The Pirates showed some interest in trading for Huascar Brazobán before they moved on to Camilo Doval, a sign that their search for bullpen help was already taking shape at the deadline. The reliever, who is 36 and making $1.05MM in his first year of arbitration eligibility, would have cost only about $300k for the rest of the season if Pittsburgh had landed him on August 3.
That is the kind of price that makes a name worth tracking now. The Pirates’ bullpen sits in the bottom half of MLB in ERA, SIERA and Win Probability Added, and last week Colin Beazley reported that bullpen upgrades would be Ben Cherington’s focus in trade talks. With payroll considerations said to be limiting deadline moves, the club was clearly looking for help it could fit without stretching the budget.
Brazobán fits that profile on paper. He has a 2.61 ERA and a 3.88 SIERA in 51 2/3 innings, has a career 3.50 ERA and did not debut until he was 32. He will turn 37 in October, but the performance is enough to explain why a contender would check in on him. For a reliever making this little and still under team control through 2029, the cost was modest even for a team trying to stay disciplined.
The catch is that the Mets were described as sellers without looking like a club ready to tear everything down. That matters because control through 2029 gives them plenty of reason to listen but not much reason to move Brazobán cheaply. Interest is one thing; an actual offer is another, and the report did not say the Pirates went that far.
What comes next is the part that still matters most for Pittsburgh. The team already acted on bullpen need once with Doval, and the broader search does not look finished. If Cherington keeps pressing for relief help, Brazobán is the kind of low-cost arm that could surface again before the deadline window closes.
