Ivan Nova to White Sox...

The Pirates shipped RHP Ivan Nova to the White Sox today for rookie-league pitcher RHP Yordi Rosario, 19, and $500K international slot money. That leaves a back-end rotation spot open for competition, drops the major league payroll to an estimated $70M (Nova’s paycheck was in the neighborhood of $9M) and continues the Bucco restocking of the lower level pitching.

Yordi has had a couple of good years in the Dominican League and had a nice enough debut in the Arizona League (1-2/3.42; 31K in 26-1/3 IP) even being a year or too younger than the competition and represents another lotto ticket. Check back in a couple or three campaigns…

The Bucs took Ivan at the 2016 deadline when the Yankees traded the seven-year vet, in his walk season, to the Pirates for a pair of PTBNL, pitcher Stephen Tarpley and outfielder Tito Polo. The 29-year-old started off like a ball of fire, making 11 starts (three complete games) and posting a 5-2/3.06 line with just three walks in ​64 2⁄3 innings pitched. His biggest bug-a-boo, long balls, were also held to a manageable ratio, just as the Pittsburgh brass had planned when switching Ivan from bandbox Yankee Stadium to spacious PNC Park.

That led to a three-year/$26 million contract in December. In 2017, Nova won the NL’s Pitcher of the Month Award for April and became the first Pirate to throw at least six innings in his first thirteen starts to begin a season since Eddie Solomon in 1981. At the All-Star break, Nova had a 3.21 ERA but ended the season with a 4.14 mark after fading in the second half; his old nemesis, the home run ball, had come back to bite him. It was a frustrating trend; he could put together long stretches of excellent hurling followed by weeks of uninspired batting practice work.

Nova started for the Pirates on Opening Day in 2018 and finished the season 9-9/4.19 in 29 starts. Same thing; too many long balls and too much streakiness. Ivan went 10-7/3.46 during a second-half run after a 2-5/4.96 start, hampered by a bad finger. But still, for a back end option – an affordable contract and 25-25/3.99 slash (35-35 in Bucco games he started) – he filled the bill.

Certainly a guy to man the fourth spot is in the Bucs’ budget. They may go outside the org to replace Ivan, unless they have determined that a Steven Brault/Nick Kingham/JT Brubaker-type is ready to step in. At any rate, it’s a move, though somewhat surprising (we thought with Chad Kuhl out, Ivan would be a bridge to his 2020 return and go at a later date), that should make the team a little younger and shave a couple of bucks off the budget. It also leaves a staff spot for Mitch Keller if he proves ready to make the leap in 2019.