Quinn Priester, Nick Yorke Get Chance to Reflect on Pivotal Red Sox-Pirates Trade

While Quinn Priester returned to the Pittsburgh Pirates' spring training park Tuesday, Nick Yorke was able to catch up with old teammates from the Boston Red Sox's farm system.

St. Louis, Missouri, USA; Pittsburgh Pirates second baseman Nick Yorke (38) looks on from the dugout during the third inning of his Major League debut against the St. Louis Cardinals at Busch Stadium. | Jeff Curry-Imagn Images

BRADENTON, Fla. — It was far from a blockbuster move in the moment, but the trade between the Boston Red Sox and Pittsburgh Pirates at last summer's deadline still uprooted two former top 100 prospects.

Quinn Priester, who was the Pirates' first round draft pick in 2019, got shipped to the Red Sox. Nick Yorke, who went to Boston in the first round of the 2020 MLB Draft, found himself heading to Pittsburgh.

Just over seven months later, Priester got to face his old team for the first time. Yorke, on the other hand, was on the bench for Tuesday's spring training showdown between the Pirates and Red Sox.

Priester spent four formative springs at LECOM Park, so it was a homecoming of sorts for the 24-year-old right-hander.

"Certainly earlier in the week, it felt like a bigger deal," Priester said. "Ultimately, it's just a good opportunity to see some people I haven't seen in a while and take it as that and not make it more than it is, which is a spring training start."

Priester mentioned the Pirates' team historian, Jim Trdinich, as someone he was happy to catch up with. He got to compete against old friends in Nick Gonzalez, Jason Delay, Ji Hwan Bae, Ke'Bryan Hayes, Andrew McCutchen and Bryan Reynolds, as well.

Yorke didn't get to play in the big leagues during his time in Boston, but the infielder knew plenty of players in the opposite dugout thanks to their time together in the minors and the last four spring trainings.

"I spent two, three years with most of those guys, so pretty good friends," Yorke said. "Hopefully they'll be at my wedding one day and I'll be at theirs."

Those feelings don't seem to extend to Boston's front office, however.

All Yorke would say about Red Sox management was that they apparently didn't want him and that he's done caring about what's doing on at his former team's upper levels. Now, he's much more focused on what Pittsburgh thinks of him.

"These guys over here wanted me," Yorke said. "My goal is just to make Ben Cherington – make that the best trade he's ever done in his life. That was my goal and I'm just gonna try to fulfill that."

Yorke, 22, is batting .200 with a .600 OPS through six Grapefruit League games. He made his MLB debut last fall, batting .216 with a .664 OPS and -0.2 WAR across 11 contests.

Priester has made three starts so far this spring, posting a 2.70 ERA and 1.800 WHIP. He gave up four hits, one walk and one run with four strikeouts in 4.4 innings on Tuesday.

"Quinn threw the ball well," said Pirates manager Derek Shelton. "Anytime you have a guy that you draft and makes his major league debut when he's here, you always root for those guys."

The Red Sox used Priester for one start in 2024, and he wound up giving them 5.0 innings of one-run ball. He threw 94.2 innings in a Pirates uniform between 2023 and 2024, going 5-9 with a 6.46 ERA, 1.585 WHIP and -1.2 WAR.

Priester is now competing for a spot in Boston's starting rotation, as both Kutter Crawford and Brayan Bello could very well open the regular season on the injured list.

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