Camilo Doval Trade Grades: Yankees Offload Struggling Reliever to Bullpen-Needy Pirates

The Yankees shipped out Doval to the Pirates for two prospects. Here's how both teams made out in the trade deadline deal.

Yankees pitcher Camilo Doval is headed to the Pirates. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

The 2026 MLB trade deadline, featuring a market heavy on sellers and short on buyers due to the bunched-up standings, has forced executives to get creative. We saw one such method of creativity emerge on Saturday, as two teams firmly in line in the buyer’s market, the Yankees and the Pirates, put their heads together on a trade that makes a ton of sense for both parties.

The Yankees sent relief pitcher Camilo Doval and cash to the Pirates in exchange for catching prospect Omar Alfonso and outfield prospect Luis Cruz. ESPN’s Jeff Passan was first to report news of the deal.

Let’s examine how both teams made out in the trade.

Yankees

All was quiet on the Bronx front until Yankees general manager Brian Cashman on Saturday decided to … sell? While it may seem puzzling at first, this is quite a shrewd deal by Cashman, who dealt from a strength to help plug an organizational weakness.

Entering play Saturday, the Yankees’ bullpen boasts the best ERA in the sport. Yet, the Yankees’ ‘pen has been thriving despite Doval—who has struggled to the tune of a 4.54 ERA and negative 0.8 WAR this season—one of several relievers Cashman imported last summer.

Juxtapose the success of Yankees relievers against, well, the lack of success for Pirates’ relievers (23rd in bullpen ERA) and voila, you have the perfect trade partner.

That Cashman was able to score any prospect capital, let alone a top-20 prospect, for Doval is nothing short of impressive. The 6’ 2” righthander has been a paradox this season for New York, as one of the hardest throwing relievers in the majors, but also one of the hardest hit relievers, ranking in the seventh-percentile or worse in average exit velocity and hard-hit rate.

Doval simply never found his footing in the Yankees’ bullpen, posting a 4.63 ERA in two seasons in pinstripes while failing to gain manager Aaron Boone’s trust in the high-leverage moments.

Plus, knowing the small-market Pirates are likely operating on budget constraints, Cashman sweetened the pot by sending roughly $1.2 million to offset the remaining $2 million on Doval’s contract this season.

If you view the Doval deal only in the context of what it took the Yankees to acquire him last season—four prospects, including the organization’s top-25 prospects in catcher Jesus Rodriguez and pitcher Trystan Vhierling—you’ll come away disappointed and viewing Doval as nothing more than a sunk cost. 

But Cashman was able to replenish the organizational catching depth, which was bone dry after recent trades for Elmer Rodriguez, David Bednar and the Doval deal.

Alfonso, the Pirates’ 17th-ranked prospect, boasts pull-side power that will play well at Yankee Stadium in the future, as well as improving defensive skills, a strong arm and the ability to work well with pitchers, thanks to his bilingual capabilities. The Yankees have almost no long-term depth behind the 27-year-old Austin Wells, who has fallen off a cliff as a hitter this season.

Getting some much-needed long-term security at catcher while also netting a long-term outfield project in the 18-year-old Cruz (.856 OPS and seven stolen bases in 17 Dominican Summer League games) amounts to a solid return for Cashman, especially given how far Doval’s value has fallen.

Grade: B-

Pirates

Everyone and their grandmother knew the Pirates, who have blown 19 saves and have had to play musical chairs in the bullpen all season long, needed relief pitching help at the deadline. Making the task more difficult for Pirates general manager Ben Cherington is that his small-market club reportedly wasn’t keen on adding much salary to the payroll.

Pittsburgh will be footing approximately $750,000 of Doval’s remaining $2 million salary this year, so the trade checks the box in terms of affordability. The Pirates’ farm system is deep and teeming with talent at both the outfield spots, where the club has already promoted No. 5 prospect Jhostynxon Garcia and Esmerlyn Valdez while boasting No. 2 prospect Edward Florentino, and at catcher, where No. 7 prospect Easton Carmichael waits in the wings.

In other words, if anyone can afford to deal away from two premium positions, it's the Pirates.

But for Doval? Walks have continued to be a problem for the righty, and he’s seen his strikeout rate drop by four percentage points from 2025 to 2026. But a look under the hood reveals some promising insights. Doval is actually throwing harder than he did last season and his upper-90s sinker is still getting the job done to the tune of a 57.1% groundball rate, which ranks in the 98th percentile.

Plus, for Doval specifically, there’s reason to believe a change of scenery could be just what the doctor ordered. The 29-year-old tends to allow contact from the pull side, a nightmare against lefties at Yankee Stadium, where the short right-field porch is always beckoning for a home run. Doval’s 7.08 ERA in the Bronx compared to his 1.86 mark on the road suggests that perhaps Yankee Stadium simply wasn’t a good fit for the Dominican Republic native.

Factor in that Doval isn’t a free agent until 2028, and there’s promise here for the Pirates. It was just three years ago that Doval was an All-Star. Perhaps the Pirates can help him rediscover that form down the stretch as they push for their first playoff appearance since 2015.

Grade: B

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