North Shore Nine

It has been rumored over the last week, and speculated before that, that Ryan McMahon might be dealt from the Colorado Rockies. None of these rumors have mentioned the Pittsburgh Pirates, per usual it mentions the New York Yankees, but the Pirates could use his bat. The fact that he is good defensively and plays three infield positions does not hurt either.

In 2021, the Giants acquired Kris Bryant in a trade with the Cubs for Alexander Canario and Caleb Kilian, their then 9th and 30th best prospects. Bryant was having a very similar year and a half before being dealt when compared to McMahon.

In that 2021 Bryant deal, the players sent in return had an overall of 50 and 45, respectively. While the market has changed over the last few years, the Bryant trade is likely the best comparison to what McMahon might be valued at. Now the difference between the two is that McMahon is a much better defender and Bryant is a better bat. In the timeframe pictured above Bryant had an oWAR of 4.2 and a dWAR of -.06 whereas McMahon has an oWAR of 2.5 and a dWAR of 2.3. The other difference is that McMahon is under contract for the next three seasons at 12m/16m/16m. Whereas when Bryant was traded, he was an expiring player who then went to Colorado as a free agent. Therefore, the cost to acquire will be different between the two. So, if the Pirates wanted to make a splash and spend money the next few years on McMahon what would be a reasonable return?
Pirates would be looking at a deal that would start with at least one of their Top 5 prospects, another from the Top 15 and probably a 3rd from the Top 30. Of that group the player best suited for Colorado, assuming they think that way, would be Anothy Solometo due to his roughly 55% Groundball rate. The Rockies would be acquiring one of the Pirates best young arms, who would also be a good fit for their MLB park. With him in a package the Pirates could add Lonnie White Jr. a young OF prospect with good power projection. Including the Pirates 3rd and 10th best prospects would be a great base package for McMahon. They could then give the Rockies a list of other players to choose from the Pirates have a lot of MIF on their Top 30 that they might try to sell to the Rockies, Keiner Delgado, Jesus Castillo and Jhonny Severino to name a few. Now these players are just guesses based grades and the state of the Rockies farm. It is possible that the Rockies would prefer a pitcher like Bubba Chandler or Thomas Harrington over Solometo. They also might be looking at a Mitch Jebb, Tsung-Che Cheng or Jack Brannigan as a second piece over a White Jr. Ultimately, the price for McMahon if dealt would be one top prospect another from the next tier, and likely a third as initially mentioned. But when you look at what he has done just this year at the plate, it would be beneficial for the Pirates to add him to the core.