Adding solid bat to Pirates lineup could lead to another 'blackout'

The Pirates enter the second half of the season at 48-48 and have a real chance to make a push for the postseason for the first time in nearly a decade.

But if they are going to do that, former MLB catcher Erik Kratz says the Pirates “absolutely have to do something at the (trade) deadline.”

Kratz, who was a member of the Pirates farm system in 2009 and 2010 tells Chris Mack and the hosts of BetQL Daily he was playing with Andrew McCutchen and Neil Walker before they became centerpieces of the teams that made the postseason three years in a row.

Kratz says what made the Pirates successful in 2013 was having the organizational centerpieces of McCutchen, Walker, Pedro Alverez, Gerrit Cole and more, and supplementing them with players like catcher Russell Martin.

“You go out and get your pieces at the trade deadline,” says Kratz.

Kratz adds that while the Pirates needs to do something before the deadline, it won’t be that huge, earth-shaking move that other teams could make (the Pirates will never do that).

But, while the Pirates won’t make a seismic-shifting trade, they do have the ability to get a bat that can improve their lineup.

Kratz doesn’t have a specific name, but said if the New York Mets weren’t currently in the race, he would see the Pirates being able to get a player like Pete Alonso.

“If the Mets weren’t in it, Pete Alonso to the Pirates to play first base is so doable,” said Kratz, adding he’s spoken with Alonso and he wants to stay in New York.

So, with Alonso unavailable, how do the Pirates get an “Alonso-type bat”?

“It will be a high price, but it’s going to push this offense over,” said Kratz. “It’s going to give this offensive that already has some swag, that already has a leader in Bryan Reynolds . . . and you supplement it with a guy who’s going to be a fierce piece of that lineup that you have to navigate around.”