The Pirates are finally in the position they’ve spent years chasing: the prospects are arriving, the big-league club is in the National League playoff race, and the farm system is no longer just something to dream on. Now it has to become the tool that pushes this roster forward.
That’s the real test for Pittsburgh heading into the Aug. 3 deadline. With a system this deep, standing pat and protecting everybody would be the wrong move. The Pirates have enough young talent to be selective, but they also have enough excess to make real upgrades if they’re willing to deal from the right areas.
At the top of the untouchable list is Seth Hernandez. With Griffin and Chandler already graduated, Hernandez is now MLB Pipeline’s No.
1 Pirates prospect, and there’s no reason to move another potential frontline starter for a rental reliever or a modest offensive piece. Before his current oblique issue, he was already blowing away lower-level hitters with upper-90s velocity and huge swing-and-miss stuff.
That puts him firmly in the “true untouchable” bucket.
Edward Florentino belongs there too. Pipeline has him second in the system, and Pittsburgh has spent enough time proving it can develop pitching to know how rare a legitimate middle-of-the-order left-handed hitter is. Florentino is 19, and unless the Pirates are getting a proven bat of that caliber back, there’s no sense in giving him up.
After that, though, the conversation changes fast. Murf Gray has turned himself into one of the most interesting trade chips in the organization.
He’s hitting .317 with 26 homers and a 1.007 OPS, has already reached Double-A and is now Pipeline’s No. 3 Pirates prospect.
That kind of surge should absolutely matter in trade talks. Not for a rental reliever, but for an everyday major league bat with years of control?
That’s the kind of deal Pittsburgh should be ready to make.
Wyatt Sanford fits the same general lane. He’s hitting .287 with a .425 OBP, 10 homers, 21 steals and a .964 OPS, and Pipeline has him fourth in the system.
The Pirates also have Konnor Griffin in the mix, which changes the calculus. With that much middle-infield depth, Sanford doesn’t need to be treated like an untouchable franchise cornerstone.
Johan De Los Santos is another name worth putting on the table. He just turned 18 last week, and he’s already showing elite on-base ability and disruptive speed. That kind of profile can draw real interest, but if Pittsburgh moves him, it should be as part of a major deal, not as a throw-in for bullpen help.
There are also prospects the Pirates should be actively shopping. Sammy Stafura has boosted his stock in a big way, hitting .274 with 18 homers, 19 steals and a .940 OPS at High-A.
Pittsburgh already has Griffin, Sanford, Termarr Johnson, Jack Brannigan and other middle-infield options around the system, so there’s no reason to keep every promising shortstop just because he’s promising. Sell high.
Lonnie White Jr. is in a similar spot. After years of injuries and inconsistency, he’s finally putting together the kind of season the Pirates hoped for when they drafted him.
He’s hitting .276 with 19 homers, 18 steals and a .912 OPS in 2026. At 23 and in Double-A, he’s close enough to matter but still uncertain enough that he shouldn’t be treated like part of the core.
Easton Carmichael also belongs in the trade mix. Pittsburgh has loaded up on catching depth, from Carmichael and Axiel Plaz to younger players deeper in the system, and there just aren’t enough innings to go around.
Carmichael is hitting .305 with 16 homers and an .862 OPS, and he was just promoted to Double-A. That’s the kind of surplus a smart front office should use.
Termarr Johnson is a different case. The Pirates should be willing to move him, but his struggles at Triple-A make this a poor time to sell just to make a deal.
If another team still believes in his pedigree and offensive upside, fine - listen. Otherwise, rebuilding his value makes more sense than sending a former No. 4 overall pick out in a thin package.
Jhostynxon Garcia is another player who can be discussed. He’s hitting 279 with 10 homers and an .805 OPS in Triple-A, though that hasn’t carried over in his brief MLB chances. Even so, he and recently acquired Johnathan Rodríguez are the only minor league outfielders on the Pirates’ 40-man roster, which gives Garcia some real trade appeal.
Hunter Barco should also be available. Pittsburgh simply has better starting pitchers than him, and while his 2026 numbers have been rough, he still has value in the right deal. The same goes for Khristian Curtis, Antwone Kelly and Thomas Harrington, the kind of near-MLB pitching depth a pitching-rich organization should be willing to turn into help elsewhere.
Middle-infield depth pieces like Jack Brannigan and Keiner Delgado shouldn’t block a meaningful move either.
That’s the larger point here: almost everyone outside the very top tier should be in play. Hunter Barco.
Jhostynxon Garcia. Khristian Curtis.
Antwone Kelly. Thomas Harrington.
Brannigan. One of the catchers.
One of the shortstops. The Pirates have enough young talent to keep the core intact and still make the 2026 club better.
In Other News...
Pirates Just Made A Bullpen Decision Fans Saw Coming
Dennis Santanas time in Pittsburgh took another turn this week after the Pirates moved on from the right-hander, a decision that fit the way his season had gone. He had been part of the bullpen mix, but his recent work never matched the kind of stability the club needed, even though he had shown better form in the not-too-distant past and had at least given the Pirates reason to believe there was something to work with.
Now the question is less about what went wrong in Pittsburgh and more about where Santana lands next. His contract situation makes him a relatively low-cost flier for a team in need of bullpen help, and the Pirates are still on the hook for part of the money, which softens the blow as they keep sorting through relief options. For a pitcher who has already shown he can be useful in the right stretch, there should be no shortage of clubs taking a look. [Read more 🡒]
Pirates May Have Pulled Off Their Rarest Kind Of Trade Win
When the Pirates sent KeBryan Hayes to Cincinnati on July 30, the deal looked like a straightforward reset: Pittsburgh got reliever Taylor Rogers, infield prospect Sammy Stafura and cash considerations, while moving on from a former cornerstone who had lost his offensive footing. It did not take long for the transaction to start looking better for the Pirates on multiple fronts, because Hayes has struggled badly at the plate in Cincinnati and Stafura has been turning heads in High-A Greensboro with the kind of production that can change a prospects status quickly.
Pittsburgh also did not sit on the return it got from the Reds. Rogers was flipped to the Cubs for outfield prospect Ivan Brethowr, adding another young piece to the organizations pipeline and giving the Pirates a second crack at value from the same trade. For a club that has spent years trying to do more with less, this is the kind of rare trade outcome that can matter long after the deadline passes, even if the final accounting still has a few important chapters left to be written. [Read more 🡒]
Pirates Just Sent A Troubling Message About Ben Cherington's Deadline Plans
Ahead of an important series finale against the Arizona Diamondbacks, the Pirates made a set of roster tweaks that looked more like a shuffle from within than a push from outside. Jhostynxon Garcia, Hunter Barco and Noah Murdock were recalled from Triple-A Indianapolis, while Tyler Callihan, Isaac Mattson and Brandon Eisert were sent back down, giving Pittsburgh a fresh mix of position-player help and bullpen arms without reaching beyond the organization.
Garcia gives the Pirates another right-handed bat in place of Callihan, and the pitching side of the move suggests the club wanted to reset a relief group that has been carrying a heavy load. Barco and Murdock arrive to help cover innings, with Murdock standing out as the more interesting name after a strong minor-league run, but the broader picture is still the one that matters most to Pittsburgh fans: these are internal fixes, and they leave the question of how aggressive Ben Cherington will be when the trade deadline arrives hanging in the air. [Read more 🡒]