The 2026 trade deadline sent a familiar cluster of ex-Pirates packing, and Joey Bart ended up with the strangest path of them all.
Bart was the one name whose season truly zigzagged. He opened the year in Pittsburgh, splitting catching duties with Henry Davis, and hit .259 with two homers and a .669 OPS in 62 plate appearances before a foot infection landed him on the injured list.
The Pirates chose not to bring him back after his rehab assignment and instead shipped him to Atlanta on June 19 for reliever Hunter Stratton. Stratton has since been designated for assignment and, ultimately, traded to the San Diego Padres.
Bart barely settled in with the Braves before moving again. He got into only 20 games for Atlanta, then was flipped to the White Sox for right-hander Duncan Davitt at the deadline.
At the time of that second deal, Bart was hitting .226/.303/.377 with four homers and 13 RBI across 119 combined plate appearances for Pittsburgh and Atlanta. In all, his trip from Pittsburgh’s Opening Day roster to the injured list, then to Atlanta and Chicago, took less than three months.
He leaves Pittsburgh with a .257/.342/.396 line, 19 home runs and 81 RBI in 194 games from 2024 through 2026.
Jack Suwinski also changed addresses, with Tampa Bay landing him from the Dodgers. Pittsburgh had designated him for assignment in February, and Los Angeles claimed him off waivers.
He never reached the majors with the Dodgers, but he did rebuild some value at Triple-A Oklahoma City. Over 93 games there, he posted a .291/.386/.562 slash line with 21 homers, 72 RBI and a 134 wRC+, while trimming his strikeout rate to 22.1%.
Tampa Bay got Suwinski and international bonus-pool money for catcher Hunter Feduccia and pitching prospect Jacob Kmatz. Suwinski’s Pirates résumé still includes 26 homers in 2023, but across 397 big-league games in Pittsburgh he hit just .199/.305/.389 with 57 homers, 148 RBI and 33 stolen bases.
Caleb Ferguson is headed to St. Louis after the Cardinals sent the Reds $250,000 in international bonus-pool space.
The 30-year-old lefty went 1-0 with a 4.01 ERA, 1.50 WHIP and 22 strikeouts in 24 2/3 innings over 26 appearances for Cincinnati this season. Injuries limited him and the results came and went, but St.
Louis added a veteran arm without giving up a player. Ferguson also spent the first part of the 2025 season with Pittsburgh, where he was effective in 45 appearances, logging a 3.74 ERA, 1.09 WHIP and 34 strikeouts in 43.1 innings before being traded to Seattle at the deadline.
Jameson Taillon’s Cubs stint ended after a rough run, including a rocky appearance against the Pirates, and Chicago designated him for assignment before sending him to Toronto for cash considerations or a player to be named later. The 34-year-old finished at 2-6 with a 5.92 ERA and 1.36 WHIP over 76 innings and 15 starts, striking out 68 while allowing 25 home runs, tied for the fourth-most in the majors at the time of the trade.
For Pittsburgh, Taillon remains one of the most accomplished pitchers the club has developed in recent memory. The former No. 2 overall pick went 29-24 with a 3.67 ERA, 1.25 WHIP and 419 strikeouts over 466 innings from 2016 through 2019.
Kyle Nicolas’ season has been just as mobile, even if his move came July 1 rather than at the deadline itself. Pittsburgh traded him to Cincinnati during spring training for utility player Tyler Callihan.
He struggled badly there, putting up an 8.59 ERA and 2.86 WHIP in seven appearances while walking 13 in just 7 1/3 innings. Cincinnati sent him to Baltimore for cash in June, and the Orioles later traded him to Washington for infielder Randal Diaz.
Nicolas made 86 appearances for Pittsburgh from 2023 through 2025, going 3-4 with a 4.68 ERA, 96 strikeouts and 53 walks in 98 innings. His velocity stood out, but the command never quite let him lock down a permanent late-inning role.
Bailey Falter also found himself on the move, going from Kansas City to Atlanta in a deal that sent the Royals pitching prospects Carter Holton and Lucas Braun and also brought outfielder Lane Thomas to the Braves. Falter had rough results in his limited major-league work this season, going 0-2 with a 13.97 ERA and 3.10 WHIP in five appearances and 9 2/3 innings.
Kansas City removed him from the 40-man roster in June, though he later posted a 3.56 ERA in 17 appearances, including seven starts, for Triple-A Omaha. During his Pirates years, Falter was a steady innings source, going 17-16 with a 4.32 ERA in 60 appearances, including 57 starts, and throwing 296 innings from 2023 through 2025.
José Soriano rounds out the group, though his Pirate connection comes with an asterisk. Pittsburgh took him first overall in the 2020 Rule 5 Draft, but arm injuries and Tommy John surgery kept him from pitching for the club.
The Pirates returned him to the Angels in November 2021 without him ever appearing in a regular-season game. Soriano has since become the kind of controllable starter Pittsburgh once hoped it had found, going 9-6 with a 3.29 ERA and 127 strikeouts over 123 innings and 22 starts for Los Angeles this season.
Toronto paid up for him, sending shortstop Arjun Nimmala, outfielder Eddie Micheletti Jr. and right-hander Angel Rivero to the Angels.
In Other News...
Pirates Quietly Explored A Catcher Move With Bigger Roster Implications
As the Pirates sized up the market around the August 3 trade deadline, one of the more interesting names they reportedly checked into was a catcher. The pursuit says plenty about how front offices can work the board at this time of year: even when bullpen help and outfield upgrades are the obvious priorities, a club will still kick around ways to improve a spot that can ripple through the roster in a hurry.
Hunter Goodman has emerged as one of the better offensive catchers in the game, which is exactly why any conversation about him quickly turns into a bigger question about cost and control. Pittsburgh may have had interest, but whether Colorado would even listen and whether the Pirates would pay the likely price were always the real hurdles, and those issues help explain why the catcher market can be a lot messier than it looks from the outside. [Read more 🡒]
James Skenes Has Become A Real Pirates Concern At The Worst Time
James Skenes arrived in Pittsburgh looking like the kind of arm that could anchor a rotation for years, and he backed up that buzz immediately with sub-2.00 ERAs in each of his first two seasons. This year has looked different. The numbers have climbed toward a 4.00 ERA, and the underlying signs have been just as unsettling for a Pirates club that needs stability from its best starter.
The bigger worry is not just results, but how they are arriving. His fastball has lost some of the life that made it such a weapon, with reduced spin and less movement helping opponents square him up more often. Evaluators have pointed to mechanical issues in his delivery as part of the problem, though those concerns are being addressed, which leaves Pittsburgh hoping this is a fixable slump rather than the start of a deeper problem. [Read more 🡒]