Notes: Cruz, Contreras; Trade Deadline

PITTSBURGH -- The Pirates are optimistic that two of their top prospects have avoided major injuries after dealing with dreaded bouts of forearm soreness.

No. 3 prospect Oneil Cruz and No. 19 prospect Roansy Contreras were evaluated in Pittsburgh this week by Dr. Patrick DeMeo and Dr. Darren Frank from the Pirates’ medical staff, and both were diagnosed with right forearm strains.

In Cruz’s case, things are looking up in the shorter term. Director of sports medicine Todd Tomczyk called his injury a “milder” strain, and the club expects that the shortstop, who has an .887 OPS in 43 games with Double-A Altoona, will return to baseball activities in two to three weeks.

Contreras will be set back a little bit longer, but the Pirates are still cautiously optimistic that his strain will not require a long shutdown. The right-hander, who has compiled a 2.35 ERA with 65 strikeouts in 43 innings at Double-A, had a bit more inflammation in his forearm, though no signs of any structural damage.

Contreras is projected to resume playing catch in two to four weeks and build up from there.

“That is very encouraging news at this time, unfortunately not [in the] short term but long term,” Tomczyk said.

Due to his injury, Contreras was removed from the SiriusXM All-Star Futures Game, which will be played on Monday in Denver, and he will be replaced by the Marlins’ Jake Eder. No. 2 prospect Quinn Priester will pitch in the Futures Game, however, so the Pirates still have a top prospect representing the organization.

Cherington on trade calls

The Pirates have made a few Minor League acquisitions in the past week on top of their trade for John Nogowski as a depth option at first base. But the prospect-hauling trades that fans are expecting before the July 30 Trade Deadline have yet to develop.

That’s not to say they couldn’t, though.

“In some cases, we've had more advanced dialogue that obviously hasn't led to anything, so we'll see,” GM Ben Cherington said.

With the MLB Draft arriving on Sunday on top of the All-Star break beginning Monday, it’s difficult to see a big trade breaking with so much brainstorming and fanfare on the near horizon, but this is uncharted territory, even for an experienced general manager like Cherington. He’s also admitted that he’s not the best at determining when routine talks turn into action -- especially when, in the Pirates’ case this season, it’s usually the other team that has immediate Major League needs.

But the limited wheeling and dealing before the All-Star break, even for a team with a handful of viable trade candidates, feels commonplace, and Cherington is interested to see how this quirky July plays out.

“Maybe it does slow down for three or four days because teams really will need to focus on the Draft,” Cherington said. “So maybe that slows down a little and then picks up again. Up until now, it seems pretty normal, still.”

Strange-Gordon signed (source)

The Pirates added a versatile option to their Triple-A mix, signing 10-year MLB veteran Dee Strange-Gordon to a Minor League deal, a source told MLB.com's Mark Feinsand. The club has not confirmed the move.

The move makes sense for a few reasons. First, Strange-Gordon -- primarily an infielder in his Major League tenure -- provides low-risk depth in the infield. Erik González is expected to be out for four to six weeks with a right oblique injury. Also, Adam Frazier, who is one of the Pirates’ top trade candidates this July, could be on the move in the coming weeks, and the club will need a replacement at second base if he were dealt.

Strange-Gordon has also seen fairly regular reps in the outfield in 2020 and '18 thanks to his speed and defensive instincts, and the Pirates have had to be creative at the corners this season. Currently, Ben Gamel and Jared Oliva are seeing the most reps in left and right field, respectively, with Gregory Polanco and Ka’ai Tom on the injured list.