A Pirates Fan's World Series: Trade of Austin Hedges

On Tuesday towards the end of Major League Baseball’s trade deadline, the news broke that had Pirates fans celebrating like they won the World Series. Austin Hedges was traded to the Texas Rangers for cash. I haven’t seen fans celebrate like this since the Pirates were contenders in the mid-2010s. Even when they DFA’d Josh Vanmeter last year the excitement wasn’t the same. I don’t blame Hedges because his numbers have always spoken for itself, but it feels like a weight has been lifted off the shoulders of Pittsburgh’s baseball team. 

To be fair, fans knew about his offensive liabilities when he signed his one-year/five million dollars deal this past offseason. The hype behind him has always been his defensive skills and leadership. Unfortunately, it was everything but good when he was behind the plate. To give credit where credits are due, his ability to frame pitches is remarkable. Outside of that, his defense lacked the ability to do anything else special. 

With Hedges gone, the team brought back Jason Delay. Endy Rodriguez will work as the primary catcher. And hopefully, Cherington keeps his word and lets Henry Davis call some games to further his development. The team has three catchers that are miles ahead of Hedges offensively and not too off defensively. With time the young catchers will prove to be much better than what Austin Hedges brought to the table. 



Austin Hedges probably works best as a bullpen catcher to help relievers get a feel for the strike zone. He had no place being an everyday starter for the Pirates. At best he’s a backup catcher who plays once, maybe twice a week. Fans should be glad that there were suitors out there for him. His offensive woes were one of the reasons why the Pirates hitting has been so abysmal. It also didn’t help that he had probably the worst hitting coach in the league too. Best of luck to you, Austin, it just didn’t work out in the Steel City.