With a little more than a week to go before the trade deadline buzzer, the Pittsburgh Pirates may be ready to liquidate.
Jon Heyman of the New York Post reports on Monday that the Pirates are telling teams they would listen to offers for closer Derek Bednar. Heyman adds that Pittsburgh is also willing to listen on ace righty Mitch Keller.
Bednar, 28, and Keller, 27, were the Pirates’ only two All-Star selections this season. The former owns a microscopic 1.15 ERA this season with 19 saves in 20 opportunities but might be harder to move since he is under team control through 2026. The latter currently leads Pittsburgh in both wins (nine) and strikeouts (137) and is under control through 2025.
At 43-56 this season (dead-last in the NL Central), the Pirates are once again headed to nowhere land. They also had a different top player ask out several months ago and thus are in peak seller’s position before the Aug. 1 deadline.
