Trades different for minor leaguers
Major League Baseball players normally have a good idea whether or not they’re in danger of being traded at any given time.
Former Pirates second baseman Adam Frazier discussed it multiple times, and he was ultimately sent to the San Diego Padres at this season’s trade deadline. Other players, especially on struggling teams such as the Pirates, understand that it is part of their reality. At any moment, they could be asked to pick up their lives and move on to another city, ideally to compete in the postseason.
For minor leaguers, it’s much different. There aren’t the same number of rumors. National baseball reporters aren’t speculating about a Class AA catcher who could be traded.
So to hear how minor league players find out about their trades is much more interesting. At Class AA Altoona alone, there are three members of the starting lineup who were traded to the Pirates at the deadline.
Outfielder Jack Suwinski was about to begin a game with the Padres Class AA affiliate in San Antonio. During pregame warm-ups, his manager told him that he had been scratched from the lineup. In the first inning, while sitting on the bench, the trade leaked on to Twitter, and Suwinski realized he would be leaving his first organization, heading to the Pirates as part of the return for Frazier.
Catcher Carter Bins was in a similar spot. He had been called up to Class AA Arkansas in the Seattle Mariners organization on July 11. On the Tuesday before the trade deadline, he was the designated hitter in Arkansas starting lineup. Entering the top of the sixth inning, he was to be on deck. His manager told him to sit down, though, and he was pulled from the game.
“I was like, man, did I do something wrong or what’s going on?” Bins said this past week, nearly a month after the trade went down. “Nobody told me anything, and then I get back to the hotel that night and I get a call from our farm director saying I was traded and that the Pirates were going to contact me and tell me what was next and just said, ‘Thank you for what you’ve done,’ and that was that.”
It was even more sudden for infielder Diego Castillo. His trade came on his off day. Playing with the New York Yankees Class AA Somerset affiliate, he was in a car with some friends, headed to a mall. The Yankees called him and informed him he would be headed to the Pirates organization in exchange for right -hander Clay Holmes. They gave him a day to get into Somerset’s clubhouse and collect his things. He flew to Altoona on Tuesday and was in the starting lineup Wednesday.
These things happen strangely and suddenly for the minor leaguers. They grow up in an organization, get to know teammates and coaches, and suddenly it’s a move across the country in some cases.
“I was pretty shocked at first hearing how fast it all happened and then hearing about it,” Suwinski said. “But yeah, it starts to sink in that those guys that you learned from and make really good friends with for years, it’s kind of like, ‘All right. I’ll see you guys.’ You just kind of leave and that’s kind of it.”
As for traveling and living conditions, which also can be somewhat haphazard in the minor leagues, all three traded players flew to Altoona, and all three had their housing situations taken care of by the Pirates. All of the Curve players live in the same apartment complex in Altoona, and their rooms were set up for them.
This is to say nothing of the opportunity presented to each player in their new organization. With Altoona outfielder Canaan SmithNjigba on the injured list, Suwinski has gotten a ton of opportunity. So far, he has struggled a bit, slashing .221/.337/.324 with one home run in 20 games with the Curve, but he will still get reps and a chance to show the power that he had in San Antonio, where he hit 15 homers with a .949 OPS in 66 games this season.
Castillo has been the best performer of the three so far. He has five homers and an .854 OPS in 21 games with the Curve. He says his goal this season is to hit 18-20 home runs, and so far in Class AA, he has 16. He has played third base, shortstop and second base, so it’s a good bet he’ll stay in the starting lineup.
He actually could have a case to move up to Class AAA after spending this entire season at Class AA and performing well.
“I want to go to the big leagues,” Castillo said. “I want to get my opportunity to play in the big leagues at some point. If it doesn’t happen this year, it’s going to be next year or something like that, but yeah, my goal is being there with the Pirates.”
As for Bins, he’s still making adjustments to Class AA in general. Between the move up to Arkansas in early July and then the trip to Altoona later in the month, he has moved around a ton recently, all while trying to focus on more advanced pitching than he has seen before. So far he’s slashing .208/.296/.250 in 13 games with the Curve. Even still, catching depth was considered a weakness in the Pirates minor leagues, and as the No. 24 ranked prospect in the system according to Baseball America, he has upside that other catchers in Altoona may not have.
All three will have a chance to make a good first impression with 27 games left in the season. That’s important because this is their organization now. As odd as the transition may have been, they’re in this together.