Getty Image / Randy Litzinger
The Pittsburgh Pirates have had a rough time in recent years.
The team hasn’t even won 70 games in a single season since 2018 and their last playoff appearance came all the way back in 2015.
Their misfortune won’t be coming to an end this season.
The team is currently in sole possession of last place in the NL Central with a record of 43-56 and they are 11.5 games behind the Brewers in the division.
While the franchise hasn’t been successful this year, they do have some talent on their roster.
The team actually had 2 players selected for the All-Star game this season.
Those two players were starting pitcher Mitch Keller and closer David Bednar.
Now it looks like they could end up moving on from those two before the trade deadline.
According to MLB Network’s Jon Heyman, the Pirates are willing to listen to trade offers for both All-Stars.
Pirates are also willing to listen to trade offers on All-Star starter Mitch Keller. So listening on both All-Stars, including also closer David Bednar. Would seem like a pretty low probability to happen in either case but in this sellers’ market makes sense to listen.
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) July 24, 2023
At this time of year, there are always teams looking to improve their pitching for a playoff run, which should mean the Pirates will get quite a bit of interest in both players.
Mitch Keller was great for the Pirates before the All-Star break. He had a 3.31 ERA before the break. That shot up over his last two starts because of a couple of rough performances, but his first 117 innings this season are probably a better indication of what teams would be getting.
He has also already struck out 137 batters this season.
David Bednar has been stellar this season for the Pirates. His ERA is an impressive 1.15 and he has 19 saves on 20 opportunities.
Unfortunately for the Pittsburgh Pirates, they don’t have much to play for right now, but they can start building a bright future with the returns they would get for these pitchers.