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The Pittsburgh Pirates lulled us all to sleep on Tuesday morning before jolting us forward and grabbing our interest once again. What’s next?
Will the Pittsburgh Pirates trade Francisco Cervelli next?
It’s a completely valid question after Neal Huntington gave everyone the ol’ right there Fred by setting observers up with a bout of GM Speak only to bring over the right hand, trading Ivan Nova for a rookie league pitcher and cash.
Huntington Monday on expiring contracts: "There are times we’ll be more aggressive than others and in Cervelli, Dickerson and Nova’s case, they fit really well for us and so it’s going to have to be something that makes sense for us in the big picture to have us entertain that."
— Bill Brink (@BrinkPG) December 11, 2018
DK Pittsburgh Sports’ John Perrotto threw fuel on the fire last night with this little doozy:
Hearing the Dodgers would likely do a Ross Stripling-for-Francisco Cervelli trade with the Pirates. #pirates #dkps
— John Perrotto (@JPerrotto) December 12, 2018
Go ahead and chug some water after taking that huge grain of salt, then join me in realizing that if Huntington is truly looking at the “big picture,” then he should absolutely do a deal like that for Francisco Cervelli, even if the Pirates would have to kick in some cash.
In fact, this is already no longer a possibility.
Dodgers are out on Pirates catcher Francisco Cervelli now but Mets and Red Sox both have at least some interest. #pirates #dkps
— John Perrotto (@JPerrotto) December 12, 2018
Looking at that big picture again..young, controllable assets like Stripling are a perfect return for a year of an injury prone catcher. Though teams have been checking in on Cervelli, Huntington could easily throw gas on this fire...should he choose to.
Is the Opener/Jordan Lyles enough to replace Nova?
Huntington casually mentioned the possibility of his club employing The Opener, merely as a byproduct of the Nova trade.
It was an eye-catching moment...a GM who has earned a reputation as risk-averse (Archer trade notwithstanding), in an organization that has quickly fallen behind in innovation embracing a trend that is still in its infancy.
Perhaps this could solve the organization’s Nick Kingham problem. After the Lyles acquisition, Kingham’s fate is nebulous at best. If the club brings in another starting pitching candidate, it is hard to imagine any scenario in which Kingham is not at least exposed to waivers, where he stands a more than good chance of being claimed. If the Pittsburgh Pirates don’t add to the rotation, then yes, great, he is a prime candidate to come in after an Opener.