Could Pirates Trade For Rangers Playoff Hero?
Could the Pittsburgh Pirates' search for more offense lead them to arguably the best player on the Texas Rangers' run to win the 2023 World Series?
Bleacher Report's Zachary Rymer proposed trade packages for players who are coming off of rough 2024 seasons and had the Pirates making a play for Rangers outfielder Adolis García. Rymer also had the Pirates acquiring utility player Ezequiel Duran and Pittsburgh sending one of its top pitching prospects, hard-throwing right-hander Braxton Ashcraft back in the trade.
Rymer touted the Pirates' pitching depth in the big leagues and throughout their farm system, adding to why they should be afraid to make a play for a player of García's caliber.
"What Pittsburgh needs, though, is a big bopper," Rymer writes. "And preferably one with some edge to him. Their lineup is stuck in a years-long cycle of being both inept and generally lifeless. Basically, they need a dude like Adolis García."
Rymer added: "García had a rough one in 2024, but he hit 97 home runs across the three prior seasons. That isn't even counting the 2023 playoffs, wherein he set a postseason record with 22 runs batted in.
García's numbers were the worst of his MLB career, though, his power numbers still weren't anything to scoff at. He hit 25 home runs, drove in 85 runs, slashed .224/.284/.400 and had an OPS+ of 94, all of which were career lows. Before 2024, hit at least 30 home runs and drove in over 100 RBIs in two of the previous three seasons while boasting an OPS+ of at least 100 in the last three years.
The hallmark of García's career was in the 2023 postseason when he hit eight home runs, drove in an MLB record 22 runs and slashed .323/.382/.726. The Rangers right fielder was the ALCS MVP after he torched the Houston Astros with five home runs and 15 RBIs and he slashed .357/.400/.893 in the seven-game series.
Trading Ashcraft for someone who could be a rental is a risky proposition. Even with the Pirates' starting pitching depth at the Major League level and in the Minor Leagues, Ashcraft may be best positioned to move to the bullpen and could thrive there because of his stuff. Pittsburgh needs the arms in its bullpen as well after it ranked 27th in ERA and blew the second-most ninth-inning leads in 2024.
Ashcraft is the Pirates' No. 4 ranked prospect and 85th in baseball by MLB Pipeline.
A trade for García is a risky move given his decline last season. Pittsburgh would be banking on a 32-year-old outfielder finding his form again and becoming the play he was in the previous three seasons. He also has just one year left on his contract and could sign elsewhere after next season.
But for as risky a trade for García could be, it'd be much worse for Pittsburgh to stand pat.
The Pirates' regime is more than likely entering a make-or-break season in 2025 and has to address an offense that ranked in the bottom 10 in every major category last season. If García can be the player he was from 2021 to 2023, he'd be exactly what the doctor ordered and can be the middle-of-the-line presence Pittsburgh desperately needs.
