Padres get: LHP Rich Hill, 1B Ji-Man Choi
Pirates get: LHP Jackson Wolf, OF Estuar Suero, 1B Alfonso Rivas
Grant Brisbee: Rich Hill is old enough to have thoughts and opinions on Mr. Roper versus Mr. Furley. He played the original Star Wars arcade game and marveled at how futuristic the graphics looked. He’s worn at least one Hypercolor T-shirt in his life, and he’s recorded mix tapes directly from the radio on his boombox. But he can still spin it. Have curveball, will travel.
There’s almost no downside to having Rich Hill on an active roster. Over the last 10 years, there hasn’t been a single one of his employers who were sorry that they had him. You’ll never hear, “Ugh, Rich Hill? What’s this guy doing here?” He’s helpful, and that’s written with as much respect as possible. Even when his ERA is in the high 4s — as it was with the Pittsburgh Pirates — he can fill a need.
Ji-Man Choi is a both-cheeks swinger who had an OPS+ over 100 in every season since 2017 before this year. He’s not that far from the mark this year (91 OPS+), which is amazing, considering his on-base percentage is .224. It takes a lot of beefy dingers to make up for that, and Choi is coming close. The exact roster fit is a little fuzzy, though, as Jake Cronenworth has been taking most of the first base starts, and he’s also a lefty. Matt Carpenter has been taking a chunk of the lefty DH starts, too, albeit without much success.
We’re talking about two players with some utility and value for the San Diego Padres, which is … fine? But we can’t offer a grade until we know what the rest of the deadline brings. Are they trading Blake Snell and looking for Hill to absorb some of the innings? Are they all-in because of their recent hot streak, and they’re somehow going to end up with Aaron Judge when the dust settles? The answer is almost certainly in the middle, but there’s no grade but an incomplete for now.
As for the Pirates, yeah, this is what you do with players like Hill and Choi at the deadline. You don’t get cute. And there’s a nice variety in the players they got, with a Quad-A player in Rivas who can fill Choi’s spot immediately, a teenage outfielder in rookie ball who offers that same kind of 75-foot shot that got Fernando Tatis Jr. on the Padres, and a very, very tall lefty in Wolf whose walk rate is heading in the right direction in Double A. That’s a great haul for players who weren’t going to help the Pirates in 2024.
Padres: INC
Pirates: A-
Andy McCullough: What are the Padres doing? Mostly warming the hearts of Immaculate Grid aficionados by providing yet another stop on the miraculous career of Rich Hill. At 43, Hill is the oldest player in baseball. He can still spin a curveball with the best of them. And his postseason legacy is pristine. But he also profiles as a back-end starter at this stage: Of his 22 starts in 2023, only six have qualified as quality.
Ji-Man Choi provides depth at designated hitter, a position the Padres tried to fill with Nelson Cruz and Matt Carpenter to disastrous affect. Cruz was released earlier this month. Carpenter has a .598 OPS and a $5.5 million player option for 2024. Choi has hit better than that — although only by so much. His .789 OPS against right-handed pitchers should help.
So, seriously, what are the Padres doing? We have a few more hours to find out. A trade like this does not preclude the club from spinning off Blake Snell or Josh Hader. But it does signal that the team appears to believe more in its Pythagorean potential than its sub-.500 record.
Rivas could join the Pirates’ big-league club, but Wolf appears to be the most intriguing player sent back to Pittsburgh. He made a brief cameo with San Diego after pitching well in Double A this season. Despite his 6-foot-7 frame, his fastball resides in the upper 80s, and he relies more on funkiness than power. Keith Law pegged him likely as a future reliever.
Padres: B-
Pirates: B
Britt Ghiroli: The San Diego Padres, buoyed by a sweep against the Rangers into becoming buyers, add rotation depth with Hill and should help the team’s lowly OPS out of the first base/DH spot with Choi. (They currently rank 29th.) The Padres, usually a team that makes splashier acquisitions, played it safer here but still upgraded their big-league club as the two sides had frequent dialogue on many scenarios leading up to Tuesday’s deal (Choi’s arrival could make for the end of Carpenter’s time in San Diego).
The Padres could use some relief help still but they did a decent job adding to the big-league club without giving up any upper echelon prospects. Wolf is the centerpiece here, a soft-tossing lefty who came up to the big leagues recently to earn his first win and was the player Pittsburgh valued most of the trio. Suero is also intriguing as he’s a switch hitter and is 6-5. The teenager played in the Dominican summer league last year and has some upside. Did the Padres give up more than necessary to get the oldest pitcher in the league and a guy with a 91 wRC+? Perhaps. But it makes sense for both sides.
Padres: B-
Pirates: B
(Photo of Hill: Joe Sargent / Getty Images)
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