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Pirates Release Ryan Borucki

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The Pirates released veteran reliever Ryan Borucki, according to the MLB.com transaction log. That was the expected outcome after Pittsburgh designated the southpaw for assignment on Friday. Borucki has more than five years of service time and had the right to refuse a minor league assignment, making the release a formality.

Assuming no team claims Borucki off release waivers, he’ll be a free agent. The Pirates will remain on the hook for the rest of his $1.15MM salary, while a signing team would pay him the prorated $760K league minimum rate if he gets an MLB opportunity. If he does sign somewhere, it’d likely come before the beginning of September. Players need to be in an organization by September 1 to be eligible for postseason play. They don’t need to be on the 40-man roster by that point, so Borucki would be playoff eligible even if he signs a minor league contract within the next two weeks.

The 31-year-old would be a long shot to make a postseason roster but should get attention from teams seeking left-handed relief depth. While he has struggled to a 5.28 earned run average through 30 2/3 innings, his underlying marks are a little more intriguing. Borucki has kept the ball on the ground at a huge 55% clip while posting slightly worse than average strikeout and walk marks.

Borucki recently returned from a six-week absence due to a lower back injury. He reeled off five straight scoreless outings upon coming off the IL, but he gave up three runs in an inning of work in Milwaukee last week. The Pirates designated him for assignment after that, calling up lefty Evan Sisk to take his spot in the bullpen. Sisk is a 28-year-old rookie reliever, so the ceiling isn’t exactly high, but the Pirates liked him enough to acquire him from Kansas City in the Bailey Falter deadline deal. It’s understandable they’d rather take a look at Sisk for the final six weeks of the season than continue pitching Borucki, who was headed for free agency at season’s end.

Andrew McCutchen Intends To Continue Playing In 2026

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Andrew McCutchen hopes to return for an 18th season in the big leagues. “I want to continue to play. I think I’m still capable of doing that,” the former MVP tells Jason Mackey of The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

McCutchen has spent the past three seasons playing on one-year deals with the Pirates. The franchise icon has previously suggested he plans to remain in Pittsburgh until he retires.

Asked by Mackey whether he still wants to be a Pirate, McCutchen replied that he “(wants) to win” and added that he needs to show he’s capable of playing well enough to be part of that. While the “(wants) to win” response will be viewed by some as a shot at an organization stumbling to yet another last-place finish, McCutchen concluded by saying he needs to “show that (he) was able to have a good year and still can play the following year and not (fill) in a spot.” Readers are encouraged to view Mackey’s post for the full scope of McCutchen’s comments.

In any case, it’d be a surprise if McCutchen were anywhere other than Pittsburgh next season. The Bucs have not considered trading him at either of the past two deadlines even though he could’ve helped a contender as a bench bat. If McCutchen actually had any interest in leaving the Pirates, they’d presumably have accommodated him in trying to arrange a trade to a playoff team.

The 38-year-old has a slightly below-average .239/.326/.370 slash line with 11 home runs through 437 plate appearances. His numbers have trended gradually down over the past three seasons. It’s not strong production for a full-time designated hitter. Yet he’s far from the biggest problem in a completely punchless lineup. The Pirates have had 17 different hitters take at least 50 trips to the plate. Not a single one has turned in an above-average offensive showing, as measured by wRC+.

Among the team’s position players, only Oneil Cruz and Nick Gonzales have been worth at least one win above replacement, according to FanGraphs. Baseball Reference WAR has impending free agents Isiah Kiner-Falefa and Tommy Pham as the team’s two most valuable position players. It’s a bleak picture.

Even if McCutchen shouldn’t be an everyday designated hitter, the Pirates could surely find room for him on the roster. He told Mackey he still believes he’s capable of playing the outfield despite only starting seven games there this year. McCutchen has had a nice season against left-handed pitching (.282/.359/.398), so perhaps he’d fit best in a part-time DH/corner outfield role that allows whomever is managing the 2026 team to use him more selectively. McCutchen has signed for $5MM in each of the past three offseasons.

Pirates To Move Andrew Heaney To Bullpen Role

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Andrew Heaney has made 23 starts for the Pirates this season, but manager Don Kelly told reporters (including Noah Hiles of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette) today that Heaney will be utilized out of the bullpen for the remainder of the season.  The news creates an immediate vacancy in the Bucs’ rotation, as Heaney was slated to start Sunday’s game against the Cubs.

