankees, as both Jorbit Vivas and Oswald Peraza are less valuable than him on both defense and offense. That said, the Yankees are known to have eyes on a number of other possible third base options like Eugenio Suarez and Ryan McMahon who are likely more attractive than Hayes.

That all makes it difficult to imagine the Pirates swinging a trade involving Hayes, but one thing working in the club’s favor is that Hiles suggesting that they’re “likely” to prioritize simply getting Hayes’s contract off their books in any deal. Perhaps a club that isn’t interested in parting with precious prospect capital that has some money to spare in the budget could then see Hayes as a viable option to improve their infield or bench mix who won’t cost them much of anything. With that said, Hayes’s contract would be quite expensive for a bench player, meaning it could be difficult to convince a club to take him on without the Pirates absorbing some salary unless the acquiring team believes in Hayes as a starter.

One possible solution could be attaching Hayes to a more attractive trade asset like Keller or Bednar, but doing so would likely force them to lower their asking price for that asset considerably. Even for a team with as low of a budget as Pittsburgh, lowering the trade value of a major piece just to save money in a salary dump would be a difficult pill to swallow for fans. And it may not even be an attractive proposition for a front office that clearly hopes to contend while Skenes is still in town and will need to acquire as much offensive talent as possible in order to make that happen. On the other hand, perhaps the $36MM guaranteed Hayes is due in 2026 and beyond could be reallocated to upgrading the offense via free agency. Just for an example, Paul Goldschmidt, Gleyber Torres, Austin Hays, and Mike Tauchman signed one-year deals for a combined $34MM in free agency this past winter and each would’ve represented a substantial upgrade to the Pirates’ offense.

What do MLBTR readers think is next for Hayes and the Pirates? Will Pittsburgh manage to trade Hayes? If so, will they be able to do so without eating significant salary or attaching him to another more valuable player? Or will Hayes still be in town on August 1? Have your say in the poll below: