Five Breakout Prospects the Pirates Kept at the Deadline
The Pittsburgh Pirates traded Sammy Stafura at the deadline, but there were five other prospects having a breakout season who remained in the minor league system.
Sammy Stafura might have been at the start of a serious breakout.
Then, the Pittsburgh Pirates traded him for Luke Weaver.
In the deal, the Pirates not only got the best reliever who was moved at the deadline, but they also got $8 million in the deal. They have Weaver under control for a year and two months at a total price of less than $5.5 million.
Stafura is the type of prospect you need to give up to get that type of return. He was hitting .301/.365/.656 in Greensboro with 19 homers and 16 stolen bases. He hit 14 of those home runs during the month of July, and most of them weren’t cheap shots, displaying real power.
There’s a chance that Stafura continues his breakout with the Mets, and justifies why they gave up so much to get him as the sole return for Weaver. The Pirates had more important immediate needs than prospect hoarding.
Hoarding of any kind is a disease. It’s a loser mentality. It’s the belief that there’s going to be some moment in the future where you need whatever you’re hoarding, and letting it go will only set you behind. It’s a pre-protection against the projection of future losses.
On the flip side of hoarding, when you are willing to part with something that might have value in the future, you create space for something that could have even more value in the present. The Pirates did just that when they moved Stafura for Weaver.
In order for Stafura to be needed in the future, you have to project things to go horribly wrong with Konnor Griffin. Meanwhile, Weaver could give the Pirates one of the best relievers in the game over the next two years, in the time that Stafura is still an uncertain return during his development period.
I’ve certainly been guilty of wanting to prospect hoard in the past. Part of that comes from writing about a team that loses so often, and depends on prospects to win in the future. There are still prospects who I wouldn’t trade today. Seth Hernandez is the only player on my list at the moment. However, I wouldn’t call that hoarding. I don’t think you can hoard a potential top of the rotation starting pitcher any more than you can hoard a bar of gold.
In the case of Stafura, the Pirates could afford to part with him. Not just because they have a long-term shortstop option in Griffin. They also have other breakout prospects who they did keep at the deadline, while still managing to overhaul the bullpen.
Here are five breakout players from this season who the Pirates kept at the deadline, even as they traded one of their biggest breakout performers. The first one is free. The other four write-ups are reserved for paid subscribers, as a thank you for the support.
Murf Gray, 3B
The biggest breakout performer this season has been Murf Gray.
Drafted 73rd overall last season, Grey has put on a massive display of power during his first pro season. Between Bradenton, Greensboro, and Altoona, he’s hit a combined 27 home runs. That is tied for the lead in the organization with Esmerlyn Valdez and Jhonny Severino — two other players who are having breakout seasons this year.
Grey has slowed down a bit in his move to Altoona. He did hit his fourth homer on Wednesday night across 65 plate appearances, showing the power is remaining beyond A-ball. However, he’s hitting .208. That’s not alarming, because he’s walking 16.9% of the time and getting on base at a .415 rate.
As a college draft pick, Grey’s results in Double-A will be the true test of his future value. He plays third base now, but there is a chance he could move to a bat-first position at first base or the outfield in the future. It’s also possible he could end up a three-outcomes hitter, versus the well-rounded stats he showed in A-ball.
Grey has the power and plate patience to have success, even if he doesn’t hit for average. He also has shown enough potential with the bat to project enough success for positive value at a corner outfield or first base spot in the future.
He’s just now gotten to the point of his first big test in pro ball. So far, Grey is handling Double-A well, still destroying baseballs at a level where hitters tend to fade against more challenging pitchers. You can check out his latest home run below, which was the number one play from Wednesday night’s Plays of the Day.
Two of the other breakout prospects in this article also show up in the video.
Lonnie White Jr., OF
In 2021, the Pirates went under-slot in the first round, using the savings to spread money to a group of top ranked prep players in the next few rounds.
Lonnie White Jr. was taken with the 64th overall pick that year as part of the strategy. Originally slated to be a two-sport athlete at Penn State, including playing wide receiver, White signed for seven-figures with the Pirates, giving them an athletic hitter to dream upon.
That dream started to turn into a nightmare, especially for White. He was plagued by injuries early in his career, being limited to 306 plate appearances through his first two-plus seasons. He then missed some time in 2024, and struggled at the plate with a .615 OPS in Greensboro. His power did start to show up with 14 homers, providing hope that he was starting to awaken.
