Pittsburgh Pirates Made Offer for Mark Trumbo, Los Angeles Angels Decline

Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports

Looking to upgrade their offense as they aim for their first playoff berth in over twenty years, the Pittsburgh Pirates made an effort to acquire Mark Trumbo from the Los Angeles Angels today, according to CBS Sports’ Jon Heyman. Los Angeles didn’t have interest in discussing a potential deal, even despite rumblings that the Pirates were willing to discuss the inclusion of one of their young starting pitchers.

Trumbo isn’t being actively made available by the Angels, despite the team’s depth at both first base and in the outfield. He’d bring a nice return if the team did elect to move but they are reportedly still very high on him and prefer not to do so. He’s hitting .249/.313/.473 in 448 PA on the year, adding 23 HR. It’s been a down year overall from an offensive standpoint, as it has for much of the Angels lineup, but that wasn’t enough for the team to engage Pittsburgh in talks.

While the Pirates willingness to include a top young starter is an interesting component to such talks, it’s unlikely that they’d of parted with either Gerrit Cole or Jameson Taillon for Trumbo. Trumbo would have made a nice addition to the middle of Pittsburgh’s lineup and might have taken some of the pressure off of Andrew McCutchen’s shoulders as the team aims to hold onto their lead in the NL Central.