On ESPN's Baseball Tonight, Buster Olney and Tim Kurkjian both recently predicted that the Pirates would acquire a hitter at the trading deadline, which comes up at the end of the month.
Kurkjian's comments were particularly specific:
I've been told by people within the organization they are going to get a bat, either an outfielder or a first baseman. Whatever they get, Garrett Jones will go play the other position. They are not fooling around. After all these years under .500, they have a chance to make the playoffs, and they're going to go for it ...
This all makes sense from a positional perspective, since the Pirates have gotten very little from corner outfielders Jose Tabata and Alex Presley this year. Prospect Starling Marte is likely to soon be promoted from the minors to take one of the outfield spots alongside Andrew McCutchen, and if the Pirates can make a trade for another outfielder to help the offense, that would be ideal.
Recent rumors have connected the Pirates to Diamondbacks outfielder Justin Upton, although a deal that ambitious is probably unlikely.
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