Nate McLouth Traded to Braves
Wow. The deal opens a spot for Andrew McCutchen, who will join the Pirates immediately, presumably as their starting centerfielder. Wow. Wow wow wow.
UPDATE: The Bucs get pitchers Jeff Locke and Charlie Morton and outfielder Gorkys Hernandez.
Locke is a hard-throwing lefty starter who should report to Lynchburg. He pitched well for Class A Rome as a 20-year-old last year. He gets a lot of groundballs, but control is an issue. Lefties who start and throw hard are pretty rare commodities, so he’s a very nice prospect to have around and probably the headline player in the deal. The Pirates prospect most similar to Locke in terms of value and career path is Bryan Morris, who maybe serves as a cautionary tale, but Locke does have good upside.
Hernandez came to the Braves in the Edgar Renteria deal and is a pretty nifty outfield prospect. He doesn’t have much power (yet), but he has good contact ability, some speed, and a decent batting eye. He’s a notch below the McCutchen/Tabata class, but that doesn’t mean he’s a bad prospect. He also fits the Pirates’ plan of using fast outfielders in center and left. He has a good chance of posting decent OBPs in the majors, and if the Pirates are very lucky, some power will come along too.
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