The Pittsburgh Pirates have surprisingly been one of the more active teams this offseason, overhauling their offense with hitters like Brandon Lowe and Ryan O’Hearn. However, they needed one more, and they missed when Eugenio Suarez decided to sign with their division rival in the Cincinnati Reds.

Now, they’ll need to pivot. Fansided’s Christopher Kline proposes that the Pirates make a deal with their eastern Pennsylvania counterparts, and trade with the Philadelphia Phillies for Nick Castellanos. Castellanos looks like he’s done with Philly and vice-versa, so this could work in Pittsburgh’s favor. 

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The trade would look like this:

Phillies get: C/1B Edgleen Perez (PIT #18)

Pirates get: OF Nick Castellanos, Cash

“This aligns nicely with a potential Domínguez-Phillies trade, as the writing is on the wall for Nick Castellanos’ tenure in Philadelphia. He butted heads with Rob Thomson throughout last season, demoted time and time again in the face of a steep offensive decline…If the Pittsburgh Pirates bump Ryan O’Hearn to a corner outfield spot, there are DH reps wide-open for Castellanos. That allows him to focus solely on swinging the bat without the pressures and scrutiny of everyday defense. There’s still some pop left, and Pittsburgh could use a bopper after whiffing on Eugenio Suárez and, ironically, Philly’s own Kyle Schwarber. Philadelphia can eat $10 million or so and get a 19-year-old catcher project for their trouble,” Kline wrote. 

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This past season, Castellanos slashed .250/.294/.400/.694 with 27 doubles, 17 home runs, and 72 RBI in 147 games. While he definitely doesn’t have the power of Suarez, he’d still be a major offensive upgrade to the Pirates’ lineup, and if he can be the DH, all the better.

Currently, Castellanos is owed $20 million for the last year of his contract. If the Phillies eat $10 million of that like Kline suggests, the Pirates could definitely be interested. 

Hopefully, they are, and make a proposal to Philly so they can get Castellanos in black and yellow by the time March comes rolling around.

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