Say Goodbye to Watson and Hello to Benoit!
Today July 31, 2017 at 4:00 pm was the major league non waiver trade deadline and the Pittsburgh Pirates made a set of 2 moves. The Pirates traded long time left handed set up man, Tony Watson, to the Los Angeles Dodgers and acquiring a seventh inning man, Joaquin Benoit, from the Philadelphia Phillies. The Pirates sent Watson to the Dodgers for two prospects, shortstop Oneil Cruz and right handed pitcher Angel German. Pittsburgh Pirates saw the ups and downs of Watson, from his 2013 season where him and Justin Wilson were two of the top lefty relievers in the game to 2014 where he was second on the team in wins going 10-2 with a 1.63 ERA to this year where he was off all year and was removed from the closer rule. Tony Watson is 5-3 with a 3.66 ERA and a 1.52 WHIP in 46.2 IP. He had 10 saves with the Pirates and a 6.75 K/9. In return Oneil Cruz and Angel German are both Class A prospects. Oneil Cruz is a shortstop batting .240 with a .293 on base percentage and a .635 OPS in SIngle A this year while RHP Angel German is 1-0 with a 1.91 ERA in 33.0 innings pitched. The Pirates also acquired RHP Joaquin Benoit from the Phillies by trading Single A pitcher Seth McGarry. Joaquin Benoit will be used as a 7th inning man for the Pirates. Benoit is 1-4 with a 4.07 ERA and a 1.14 WHIP in 40.1 IP. He has a 9.21 K/9 rate this year. McGarry was 1-0 with a 1.34 ERA in 40.1 innings in Bradenton this year. Benoit is 40 years old this season and will be a free agent at the end of the season.
Other Notable Acquisitions:
Los Angeles Dodgers Acquire:
RHP Yu Darvish from Texas
LHP Tony Cingrani from Cincinnati
LHP Tony Watson from Pittsburgh
Milwaukee Brewers Acquire:
RHP Jeremy Jeffress from Texas
Colorado Rockies Acquire:
C Johnathon Lucroy from Texas
Houston Astros Acquire:
LHP Francisco Liriano from Toronto
Toronto Blue Jays Acquire:
OF Nori Aoki from Houston
OF Teoscar Hernandez from Houston
Boston Red Sox Acquire:
RHP Addison Russell from New York Mets
Arizona Diamondbacks Acquire:
INF Adam Rosales from Oakland
Cleveland Indians Acquire:
RHP Joe Smith from Toronto
New York Yankees Acquire:
RHP Sonny Gray