Just to quell any immediate speculation, Hiles reports in a follow-up message that star prospect Bubba Chandler won’t be called up to take Heaney’s spot.  Chandler is scheduled to start for Triple-A Indianapolis today, and fellow prospect Hunter Barco just pitched on Wednesday, so he doesn’t have enough rest to be ready for another start tomorrow.  Turning to Triple-A pitchers already on the 40-man roster, Johan Oviedo just pitched yesterday, and Tom Harrington is on Indianapolis’ injured list.  It is possible the Pirates could just use a bullpen game tomorrow, with Carmen Mlodzinski the likeliest candidate to soak up the majority of innings.

However Pittsburgh decides to ultimately fill the rotation spot, it is noteworthy in its own right that Heaney is headed to the pen.  Heaney has posted a 4.99 ERA over 119 innings, with lackluster advanced metrics pretty much across the board except for a decent 7.4% walk rate.  The long ball has once again been a problem for Heaney, as only four pitchers in all of baseball have allowed more homers than the left-hander’s 24 big flies.  After being a very adept strikeout pitcher earlier in his career, Heaney’s strikeout rates were middling in 2023-24 and have now plummeted to just 16.1% this year.

The Bucs inked Heaney to a one-year, $5.25MM free agent deal last winter, and the thinking behind the signing was that the southpaw would be a veteran bridge for the rotation until some of the younger minor league arms were ready for prime time in the latter half of the season.  This tactic assumed that Heaney would’ve been dealt at the trade deadline, though the Yankees were the only team publicly linked to Heaney’s market, and ultimately the southpaw stayed put since Pittsburgh apparently couldn’t find an acceptable offer.

The move to the pen will have an impact on Heaney’s wallet, as his contract contains up to $750K in incentive bonuses related to his innings totals.  He’ll receive an extra $50K for pitching at least 120 innings, a $100K bonus for hitting 130 innings, plus an extra $150K for the 140, 150, 160, and 170-inning thresholds.  The 120-inning bonus is a lock and 130 innings seems plausible, though the higher bonuses will be harder to achieve with a more limited relief workload.

Between Heaney’s lack of production and the fact that the Bucs never saw him as a long-term option, there are plenty of legitimate baseball reasons behind the southpaw’s removal from the rotation.  However, given the Pirates’ notoriously tight budget, the financial element to Heaney’s role change can’t be ignored.  It was just last season that Rowdy Tellez was released in late September when he was just four plate appearances shy of unlocking a $200K bonus from his Pirates contract.

Heaney has mostly worked as a starter during his 12 MLB seasons, but he has made his share of bullpen appearances and worked as a swingman.  Posting some good numbers as a reliever might help him finish 2025 on a high note, and perhaps give him another way of promoting himself in free agency.  It seems likely that Heaney would prefer a starting job if he can find it, but working as an innings-eating reliever or as a swingman could help open up his market to teams wary about his recent results as a starter.

Pirates Designate Ryan Borucki For Assignment

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The Pirates have designated left-handed reliever Ryan Borucki for assignment, manager Don Kelly announced to reporters prior to this afternoon’s game (link via Noah Hiles of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette). Pittsburgh also recalled righty Colin Holderman and lefty Evan Sisk from Triple-A Indianapolis and optioned righty Cam Sanders.

The 31-year-old Borucki has had a second straight rough season with the Bucs. Back in 2023, he turned in a sharp 2.45 ERA with a 21.7% strikeout rate and superlative 2.6% walk rate through 40 1/3 frames. He’s since turned in successive ERAs of 7.36 and 5.28 over a combined 41 2/3 frames while navigating multiple injuries. Borucki was out for more than a month due to a lower back injury earlier this summer, and a triceps injury limited him to just 11 innings in 2024.

Even with that rough stretch, Borucki still carries a career 4.38 ERA in 252 big league innings. He’s set down 19.6% of his career opponents on strikes and walked 8.7% of them. Neither is a plus mark, but neither is too far from league average. Borucki’s career 48.3% ground-ball rate (55% in 2025) is several percentage points north of average.

Borucki’s minor league deal with the Pirates contained a $1.15MM base salary that locked in when he was added to the big league roster. Any team that claims him off waivers — he obviously cannot be traded now that the deadline has passed — would be responsible for the prorated remainder of that sum, about $272K through season’s end. Since Borucki has more than five years of big league service, it doesn’t make much of a difference whether he’s placed on outright waivers or release waivers. He has the right to reject an outright assignment in favor of free agency and still retain the remainder of his guaranteed money.

