Pirates Starting Pitcher Named Trade Candidate
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PITTSBURGH — The Pittsburgh Pirates are three months away from the trade deadline, but have a player that MLB teams will want later this season.
David Schoenfield of ESPN wrote his early MLB 2025 trade deadline candidates for every MLB team and picked left-handed pitcher Andrew Heaney for the Pirates.
Heaney, who signed a one-year, $5.25 million contract this offseason, has pitched sensationally for the Pirates this season.
He has a 2-1 record over his first five starts, with a 1.72 ERA over 31.1 innings, 31 strikeouts to six walks and an opposing batting average of .165. His ERA is sixth lowest in the MLB and third lowest in the National League.
Heaney dominated the Los Angeles Angels at Angels Stadium in his most recent start back on April 23, allowing just one hit over six innings, while posting nine strikeouts and helping the Pirates win a 3-0 shutout.
He also started vs. the Washington Nationals at PNC Park on April 17, as he went a season-high 7.1 innings, allowing five hits, two walks and no earned runs, while posting four strikeouts in the 1-0 win.
Schoenfeld sees a Pirates team that is already out of contention this season and that Heaney will serve as a player other MLB teams will look at.
"With a discouraging start and a lineup that just isn't going to score enough runs, it already looks like a lost season in Pittsburgh, one that Paul Skenes can't rescue all by himself," Schoefield wrote. "The Pirates can only hope their list of veterans heading into free agency will play well enough to create some trade interest. Heaney is a viable back-end starter, although not necessarily someone you want to line up in a playoff game..."
Heaney posted a 4.28 ERA with 159 strikeouts over 160 innings and 31 starts for the Texas Rangers in 2024. The year prior, he helped the franchise win its first World Series by finishing the season with a 4.15 ERA in 147 1/3 frames and 34 appearances, 28 of which were starts.
A former first-round pick, Heaney has spent the bulk of his major league career as a member of the Angels, with whom he logged a 4.51 ERA and 593 punch-outs across 569 1/3 innings from 2015 through the 2021 trade deadline, when he was sent to the New York Yankees.
Dominic writes for Pittsburgh Pirates On SI, Pittsburgh Panthers Pn SI and also, Pittsburgh Steelers On SI. A Pittsburgh native, Dominic grew up watching Pittsburgh Sports and wrote for The Pitt News as an undergraduate at the University of Pittsburgh, covering Pitt Athletics. He would write for Pittsburgh Sports Now after college and has years of experience covering sports across Pittsburgh.