With this years trade deadline just a matter of days away, the Pirates could be one of the more active sellers over the next few days. According to a report from , Pirates GM Ben Cherington is looking to sell high on closer as he fields inquiries from multiple contenders regarding the 30-year-old. The , , , and have all previously been connected to Bednar this summer. Hiles reiterates the Phillies interest in the righty and adds two additional suitors to the pile: the Rangers and the Tigers. Whats Danny Jansen Jersey more, reports this morning that Pittsburgh has discu sed the po sibility of a deal with the Blue Jays that would send a reliever to Toronto, although its unclear whether that relief arm would be Bednar or another piece like . Its hardly a shock that any of these newly-reported clubs would be interested in Bednars services. The two-time All-Star has been one of the leagues best closers for years now. Dating back to the 2021 season, Bednar has a 3.01 ERA and 101 saves in 275 1/3 innings of work. Hes struck out 29.4% of his opponents and has a 2.94 FIP. Those are already very impre sive numbers, but they become all the more significant when one considers that Bednar struggled badly last year with a 5.77 ERA and 4.80 FIP acro s 62 appearances. That his overall numbers remain that strong despite his brutal 2024 shows how utterly dominant Bednar has been the rest of the time, and 2025 is no exception. This year, hes pitched to a 2.37 ERA with 17 saves and a 33.1% strikeout rate to go with a 1.96 FIP in 38 innings of work. He surrendered his first run since May 23 during last nights save against the Giants and sports an eye-popping 1.70 ERA and 1.47 FIP dating back to April 19. Thats the day Bednar returned to the majors after three rough outings in Pittsburghs first four games of the season convinced the Pirates to option him to Triple-A for the reset. To say that reset has worked out would be an understatement, as Bednars elite play since his return has made him perhaps the clubs most valuable trade chip this summer. Bednars value has risen enough that Hiles writes the Pirates are asking potential suitors to include one prospect within their organizations top five in the return package for his services. The Pirates are known to be targeting upper-level hitting prospects and big league ready offensive talent this summer as they look to build a stronger position player corps to support and the rest of their vaunted pitching core in 2026 and beyond. That makes some clubs a difficult fit for the Pirates needs. The Rangers, for example, surely wouldnt consider parting with top prospect in this sort of deal but have few other highly-rated, upper-level positional prospects in their system. Likewise, six of the Blue Jays top seven prospects are pitchers. By contrast, teams like the Tigers, Cubs, and Dodgers have a bevy of positional talent, some of which is in Double- and Triple-A already, from which they could deal if so inclined. A club not being a perfect fit for the Piratess preferred return doesnt nece sarily mean a deal cant be made as long as the buying club is sufficiently motivated, however. The Rangers seem like a particularly strong fit for Bednar. They enter trade season pre sed up against the luxury tax with minimal room to take on salary barring a sudden change of heart from ownership, and taking on the final two months of Bednars $5.9MM salary for the season would be an extremely light financial burden for a player of Bednars caliber. Additionally, their recent struggles with putting together a quality bullpen could make someone controlled beyond the 2025 season like Bednar (who will reach free agency after 2026) an especially attractive option. Speculatively speaking, perhaps theres a deal to be made between the Rangers and Pirates involving a big league hitter like supported by lower-level prospects from Texass system. Likewise, the Blue Jays have a number of young position players who have graduated from prospect status who they could consider trading in the right deal, whether thats for Bednar or another reliever like Santana or . Torontos bullpen could certainly use the boost Bednar would provide given that incumbent closer s season has come off the rails after an elite month of April, and with players like and getting older as they approach the end of their contracts theres plenty of urgency to make a deep postseason run. The Tigers might be best positioned to make a deal for Bednar of this trio of teams, however. Bednars team control window lines up with that of ace southpaw , so adding him to the fold would allow Detroit to maximize Skubals time with the organization. The bullpen has emerged as a clear weak spot in an otherwise impre sively deep organization, and Bednar closing out games with and setting him up would make for a much more imposing relief corps this October. Whats more, the Tigers have a number of well-regarded position player prospects in the upper levels of the minors, to say nothing of pieces with big league experience like and . Its unclear just how much the Tigers would really be willing to part with in order to acquire Bednar, but they certainly have the sort of deep group of positional talent that could make them a very enticing trade partner for the Pirates. Bo Bichette Jersey