For the Pirates, it’s an understandable decision to move on. Borucki allowed three runs in his most recent outing and has struggled for much of the season when healthy. He’d have been a free agent at season’s end, so they’ll instead give his innings to younger arms who can be controlled beyond the current season. If a team claims the remaining $272K that’s on his contract, it’s all the better, but either way his departure will allow the Pirates more opportunity to evaluate potential future pieces in the ’pen.

Endy Rodríguez Undergoes Ulnar Nerve Transposition Surgery

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The Pirates informed reporters today, including Alex Stumpf of MLB.com, that catcher/first baseman Endy Rodríguez has undergone ulnar nerve transposition surgery. Stumpf says Rodríguez is expected to be ready for spring training, so he seems to be done for 2025.

It’s another unfortunate twist for Rodríguez’s career. He was one of the top prospects in baseball ahead of his debut. When he got up to the show in 2023, he didn’t hit much but his defensive grades were strong. Since he had been a good hitter throughout his minor league career, it was hoped he could be the club’s long-term catcher.

But going into 2024, he required surgery on his ulnar collateral ligament and flexor tendon, which wiped out that entire season. He got back on the field here in 2025 but this season has also been significantly marred by injuries. A laceration on his right index finger put him on the injured list in mid-April. He was reinstated from the IL in late May but was back on the shelf again about a week later due to elbow inflammation. He was pretty quickly transferred to the 60-day IL, suggesting the Pirates knew he was in for a long absence. Today’s news confirms that. Due to all those injury issues, Rodríguez only played 18 big league games this year. Since he missed all of 2024, it’s been close to two lost years.

That’s less than ideal for Rodríguez personally but it also means the Bucs will go into 2026 with question marks behind the plate again. As of a few years ago, they had two of the top catching prospects in baseball. In addition to Rodríguez, they also had Henry Davis, taken first overall in 2021.

While Rodríguez has been mostly out of action, Davis hasn’t delivered on his promise. Davis currently has a .183/.271/.298 batting line in 579 big league plate appearances, including a .169/.247/.281 showing here in 2025. With Rodríguez out last year, the Bucs acquired Joey Bart in April. That looked like a masterstroke when Bart hit 13 home runs in just 282 plate appearances last year. But here in 2025, he has just two homers in 256 trips to the plate. His glovework isn’t highly rated, so the offensive drop-off hurts his value.

The Pirates have a great pitching staff but the lineup is lacking, with clear issues on the infield and behind the plate. Ideally, Rodríguez would have taken over the job this year and cemented himself as the man for the job. Instead, it’s more time rehabbing from surgery and more question marks.

Photo courtesy of Charles LeClaire, Imagn Images

Cherington: Pirates Expect To Pursue Infield Help In Offseason

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The Pirates’ 2026 infield figures to look considerably different than the group that’s been trotted out for much of the season. Pittsburgh succeeded in shedding all of the money owed to third baseman Ke’Bryan Hayes beyond the current season when they shipped him to the Reds prior to the trade deadline, and veteran Isiah Kiner-Falefa is a free agent at season’s end. The Bucs have plenty of young infielders who could step up and get looks next year, but general manager Ben Cherington acknowledged this weekend that some offseason additions could be on the horizon (link via Kevin Gorman of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review).

Though he didn’t make any definitive declarations, Cherington noted that he “would expect we would” add to the infield in some capacity. That comment came amid a broader discussion of Jared Triolo’s defensive versatility. Triolo isn’t hitting at all this season but has played quality defense at first base, second base and third base while even showing the ability to handle shortstop on occasion. Cherington suggested that Triolo “at least … part of a shortstop solution” as an option the Pirates could consider.

Triolo’s ability to play anywhere at a relatively high defensive level is a nice perk, but if he’s to be a real part of the Bucs’ solution around the infield, he’ll need to show more offense. The 27-year-old instilled hope in Pirates fans with a .298/.388/.398 slash in 209 plate appearances as a rookie in 2023, but that production was propped up by a colossal .440 average on balls in play. Triolo has predictably regressed since that time, recording just a .204/.290/.304 line (67 wRC+) in a much larger sample of 641 plate appearances.

Developing hitters has been an immense struggle for Pittsburgh — a problem that spans multiple front office leaders and multiple iterations of the dugout staff. The emergence of recurring back injuries for Hayes has played a part in that, but he’s just one of several notable Pirates position prospects who simply haven’t been able to hit in the majors.

