Pirates Surge in MLB Power Rankings As Trade Deadline Buyers

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Don't look now, but here come the Pirates.

Pittsburgh has won five of its last six games and sits in second place in the National League Central, just 4.5 games behind the first-place Milwaukee Brewers.

As a result, the Pirates have surged in ESPN's latest MLB Power Rankings, moving from No. 11 to No. 8.

"It's as if (manager) Don Kelly was made from the Aaron Boone mold as a manager," ESPN's Buster Olney notes.

"As a player, Kelly -- like Boone -- was known to be incredibly gregarious, highly approachable and easy to talk to for opponents, the media and, yes, umpires," Olney adds. "But as manager of the Pirates, Kelly has shown a more fiery side. He's already got three ejections this season, after having four in 124 games last year.

"'What I've seen from Donnie is that he's got a really strong level of belief in players individually and what they are capable of collectively ... That belief in players comes out during the games sometimes,'" Pirates general manager Ben Cherington told Olney via text message.

But wait, there's more.

Cherington is expected to be wheeling and dealing ahead of the Aug. 3 trade deadline, according to ESPN's Jeff Passan.

" Barring a rough June -- which is not entirely out of the realm of possibility with upcoming series against the Braves, Dodgers, Mariners and Phillies -- the Pirates will add at the deadline," Passan wrote.

"Their rotation is already good enough to have squeezed (Carmen) Mlodzinski out. Their bullpen could use another power arm, though Gregory Soto, Mason Montgomery and rookie Wilber Dotel are high-octane options," Passan added.

"The most glaring weakness right now is at catcher, where they've cycled through Joey Bart, Henry Davis and Endy Rodriguez. And though Rodriguez's capacity to draw walks is promising, a Jeffers acquisition wouldn't be prohibitively expensive and would help balance a lineup that's already very lefty heavy, with Brandon Lowe, Oneil Cruz, Spencer Horwitz and Ryan O'Hearn," Passan concluded.

The Athletic's Ken Rosenthal has a similar view of the Pirates.


"The shifting of right-hander Carmen Mlodzinski from the rotation to the bullpen is not the only way the Pittsburgh Pirates are trying to upgrade their bullpen," Rosenthal wrote.

"The team, which on Monday traded righty Justin Lawrence to the Minnesota Twins for cash considerations, is actively pursuing bullpen help, according to people briefed on their discussions," Rosenthal added.

"One rival executive joked, 'That’s not news. Everyone is looking for ‘pen.' But the same exec said the Pirates are being more aggressive than most clubs in that search," Rosenthal noted.

Pittsburgh enters play Friday with a 61.4% chance of making the playoffs for the first time since 2015,according to FanGraphs.

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