Trade Rumors Sprouting Around Pittsburgh Pirates Infielder Isiah Kiner-Falefa

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With the deadline still over seven weeks out, the Pittsburgh Pirates are apparently preparing to sell.
USA Today's Bob Nightengale reported Sunday morning that the Pirates were already receiving trade interest in infielder Isiah Kiner-Falefa. The 30-year-old utility man is currently enjoying a career year at the plate, batting .299 with one home run, nine doubles, 14 RBIs, nine stolen bases, a .720 OPS and a 1.4 WAR.
Kiner-Falefa, a Gold Glove winner in 2020, has almost exclusively played shortstop in 2025, but he has plenty of additional big league experience at second and third, plus all three outfield positions, between his time with the Minnesota Twins, New York Yankees and Toronto Blue Jays.
The Pirates acquired Kiner-Falefa at last summer's deadline, bringing him over from the Blue Jays in exchange for utility prospect Charles McAdoo. One year later, McAdoo is ranked as the No. 12 prospect in Toronto's farm system, potentially helping to set a respectable asking price for Kiner-Falefa this time around.
Kiner-Falefa is set to hit free agency this winter, though, so whoever wants to trade for him would only be getting a rental.
Pittsburgh's 26-40 start to the season has the front office primed to deal away veterans, even if top shortstop prospects Konnor Griffin and Termarr Johnson aren't expected to break into the big leagues in 2025. How the team builds around ace Paul Skenes will continue to be a pressing question as long as he remains with the Pirates, but that likely won't stop them from dealing away Kiner-Falefa if given the chance.
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Sam Connon is a staff writer covering baseball for “Fastball on SI.’’ He previously covered UCLA Athletics for On SI’s All Bruins site, and is a UCLA graduate, with his work there as a sports columnist receiving awards from the College Media Association and Society of Professional Journalists. Connon also wrote for On SI’s New England Patriots site, Patriots Country, and he was on the Patriots and Boston Red Sox beats at Prime Time Sports Talk. Sam lives in Boston.
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