Henry Davis, Liover Peguero, Travis Swaggerty, Endy Rodriguez and Ji Hwan Bae have all struggled upon reaching the majors. Nick Gonzales has been a bit better than league average at the plate this season, which makes him one of the system’s most prominent success stories in recent years. Other top prospects like Termarr Johnson and Lonnie White Jr. have seen their stock take a major hit as their bats have slowed in recent minor league seasons.

The lack of development among the team’s young position players leaves the Pirates with glaring needs up and down the roster. Among Pirates hitters with at least 100 plate appearances this season, only Gonzales (104 wRC+) and Spencer Horwitz (102 wRC+) have provided even average offensive output. Oneil Cruz was hot earlier in the season but has fallen off considerably since early June.

It leaves the left side of the infield, in particular, wide open. Kiner-Falefa spoke to Gorman and indicated an openness to returning, perhaps with more time at the hot corner, but said he’ll leave any such discussions to his agent and Cherington in the offseason.

The Pirates do have some hope on the horizon —  and meaningful hope, at that. Nineteen-year-old Konnor Griffin currently ranks as the No. 1 prospect in the entire sport over at Baseball America. Last year’s No. 9 overall pick has split the season between Class-A and High-A, hitting a combined .332/.410/.532 with 16 home runs and 53 steals in 438 plate appearances — all against older and more advance competition. It seems unlikely that he’d be pushed to the majors early next year, but later on in the 2026 season and certainly in 2027, Griffin could be an option at shortstop if he can remain healthy and if the Pirates can finish off his development in a way that’s eluded them with countless other prospects.

Pittsburgh was never going to make a play for a multi-year option at shortstop in free agency anyhow. As MLBTR’s Contract Tracker shows, the Bucs haven’t signed any free agent to a multi-year deal since giving a three-year contract to righty Ivan Nova back in December of 2016. In general, it’s a light class for free agent infielders anyhow, with Bo Bichette and Alex Bregman standing head and shoulders above the rest of the group (and, obviously, miles out of the Pirates’ financial comfort zone). Eugenio Suárez will be a free agent as well, but he’ll be well beyond the Pirates’ comfort levels.

That said, exploring the trade market will be a feasible option. The Pirates are deep in young pitching. Paul Skenes and Bubba Chandler won’t be going anywhere, but Pittsburgh also has names like Mike Burrows, Braxton Ashcraft, Thomas Harrington, Johan Oviedo, Hunter Barco and, of course, veteran Mitch Keller as options to potentially bring in some infield talent at either left-side position. Any help would be sorely needed.

Pirates shortstops this season have combined for an awful .246/.292/.315, translating to a 69 wRC+ (i.e. 31% worse than league-average at the plate) that ranks 27th in MLB. Third base has been even worse. Hayes, Kiner-Falefa and Triolo have combined to hit .229/.280/.299 while manning the hot corner. No team in baseball has a lower wRC+ from their collective group of third basemen than Pittsburgh’s 60. The Reds — the team that acquired Hayes — are next-lowest at 65.

Pirates Outright Genesis Cabrera

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Pirates reliever Génesis Cabrera was outrighted to Triple-A, according to the MLB.com transaction log. Pittsburgh designated the southpaw for assignment on Monday when they welcomed Johan Oviedo back from the injured list. Cabrera has the right to refuse the assignment in favor of free agency.

The Pirates were Cabrera’s third team of the season. He had brief stints with the Mets and Cubs earlier in the year. He pitched nine times for the Bucs after signing a major league contract at the end of June. He gave up six runs in 11 innings, striking out seven while issuing one walk. Cabrera is now up to 28 frames with a 5.79 earned run average. He has recorded a below-average 18.8% strikeout rate.

Cabrera throws hard, averaging nearly 96 MPH from the left side. Teams continue to give him opportunities in the middle innings as a result. The 28-year-old hasn’t translated that into enough strikeouts over the past two seasons. He has also been increasingly prone to the home run ball, leading to an ERA above 4.00 in three of the past four years.

MLBTR Podcast: Sifting Through The Trade Deadline Deals

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The latest episode of the MLB Trade Rumors Podcast is now live on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and wherever you get your podcasts! Make sure you subscribe as well! You can also use the player at this link to listen, if you don’t use Spotify or Apple for podcasts.

