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8/31 Deals: Justin, Shawon, Sid, RJ, Ray & Brunet Join; Diaz, Freeser, Juan, Mad Dog, Scrap Iron, ElRoy & Johnny Go

Monday, August 31, 2026 8:01

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1953 – The Pirates sold RHP Johnny Lindell to the Phillies. His knuckler fluttered wildly that year, leading the league in walks and wild pitches. He was listed as a pitcher with the Pirates, but was often used as a pinch-hitter and hit .286, once tying a game with a three-run ninth-inning homer. The Phillies released him in May 1954 after his hybrid pitcher-outfielder role proved to be a not very strong pairing. Lindell was an odd story. He entered the league in 1941 as a pitcher, then was converted to the outfield, where he played from 1943-50, earning an All-Star berth once with the Yankees. He came back again after being reincarnated as a knuckleball pitcher after a couple of years in the minors, but only lasted until May of 1954 before being released by the Phils.

1968 – ElRoy Face was sold to the Detroit Tigers for $100K, ending 15 years with Pittsburgh. Motown wouldn’t have a roster spot for him until the next day, so the Bucs trotted him out for one last appearance, his 802nd as a Pirate. That tied an MLB record for most outings with one team while he tossed over 1,300 innings with a 100-93-186/3.46 slash, six All-Star bids and a World Series ring as a Bucco. He ended his career at age 41 with Montreal in 1969.

1970 – Pittsburgh picked up veteran LHP George Brunet from the Washington Senators for minor league LHP Denny Riddleberger and cash. Brunet, 35, made a dozen appearances for the Bucs with a line of 1-1/2.50, played briefly for another year for the Cards and then went on to a long career in Mexico, where “El Viejo” (the Old Man) pitched until 1989, when he was 54. Riddleberger spent parts of the next three seasons in the big leagues with a slash of 4-4/2.70.

1981 – The Pirates acquired 2B Johnny Ray and two PTBNL’s (pitchers Randy Niemann and Kevin Houston) from the Houston Astros in exchange for IF Phil Garner. Ray spent seven years in Pittsburgh, hitting .286, and was Rookie of the Year runner-up in 1982 to Steve Sax. Scrap Iron played through 1988 and hit .260 for the Astros, where he also had a seven-year run. Nieman pitched for parts of a couple of seasons for the Pirates and worked the show until 1987, having a pretty good year for the Mets in 1986. Houston never made it out of the minors.

Phil Garner – 1981 Topps

1985 – The Pirates traded former batting champion Bill Madlock to the Dodgers for PTBNL prospects RJ Reynolds, Cecil Espy and Sid Bream in a pretty solid deal for the Buccos. Madlock would last two more years in the show, retiring after the 1987 campaign at age 36. 1B Bream spent six years in Pittsburgh, four as a starter, and hit .269 in that span. Reynolds, a platoon OF, also spent six seasons with Pittsburgh and oddly enough, also hit .269. OF Espy was sent to AAA and claimed by Texas in the Rule 5 draft. He returned as a FA in 1991-92.

1997 - The Bucs became buyers instead of sellers when they obtained SS Shawon Dunston from the Cubs for future considerations to bolster the chances of the “Freak Show” team sneaking into the playoffs after Kevin Polcovich injured his ankle. Dunston hit .394 with five homers, but after an 18-game Bucco career was lost to Cleveland in free agency after the season. He was a pretty good Plan B; the Pirates had first cast their eyes toward former Pittsburgh SS Jay Bell, but the Royals wanted more in return than the FO was willing to give.

2011 – Pittsburgh shipped OF Matt Diaz to the Braves for a PTBNL, RHP Eliecer Cardenas, who was quickly released without pitching an inning for the Bucs. Diaz hit .259 in his brief run as a Buc and spent two more bench years with Atlanta before hanging up his spikes in 2013.

2013 – The Pirates pulled off their second trade of the week, picking up 1B Justin Morneau from Minnesota for OF Alex Presley and a PTBNL (RHP Duke Welker). Justin hit .260 w/.370 OBP during the month, but his lack of power (0 HR, 4 2B, 92 PA) led the Bucs to let him walk the following year. He still had some gas in the tank, hitting .316 w/20 HR in 182 games for the Rox over the next two campaigns before retiring after the 2016 season. Presley was a depth OF’er for the next five years while Welker was reacquired by the Bucs and got into two games in 2013.

Justin Morneau – September 2013 photo Justin Aller/Getty

2017 – In a how-not-to-do-it move, RHP Juan Nicasio was placed on irrevocable waivers and claimed by the Phillies on his birthday. It was odd because Nicasio was a solid eighth-inning set-up guy (2-5-2, 22 holds, 2.86 ERA in 65 games w/60 K in 60 IP) who the Pirates let go for nothing. Nicasio was a FA after the season and unlikely to have been retained, but the Bucs, who were still hanging around in July when they could have traded him with no strings attached, kept Nicasio and then tried to slip him through trade waivers when the team faded. In some one-upmanship, Juan was claimed by the Chicago Cubs to block him from going to another contender. So the FO pulled him back and later put him on the waiver wire, saving some cash ($600K owed for September), opening up his spot to audition for 2018, and finally to reward Juan with a “better situation” that was originally foiled when Philadelphia, the NL’s worst team, claimed him but eventually rectified when the Phils dealt him to a competitive St. Louis nine.

2018 – The Pirates committed themselves to a full-scale infield youth movement (and saved a few dollars in the process) by trading vets David Freese and Adeiny Hechavarria at the playoff deadline. Freese went to the Dodgers for DSL player IF Jesus Manuel Valdez (recently released by the D-Backs) while Hechy was sold to the Yankees and last played in Mexico in 2024. Freese, who retired after the 2019 campaign, left a hole as a utility man with a good bat (.270, 32 HR in three years), versatile glove (1B-2B-3B) and locker room leader while Hechy only got into 15 games, hitting .233. Sean Rodriguez had been DFA’ed days earlier, cleansing the roster of most of its older IFs save SS Jordy Mercer and 2B Josh Harrison, who both would depart in the offseason as FA’s.

Source: https://oldbucs.blogspot.com/2026/08/831-deals-justin-shawon-sid-rj-ray.html

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