Pittsburgh Pirates Pull Off Last-Second Trades With Angels, Marlins

The Pittsburgh Pirates may not have made a blockbuster trade ahead of the 2026 MLB trade deadline, but fans should be happy with the additions that were made.

Early on in the day, the Pirates pulled off a big trade with the New York Mets. They acquired Luke Weaver from the Mets in exchange for shortstop Sammy Stafura, who was the No. 9 prospect in the organization.

Following that move, Pittsburgh waited until just before the deadline to make two more buzzer beater trades.

According to a report from MLB insider Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic, the Pirates have acquired left-handed veteran reliever Kirby Yates from the Los Angeles Angels.

Yates was a solid addition for Pittsburgh. He is now 39 years old, but is still providing quality relief out of the bullpen. The move will offer the Pirates immediate help behind their starters.

So far this season with the Angels, Yates has appeared in 31 games. He has compiled an 0-5 record to go along with a 3.95 ERA, a 1.17 WHIP, a 3.0 K/BB ratio, 27.1 innings pitched, three saves, and three blown saves.

Shortly after the trade to acquire Yates was reported, Pittsburgh made another bullpen move.

ESPN's Jeff Passan has reported that the Pirates have also acquired right-handed reliever Lake Bachar from the Miami Marlins. While not as old as Yates, Bachar will bring another veteran presence to the Pittsburgh bullpen.

Bachar has pitched in 38 games so far this season with the Marlins, starting in four of those appearances. He has gone 1-2 with a 3.84 ERA, a 1.09 WHIP, a 2.9 K/BB ratio, 58.2 innings completed, two saves, a hold, and a blown save.

Leading up to the deadline, the Pirates also made a trade with the New York Yankees to acquire Camilo Doval.

Needless to say, Pittsburgh had a clear focus at the deadline. The Pirates wanted to shore up a bullpen that badly needed help. They were able to accomplish that goal.

At the time of this writing, the team holds a 56-57 record. However, Pittsburgh is nowhere close to being out of the running to be a playoff team.

Currently, the Pirates sit just 3.5 games out of a spot in the Wild Card. After making such aggressive moves to improve the bullpen, the hope is that the team can go on a run down the stretch of the regular season and find their way into the playoffs.