This week, host Darragh McDonald is joined by Steve Adams and Anthony Franco of MLB Trade Rumors to go over the various deadline dealings, including…

Check out our past episodes!

The podcast intro and outro song “So Long” is provided courtesy of the band Showoff.  Check out their Facebook page here!

Photo courtesy of Chadd Cady, Imagn Images

Pirates Claim Jack Little

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The Pirates announced that they have claimed right-hander Jack Little off waivers from the Dodgers and assigned him to Triple-A Indianapolis. The Dodgers designated him for assignment two days ago. The Pirates had a couple of vacancies on their 40-man roster, with this move bumping their count to 39.

Little, 27, was called up to the big leagues for the first time less than two months ago. The Dodgers selected him to their 40-man on June 19th. Since then, he’s largely been on optional assignment. His big league track record consists of just three innings over two appearances. In those, Little allowed two earned runs on four hits and one walk while striking out two. He averaged 94 miles per hour on his fastball while also throwing a splitter and a slider.

Presumably, the Bucs are more interested in his larger sample of work as a minor leaguer. He was first promoted to the Triple-A level in June of last year. Since then, he has logged 79 innings for Oklahoma City with a 4.67 earned run average. It’s perhaps important to note that the Comets play in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League. While the 4.67 ERA may not be especially impressive, his 23.3% strikeout rate and 8.8% walk rates are pretty close to typical big league averages.

Little still has a full slate of options and just a handful of service days, meaning he could be a cheap depth piece for the foreseeable future, if he can hang onto his roster spot. The Bucs had some open spots on that roster, so they can get a free look at him for now and see how things go in Indianapolis. They traded David Bednar and Caleb Ferguson ahead of the deadline, putting a dent in their bullpen depth, so Little backfills a bit of that.

Photo courtesy of Jayne Kamin, Oncea-Imagn Images

Poll: Who Had The Best Deadline In The NL Central?

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The trade deadline has come and gone. While trade season was slow to get started this year, when all was said and done, there were several dozen trades made in a flurry of movement over the final few days before the deadline arrived. The full impact of these trades won’t be known for years to come, but that doesn’t mean we can’t analyze the deals and decide whose haul looks the best right now. Over the next week-plus, MLBTR will be running a series of polls asking which club in each division had the best deadline. Yesterday, the Phillies came out on top in the NL East with about half the vote. Today, we’ll be taking a look at the NL Central. A look at each of the five clubs, listed from best to worst record in 2025:

Milwaukee Brewers

The Brewers have the best record in baseball but had a fairly quiet deadline. Perhaps their most impactful move of the summer came last month, when they traded away Aaron Civale to land former top prospect Andrew Vaughn from the White Sox. Vaughn had struggled in Chicago for years but has caught fire with the Brewers and has proven to be an anchor for a lineup that’s without Rhys Hoskins and Jackson Chourio. Looking at deals made closer to the deadline, Milwaukee swapped out another big league starter to add a hitter when they shipped Nestor Cortes to the Padres alongside infield prospect Jorge Quintana and cash in order to bring in outfielder Brandon Lockridge.

Another unusual trade for Milwaukee was acquiring injured closer Shelby Miller and injured lefty Jordan Montgomery in exchange for a player to be named later or cash. Montgomery won’t pitch this year, so the deal essentially saw the Brewers buy Miller off of the Diamondbacks in exchange for eating some of Montgomery’s salary. Perhaps the only typical buy-side addition was catcher Danny Jansen, who they acquired from the Rays to back up William Contreras. Dealing away Cortes and Civale hasn’t seemed to hurt the team much, but their additions are fairly modest on paper.

Chicago Cubs

The Cubs have fallen behind the Brewers after posting a somewhat pedestrian 29-25 record since the start of June, and entered trade season in clear need of upgrades. Perhaps their most impactful addition was utility man Willi Castro, a switch-hitter who can help take pressure off of rookie Matt Shaw at third base while upgrading the bench to make giving regulars like Dansby Swanson and Ian Happ days off more feasible. Deals with the Orioles and Pirates to acquire veteran setup man Andrew Kittredge and southpaw Taylor Rogers should help bolster a bullpen that had been relying on reclamation projects like Brad Keller and Drew Pomeranz to this point, as well.

