Pirates Come Out Winners After Kiner-Falefa Acquisition
On Tuesday, the Pittsburgh Pirates made a flurry of moves just before the 6:00pm MLB Trade Deadline. Although the headline trade was the one bringing outfielder Bryan De La Cruz from Miami to Pittsburgh, one of their other moves could have a significant impact.
Super utility man Isiah Kiner-Falefa was acquired from the Toronto Blue Jays in exchange for outfielder Charles McAdoo, the Pirates’ 29th-ranked prospect. McAdoo was slashing .269/.347/.490 in Altoona, the Pirates’ Double-A affiliate.
Kiner-Falefa is under club control until the end of the 2025 season, as he signed a two-year, $15 million deal with the Blue Jays this past offseason.
A native of Honolulu, Hawaii, Kiner-Falefa is best-known for his defensive versatility. He plays with frequency at all outfield positions, and he is capable of manning every infield position - including catcher - aside from first base.
But that’s not to suggest he can’t come through on the offensive side of the ball as well.
The 29-year-old Kiner-Falefa, a distant cousin of Pirates legend Ralph Kiner, was putting up pretty impressive numbers for Toronto prior to the deadline deal. He is hitting .292/.338/.420 with seven home runs, 33 RBI, three stolen bases, and an OPS of .758. Although 2024 is his best offensive season to date, he’s still sitting at a respectable .264/.317/.354 slash line for his career.
Make no mistake: This is a really good trade for the Pirates and signifies their “win-now” approach. Not only does it fill a need for them position-wise – second baseman Nick Gonzales is currently week-to-week with an apparent groin injury, and Kiner-Falefa has played 40 games at second base – but it provides them a solid contact hitter with a very respectable career BABIP (batting average on balls in play) of .303. Kiner-Falefa’s 2024 BABIP is currently sitting at .316.
Kiner-Falefa’s positional versatility is comparable to that of former Pirates super utility man Sean Rodriguez, but his offensive profile exceeds Rodriguez’s. He pretty consistently slotted in the second spot in the Blue Jays’ lineup, as his high average and contact rate lend to getting on base for the bigger guns to drive him in.
It will be interesting to see where he fits into the Pirates’ lineup, but he very well could be a solid candidate for the leadoff spot. Even if Kiner-Falefa doesn’t possess anything special in terms of speed, this nonetheless gives manager Derek Shelton the option to bump DH Andrew McCutchen down in the lineup, as McCutchen is hitting only .224 but still boasts 13 HRs and 29 RBI. Slotting McCutchen in the sixth spot – where he still has the chance to drive in some runs – would likely be the most ideal lineup when factoring both Kiner-Falefa and De La Cruz into it:
1 - 2B Isiah Kiner-Falefa
2 - LF Bryan Reynolds
3 - SS Oneil Cruz
4 - RF Bryan De La Cruz
5 - 1B Rowdy Tellez
6 - DH Andrew McCutchen
7 - C Joey Bart
8 - 3B Ke’Bryan Hayes
9 - CF Michael A. Taylor
All in all, the Pirates are getting a very solid – and much-needed – super utility man in Kiner-Falefa. Even when Gonzalez returns, Kiner-Falefa’s positional flexibility allows him to remain in the lineup on a near-nightly basis, which is something that will only help the Pirates’ struggling offense in their 2024 playoff push.