Brubaker traded to Yankees for player to be named later

MIAMI -- After looking for more starting pitching throughout the offseason, and even into Spring Training, the Pirates traded one of their longest tenured pitchers Friday, sending JT Brubaker and international bonus pool space to the Yankees for a player to be named later.

Brubaker went 9-28 with a 4.99 ERA over 63 games in his four years with the Pirates, though he only pitched in three. He underwent Tommy John surgery last April, and was working towards a midseason return, targeting the All-Star Game as a window for a return. He had recently started throwing off a slope.

TRADE DETAILS
Yankees get: RHP JT Brubaker, international bonus pool money
Pirates get: Player to be named later

The Pirates have starting pitching questions right now, but their pool of available arms should grow as the year progresses. Paul Skenes, MLB’s No. 3 overall prospect and the club’s No. 1 prospect, is expected to be promoted to the Majors at some point this season. Mike Burrows, the team’s No. 11 prospect, should also complete his rehab from Tommy John surgery around July. Luis Ortiz is in the bullpen now, but the door isn’t closed for him returning to the rotation. The Pirates also signed veterans Eric Lauer and Domingo Germán late this spring, and while they weren’t stretched out enough to consider them options for the Opening Day team, they could be midseason promotions.

Teams can never have enough pitching, but Brubaker was likely going to return to a crowded field.

"We got to a point as we got into Spring Training, we started recognizing if Bru's contribution was more second-half of 2024 and then 2025, [we] feel good and learn more about our starting alternatives, we feel like it opened up the possibility of maybe getting a different kind of guy for him now as opposed to waiting,” general manager Ben Cherington explained. “During Spring Training, we circled back to teams that had expressed interest in the past, and this is the one we lined up on with the Yankees."

Cherington also cited the uncertainty that comes with a pitcher returning from Tommy John surgery. Brubaker’s rehab has gone well so far, but not knowing how much they could use him in 2024 was worth considering. After that, Brubaker only had one year of team control remaining, via arbitration.

“As we looked at that, the alternatives, trying to concentrate as much as we can on 2024, put our resources into 2024, we just felt all those factors added up to [this] making sense for us," Cherington said.

Brubaker was already on the 60-day injured list, so the move does not create a spot on the 40-man roster.

Brubaker was selected in the sixth round of the 2015 MLB Draft out of the University of Akron, where he quickly established himself as a prospect to watch, including being named the organization’s Minor League pitcher of the year in 2018. He debuted for the Pirates in 2020, where he tossed two innings of scoreless relief in his debut, which happened to be Derek Shelton’s first managerial win.

Talking with media in the loanDepot park visitors’ dugout pregame Friday, Shelton said he will always feel a special connection with the members of that 2020 team because they went through the COVID-19-impacted season together. The only remaining members of that team are now Bryan Reynolds, Mitch Keller and Ke’Bryan Hayes.

But Shelton’s appreciation for Brubaker extends beyond that.

“The thing that stands out to me is not only JT Brubaker the pitcher but JT Brubaker the human being,” Shelton said. “Any charity event that we had, he and [his wife] Darcy were always there. They were always involved. I think it just speaks to who the human being is. Sometimes business gets involved and you make trades. But I will always appreciate and always be a fan of JT Brubaker.”