Pittsburgh Review

As the 2024 Trade Deadline approaches, the Pittsburgh Pirates are actively seeking to enhance their Major League team. Historically, the Trade Deadline has been a critical juncture for teams to revamp their rosters, often significantly influencing the remainder of the season or even shaping the franchise's future.

Reflecting on past trades, six deals stand out for their substantial impacts over the years.

On June 28, 1979, Fred Breining, Al Holland, and Ed Whitson were traded to the San Francisco Giants in exchange for Bill Madlock, Lenny Randle, and Dave Roberts. While Randle never played for the Pirates and Roberts joined the bullpen later in the season, Madlock emerged as a key player. Joining mid-season, he batted .328 and helped lead the Pirates to a World Series victory that year. Madlock remained with the team for seven seasons and won batting titles in 1981 and 1983.

Another notable trade occurred on July 31, 2018. The Pirates sent Austin Meadows, Tyler Glasnow, and Shane Baz to the Tampa Bay Rays for Chris Archer. This trade did not favor Pittsburgh as anticipated; Archer struggled with injuries and performance issues. In contrast, Meadows became an All-Star with Tampa Bay while Glasnow began excelling in Major League Baseball (MLB). This trade was a factor in former general manager Neal Huntington's departure after the 2019 season.

On July 31, 2017, Tony Watson was traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers for Angel German and Oneil Cruz. At that time Watson was less reliable than usual but still valued by other teams. Cruz has since become one of Pittsburgh's top young talents showing promising skills at MLB level.

In another successful prospect-focused deal on July 23, 1986 José DeLeón was traded to Chicago White Sox for Bobby Bonilla who went on becoming integral part of Pirate’s division title wins during early ‘90s while DeLeón continued his career successfully elsewhere too.

A memorable August waiver deadline deal happened on August 26th ,2003 when Brian Giles moved from Pirates to San Diego Padres fetching Jason Bay Oliver Pérez Cory Stewart - both Bay & Perez had remarkable stints subsequently contributing significantly towards team’s success before such waiver transactions got discontinued later on .

Finally on August27th ,2013 Dilson Herrera alongwith Vic Black were exchanged by New York Mets providing Marlon Byrd John Buck aiding much needed boost leading them into playoffs breaking prolonged streaks ensuring crucial win via Byrd’s homerun within wildcard game itself making short yet impactful presence felt then.

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