Pirates trade rumors: Bucs 'want to get rid of' Pedro Alvarez

The Pirates are making Pedro Alvarez very, very available on the trade market, Jeff Passan tweets.

One other guy whose name is everywhere: Pedro Alvarez. Said one GM: "Pirates want to get rid of him. They're offering him to everybody."

— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) July 23, 2015

This isn't a surprise, since the Pirates have recently sat Alvarez even against righties, like Edinson Volquez yesterday and Taylor Jungmann last weekend. (They even could have used him as a DH against Volquez, and they didn't.) Alvarez's offense isn't good, but he has enough power that playing him wouldn't be a problem if he were an average defensive third baseman or a decent defensive first baseman. Unfortunately, he's a million miles from being decent at first base. He's also a likely non-tender candidate after the season and would be eligible for free agency after next season if the Pirates did tender him, so there's very little time for the Pirates to realize Alvarez's upside, if he even has any left.

The problem is what the Pirates will do if they do deal Alvarez. He obviously isn't going to get them anything good on the trade market, and Travis Ishikawa isn't a long-term solution. If the Bucs do trade Alvarez, the logical next step would be for them to also acquire a first baseman to take his place. Unfortunately, the market for first basemen is limited, with not much on the market beyond Adam Lind.