Despite those generally solid additions, the Cubs did not substantially address their biggest need this summer: starting pitching. It was no secret that adding rotation help was a top priority for Chicago with Justin Steele done for the year, Jameson Taillon and Javier Assad both on the injured list, and both Cade Horton and Matthew Boyd in uncharted territory in terms of innings. Unfortunately for the Cubs, they were unable to find much help in that regard on the market. Michael Soroka was added in a trade with the Nationals in order to pitch in, but his velocity was down in his last few outings with the Nats and now he’s headed for the injured list with shoulder discomfort. While the club’s bench and bullpen additions were solid, it’s unclear if that will be enough to outweigh the lack of impactful rotation help down the stretch.

Cincinnati Reds

The 59-54 Reds currently sit just three games out of a Wild Card spot in the NL, and that was enough to convince them to go for it this summer. They made three trades to round out their roster. They picked up right-hander Zack Littell from the Rays in a three-team deal that sent righty Brian Van Belle to Tampa and lefty Adam Serwinowski to the Dodgers. They added Miguel Andujar to their bench in a deal with the A’s and, most interestingly, they picked up third baseman Ke’Bryan Hayes from the Pirates in exchange for Rogers (who was later traded to the Cubs) and shortstop prospect Sammy Stafura.

Littell should provide some depth for an already-strong rotation that has a history of struggling to stay healthy (as was reinforced by Nick Lodolo’s departure from yesterday’s game after just 1 2/3 innings of work). Andujar provides a lefty-mashing bench bat to a club that has struggled badly against southpaws this year, but Hayes is the most interesting addition of the bunch. A former top prospect and Gold Glove award winner at third base, Hayes is one of the most talented defenders in the sport but hit just .236/.279/.290 (57 wRC+) in 100 games with the Pirates this year and has a career wRC+ of just 84. His relatively pricey contract makes bringing him in a gamble, but if he can float a slash line even close to league average, he should be a 3-win player when healthy.

St. Louis Cardinals

The Cardinals sold at the deadline for the second time in three years, but in doing so they only traded veterans on expiring contracts. Right-hander Erick Fedde was the first domino to fall, as the veteran starter was shipped to the Braves for a player to be named later or cash amid a disappointing season that saw him designated for assignment just before the deal. Veteran setup man Phil Maton netted a pair of prospects from the Rangers, one of whom is now St. Louis’s #26 ranked prospect at MLB Pipeline, and swingman Steven Matz was shipped to the Red Sox in a deal that brought back power-hitting first baseman Blaze Jordan (#18 in the Cardinals’ system, per Pipeline).

The team’s biggest deal this summer, however, was shipping out closer Ryan Helsley to the Mets. Even in the midst of a down season by his standards, Helsley brought back a trio of talented players: infield prospect Jesus Baez (#6 in the Cardinals’ system, per Pipeline), righty pitching prospect Nate Dohm (#15), and right-handed prospect Frank Elissalt (unranked). It’s a solid group of talent to bring in for a handful of rentals on expiring deals and the moves should help set incoming president of baseball operations Chaim Bloom up for success as John Mozeliak departs the club at the end of the season.

Pittsburgh Pirates

The Pirates also sold off pieces this summer, although their deadline was quiet for a club that entered July with Paul Skenes and Andrew McCutchen as their only two untouchable players. Not only did widely-speculated trade candidate Mitch Keller stay put despite a market starved for controllable rotation talent, but a number of rental players for whom the Pirates have little use did not end up getting cashed in for prospects and/or salary relief. Isiah Kiner-Falefa, Tommy Pham, Andrew Heaney, and Tim Mayza all remain in town. And some deals they did make, such as the David Bednar swap with the Yankees, produced underwhelming returns.

That’s not to say everything about the club’s deadline was disappointing, however. The Pirates did manage to get out from under the Hayes contract, and then flipped Rogers to get an additional prospect from the Cubs. Lefty Caleb Ferguson and infielder Adam Frazier both were successfully cashed in for prospect talent and the Bucs received a return led by intriguing MLB-ready reliever Evan Sisk when they looked to sell on back-end starter Bailey Falter. Some of those young players acquired should help the Pirates going forward, and getting Hayes off the books should make adding offense easier for 2026 and beyond. Even so, it’s fair to wonder if this deadline represents a missed opportunity in Pittsburgh.

The NL Central was one of the quieter divisions in baseball this deadline, with only a handful of non-rental players changing hands and no blockbusters. With that being said, three teams did make an effort to get better for 2025, while the Cardinals and Pirates picked up a number of pieces for their futures. Which club did the best of this quintet? Have your say in the poll below:

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