Pirates Land Yankees Prospect Trio for David Bednar
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PITTSBURGH — The Pittsburgh Pirates traded one of their best relief pitchers in David Bednar to the New York Yankees, landing three prospects in the process.
Alex Stumpf of MLB.com reported that the Pirates acquired two catcher/first basemen prospects in Rafael Flores and Edgleen Perez as well as outfielder Brian Sanchez.
Full return is Rafael Flores, catcher Edgleen Perez and outfielder Brian Sanchez https://t.co/bqx5HkqcMH
— Alex Stumpf (@AlexJStumpf) July 31, 2025
MLB Pipeline ranks Flores and Perez as the eighth and 14th best prospects in the Yankees farm system, respectively, while they don't ranks Sanchez. Baseball America ranks Sanchez at 24th overall.
Flores hails from Anaheim, Calif. and played for Cypress Junior College for two seasons in 2019 and 2020, taking off in 2021, then coming back with Rio Honda Junior College in 2022, starred with the Alaska Goldpanners and signed with the Yankees for $75,000 as an undrafted free agent.
He played with Florida Complex League Yankees (FCL) for four games in 2022 before playing the entire season with High-A Hudson Valley in 2023.
Flores slashed .259/.346/.366 for an OPS of .712 in 105 games in 2023, with 99 hits, 15 doubles, one triple, eight home runs, 41 RBIs and 49 walks to 108 strikeouts. He also played 57 games at first base, 33 at catcher and 15 games at designated hitter.
He started out the 2024 season with Hudson Valley, slashing .285/.403/.466 for an OPS of .869 in 57 games, before earning promotion to Double-A Somerset on June 26, where he slashed .274/.359/.519 for an OPS of .878 over 65 games.
Flores slashed .279/.379/.495 for an OPS of .874 over 122 games in 2024, with 121 hits, 31 doubles, 21 home runs, 68 RBIs and 66 walks to 128 strikeouts. He also played 69 games at catcher, 38 at first base and 16 at designated hitter.
He began his 2025 season with Somerset, slashing .287/.346/.496 for an OPS of .842, with 96 hits, 23 doubles, one triple, 15 home runs, 56 RBIs and 30 walks to 94 strikeouts.
Flores earned promotion to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre on July 19 and slashed .211/.388/.289 for an OPS of .677 in 10 games, with eight hits in 38 at-bats, a home run, four RBIs and 11 walks to 13 strikeouts.
He has played 70 games at catcher this season, turns 25 in November and stands 6-foot-4, 232 pounds.
Perez signed with the Yankees for $50,000 out of Venezuela on March 23, 2023 and played for the Dominican Summer League (DSL) Yankees that season.
He slashed .259/.389/.317 for an OPS of .706 in 39 games, with 36 hits, eight doubles, 29 RBIs and 30 walks to 31 strikeouts.
Perez played with the FCL Yankees in 2024, slashing .283/.444/.380 for an OPS of .824 in 51 games, with 47 hits, eight doubles, a triple, two home runs, 24 RBIs and 45 walks to 35 strikeouts.
He then played with Single-A Tampa, slashing .209/.368/.236 for an OPS of .604 with 63 hit in 301 at-bats, eight doubles, 25 RBIs and 68 walks to 74 strikeouts.
Perez turned 19 on May 25 and stands 5-foot-10, 155 pounds. He has also played 112 games at catcher and 61 games at designated hitter.
Sanchez, like Perez, also hails from Venezuela, but signed with the Milwaukee Brewers on Feb. 7, 2023.
He played with the Brewers DSL 1 team in 2023, slashing .297/.414/.446 for an OPS of .860 in 33 games, with 30 hits in 101 at-bats, seven doubles, four triples, 19 RBIs and 20 walks to 23 strikeouts.
The Yankees traded designated hitter Jake Bauers to the Brewers for Sanchez and outfielder Jace Avina on Nov. 17, 2023.
Sanchez for the FCL Yankees in 2024, slashing .306/.394/.514 for an OPS of .908 in 49 games, with 53 hits in 173 at-bats, 16 doubles, four triples, four home runs, 32 RBIs, 23 walks to 41 strikeouts and 16 steals on 19 attempts.
He has played with Single-A Tampa in 2025, slashing .281/.373/.438 for an OPS of .811 in 63 games, with 68 hits, 16 doubles, five triples, four home runs, 36 RBIs, 36 walks to 67 strikeouts and 24 steals on 28 attempts.
The Pirates also landed two other prospects in shortstop Sammy Stafura from the Cincinnati Reds and right-handed pitcher Jeter Martinez from the Seattle Mariners.
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.