Pittsburgh Pirates 2018 season review
2018 Pirates: Preseason Moves
Just after the calendar flipped to 2018, Pirates fans learned they would have a significantly different team this year. They would be without longtime fan favorite Andrew McCutchen and staff ace, Gerrit Cole. On January 13, Gerrit Cole was traded to the Houston Astros for Michael Feliz, Colin Moran, Joe Musgrove and minor leaguer Jason Martin.
Cole was traded with two years left before he can become a free agent after the 2019 season. The Pirates weren’t going to spend the money to keep him, so they dealt him to the Astros, where he had the best season of his career. According to Fangraphs, he was worth 6.3 Wins Above Replacement (WAR) in 2018.
The players the Pirates received for Cole were an interesting mix. Moran played in 144 games but only started 110. He was often on the bench against left-handed pitching. In 465 plate appearances, he hit .277/.340/.407 and was worth 0.7 WAR. Most important to the penny-pinching Pirates is that he won’t be a free agent until 2024.
Joe Musgrove started 19 games and had a 4.06 ERA and 1.18 WHIP in 115.3 innings. His FIP was 3.59, which suggests he pitched a bit better than his numbers. His season was limited by injuries, including an abdominal strain at the end of the year. He was worth 2.1 WAR.
The third major leaguer acquired in the Cole trade was relief pitcher Michael Feliz and his season was a disappointment. He had a 5.66 ERA and 1.51 WHIP in 47.7 innings (4.13 FIP). Walking 23 batters was a big part of his problem. He was worth 0.1 WAR.
The major league tally came out to 6.3 WAR for Cole and a combined 2.9 WAR from Moran, Musgrove and Feliz. The minor leaguer acquired in the trade, Jason Martin, hit well in Double-A (.325/.392/.522), but struggled in Triple-A (.211/.270/.319). As a prospect, he’s considered more of a bench player than a starter.
Two days after dealing Cole, the Pirates traded longtime franchise icon Andrew McCutchen to the San Francisco Giants for reliever Kyle Crick and minor league outfielder Bryan Reynolds. Cutch had one year left on his contract before free agency and the Pirates wanted to get something for him.
McCutchen ended up splitting his season between the Giants and the Yankees, hitting .255/.368/.424 and being worth 2.6 WAR. He wasn’t the McCutchen of old, the one who averaged 6.9 WAR per season from 2011-2015, but that WAR total would have made him the third-best position player on the 2018 Pirates.
For his part, Krick was an effective reliever, with a 2.39 ERA and 3.14 FIP in 60.3 innings. He was worth 1.0 WAR. Reynolds was injured early in the season while playing at Double-A. When he returned, he hit .302/.381/.438 in 88 games. According to Fangraphs, he “doesn’t produce the power you look for in a corner outfielder and he doesn’t play center field well enough to be out there every day.”
It’s always tough when top players are traded away. Rumors about McCutchen and Cole being traded had been flying around for a couple years and fans likely hoped they would get more in return. With the McCutchen deal, the Pirates saved quite a bit of money so the return was less. With Cole, they received multiple players who will hopefully help the team for a few years.
In February, the Pirates made a trade with the Tampa Bay Rays. They acquired outfielder Corey Dickerson for reliever Daniel Hudson and minor leaguer Tristan Gray. Dickerson had a solid season, hitting .300/.330/.474 and being worth 2.7 WAR. Hudson was released by the Rays in late March and picked up by the Dodgers in April. He finished the year slightly below replacement-level.