My guess is that the Reds proposed Pittsburgh sending over the rest of Hayes’ 2025 salary as part of the deal, but that the Pirates balked at it. I can’t imagine he’ll appear in a single game for Pittsburgh, and yet he’s surely an attractive part of the bargain – monetary savings plus some chance of prospect return are the two things that the Pirates build themselves around. He’s so good defensively that it’s almost impossible to project him any worse than he’s played this year – and even this year, he’s tracking towards a 1.4-WAR season, which would have been the fifth-best WAR total among hitters on the 2024 Reds.
Author: Ben Clemens
Published at: 2025-07-30 21:55:52
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