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Pittsburgh Pirates: Five Trade Fits for Francisco Cervelli

By Jason Evans

PHOENIX, AZ - JUNE 13: Francisco Cervelli #29 of the Pittsburgh Pirates walks to his dugout between innings against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field on June 13, 2018 in Phoenix, Arizona. (Photo by Norm Hall/Getty Images)
PHOENIX, AZ - JUNE 13: Francisco Cervelli #29 of the Pittsburgh Pirates walks to his dugout between innings against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field on June 13, 2018 in Phoenix, Arizona. (Photo by Norm Hall/Getty Images) /
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Pittsburgh Pirates
ATLANTA, GA OCTOBER 08: The Los Angeles Dodgers pose on the field following the last out during the Major League baseball NLDS game between the Atlanta Braves and the Los Angeles Dodgers on October 8th, 2018 at SunTrust Park in Atlanta, GA. The Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Atlanta Braves 6 – 2 to win the NLDS series. (Photo by Rich von Biberstein/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /

Los Angeles Dodgers

The Los Angeles Dodgers could use a catcher and they and the Pittsburgh Pirates have made trades, as recently as the David Freese one last August.

Yasmani Grandal was one of the best catchers during the regular season last year, even though his postseason certainly left something to be desired. He’s now a free agent, with a QO attached for any team other than the Dodgers to sign him.

The Dodgers currently have Austin Barnes as the starter, with Kyle Farmer and Rocky Gale as possible backups. Top prospect Keibert Ruiz was just added to the 40-man roster, but the 20 year old hasn’t reached AAA yet.

The Dodgers won’t have luxury tax penalties to deal with, so if they go over this year after adding Cervelli, they have his $11 million coming off the books after next year anyway. Maybe the combination of Cervelli and Barnes is enough at the position until Ruiz is ready to take over in 2020?

For the Pittsburgh Pirates, the Dodgers certainly have a prospect base they can look at to acquire some minor league depth for Cervelli. Maybe someone like Robinson Ortiz who’s 28th on the Dodgers top 30 prospects according to MLBpipeline.com could be enough to swing a deal?

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