Could Pirates Trade Keller, Reynolds … Even Cruz?

The Pirates will be deadline sellers yet again, which should be clear to anyone who takes a glance at their 32-50 record and -68 run differential. There’d been hope earlier in the year among some fanbases that Pittsburgh would even weigh the merits of trading ace Paul Skenes for what would perhaps have to be the richest trade return in history, but GM Ben Cherington has publicly quashed speculation on that front. Outside of Skenes, however, it seems the Bucs will be broadly open for business. Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic and Jon Heyman of the New York Post have both reported within the past 18 hours that Skenes and franchise icon Andrew McCutchen — who has repeatedly stated since his return to Pittsburgh a few years ago that he has no desire to play elsewhere — are the only two big leaguers who are seen as off the table.

That seemingly puts not only the expected trade candidates in play (e.g. Andrew Heaney, David Bednar, Dennis Santana, Isiah Kiner-Falefa, etc.), but also more controllable names like center fielder Oneil Cruz and longtime stars like outfielder Bryan Reynolds and right-hander Mitch Keller, both of whom signed an extension within the past two years. The Bucs surely aren’t going to move top prospect Bubba Chandler, but the majority of their major league roster could at least be discussed.

Keller stands as one of the most interesting names to watch, not just on the Pirates, but around the league as a whole. The former second-rounder is in the second season of a five-year, $77MM contract and being paid $15MM this year. He’s owed $16.5MM in 2026, $18MM in 2027 and $20MM in 2028. That’s a steep cost for the low-payroll Pirates but affordable for many clubs, particularly given the increasing prices of free-agent pitching on the open market.

The 29-year-old Keller isn’t an ace but was thought to have No. 2-3 starter upside in his days as a top prospect. He’s settled in a step below that, regularly giving the Bucs plenty of innings and an ERA in the low 4.00s with quality rate stats. The 2025 season is no exception. Keller is sitting on a 4.02 ERA in 94 innings. He’s averaged just under six frames per start this season. His 18.5% strikeout rate is a career-low, but Keller’s 6.1% walk rate is excellent and his 45.5% ground-ball rate is strong. Keller’s velocity is down a touch, sitting 93.9 mph in 2025 after averaging 94.4 mph in 2024 and 95.2 mph in 2023, but he’s picking up steam as the season goes along. He sat 93.5…