![\"Mason](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Miller-1120x630.jpg\")
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
The Pittsburgh Pirates\u2019 biggest need going into Monday\u2019s trade deadline is relief pitching, which is obvious to anyone who has even casually followed them in this turnaround season.<\/p>\n
Granted, the bullpen has been better recently, and left-hander Mason Montgomery is starting to look like a potential closer. However, the Pirates\u2019 relief ERA of 4.38 is 22nd in the major leagues, and the bullpen has converted just 21 of 40 save opportunities.<\/p>\n
The Pirates are 55-54 after being blanked by the Arizona Diamondbacks<\/a> 3-0 on Wednesday at PNC Park, which leaves them two games behind in the National League wild card standings.<\/p>\n It\u2019s probably being conservative to think Pittsburgh would have five more wins with just a decent bullpen. If that were so, their record would be 60-49, and they would hold the second wild card.<\/p>\n General Manager Ben Cherington has a chance to fix the bullpen in the next five days. If the Pirates are to achieve their stated goal of reaching the postseason, they are going to need to add relievers better than recent bullpen additions Brandon Eisert and Ron Marinaccio.<\/p>\n The most logical one-stop shop if the Pirates are serious about winning in 2026 is San Diego. The Padres reportedly would be willing to part with right-handers Mason Miller and Adrian Morejon, who would immediately become the Pirates\u2019 top relievers.<\/p>\n Trading for Miller would certainly make Pirates fans happy. Not only is Miller arguably the top reliever in baseball, but a local guy who played at Bethel Park High School and Waynesburg University.<\/p>\n Miller certainly would relish a trade back to his hometown. Miller grew up as a Pirates\u2019 fan and told me a story earlier this year about one of his favorite childhood memories being Zach Duke throwing a ball to him in the PNC Park stands.<\/p>\n However, the Padres\u2019 asking price is steep for Miller, who can\u2019t become a free agent until 2029, and even a little higher if Morejon, who is in his walk year, is included.<\/p>\n So, what would a Pirates-Padres trade look like? This is what I came up with after talking to executives and scouts around baseball:<\/p>\n Pirates acquire RHP Mason Miller and RHP Adrian Morejon<\/p>\n Pirates trade RHP Braxton Ashcraft, SS Wyatt Sanford, RHP Levi Sterling and 2B Duce Gourson<\/p>\n It would be a steep price to pay, even for an All-Star like Miller.<\/p>\n The Padres, who are one-half game ahead of the Pirates, want controllable starting pitching that can help both this year and future seasons. Fitting that bill is Ashcraft, a high-quality starter who won\u2019t reach free agency until 2031.<\/p>\n Furthermore, the Padres want prospects to stock their farm system. Baseball America ranks Sanford as the Pirates\u2019 No. 4 prospect, Sterling at No. 24 and Gourson at No. 29.<\/p>\n It would be an interesting proposal for Cherington to consider, though he would have to make a second trade to add a starting pitcher.<\/p>\n Miller would give the Pirates a dominant closer for years. Ashcraft could turn into a No.1 who could anchor the rotation into the next decade.<\/p>\n In the end, the price seems too high for the Pirates to pay.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tMentioned in this article: Adrian Morejon<\/a> Mason Miller<\/a> Pittsburgh Pirates<\/a> San Diego Padres<\/a> <\/p>\n More about:Pirates<\/a> Pirates Trade Rumors<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Pittsburgh Pirates\u2019 biggest need going into Monday\u2019s trade deadline is relief pitching, which is obvious to anyone…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":255529,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[73,75,74,10997,28762],"class_list":["post-255528","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-pittsburgh","tag-pittsburgh","tag-pittsburgh-headlines","tag-pittsburgh-news","tag-pittsburgh-pirates","tag-san-diego-padres"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/255528","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=255528"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/255528\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/255529"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=255528"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=255528"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=255528"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}