Keiner Delgado Is Acquired by Pirates From Yankees
According to releases from both teams, the Yankees transferred infielder Keiner Delgado to the Pirates as the player to be named later in the JT Brubaker transaction from last month. The infielder won’t have to be added to the Pirates roster because he wasn’t on the Yankees’ 40-man roster.
The right-hander Brubaker was traded by the Bucs to the Yankees last month in exchange for international bonus pool space and an unnamed player. Due to his continued recuperation from Tommy John surgery from the previous year, Brubaker has not yet pitched for the Yanks and is currently on the 60-day injured list.
In 2021, the Yankees signed Delgado, a 20-year-old Venezuelan international amateur. In 52 games and 238 plate appearances, he made his professional debut in the Dominican Summer League in 2022. Incredibly, he drew walks at a rate of 24.4% while striking out only 11.8% of the time. Despite only hitting three home runs, he stole 34 bases and slashed.310/.504/.506 for a wRC+ of 178.
The Yanks promoted him to the Complex League last season, where he saw 239 more plate appearances. Once more, he walked more often than he struck out (15.1% to 13.%) and hit eight home runs this year, more than doubling his total. With a line of.293/.414/.485 and 36 stolen bases, he concluded the year. He has some experience playing shortstop, third base, and second base defensively.
Delgado was regarded as the Yankees’ #22 prospect going into 2024 by Baseball America, #20 by MLB Pipeline, and #22 by FanGraphs. Keith Law of The Athletic, who had Delgado all the way up in the #7 slot a few months ago, appears to be the most optimistic prospect evaluator. Law highlights Delgado’s efforts on both sides of the plate and notes that there’s a chance he sticks at shortstop, despite the opinion of other observers who tend to believe he’ll finish up at second base or in a utility role.
Now that he is in the Pirates organization, they will have a long-term project in him because of his youth and the fact that he hasn’t even mastered full-season ball. According to FanGraphs, he will be qualified for the Rule 5 draft following the 2025 season.
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