Tom Singer reports that MLB.com sources say Duke Welker is the player to be named later in the Justin Morneau trade. The Pirates sent Alex Presley and a PTBNL to acquire Morneau earlier today. After the trade, Neal Huntington said that the PTBNL would be a “legitimate piece”. Welker is certainly a legitimate piece, as he throws upper 90s with a good breaking ball. However, if your view on relievers is that they’re expendable, he’s not a guy the Pirates will miss. That’s especially true when you consider how good the Pirates have been acquiring right-handed relievers.
They traded Vic Black as the PTBNL to acquire Marlon Byrd. If the report is true on Welker, he would have to clear waivers before joining the Twins, thus the reason for the PTBNL status. If he doesn’t clear waivers, the Pirates could pull him back and send him to Minnesota after the season. Welker would have to clear waivers in the NL before he could make it to the Twins in the AL. However, I can’t see anyone blocking the deal, since teams usually have a gentleman’s agreement in place.
Welker had a 3.25 ERA in 61 innings with Indianapolis this year, along with a 64:29 K/BB ratio. He made two appearances in the majors, with 1.1 combined shutout innings.
+ postsTim is the owner, producer, editor, and lead writer of PiratesProspects.com. He has been running Pirates Prospects since 2009, becoming the first new media reporter and outlet covering the Pirates at the MLB level in 2011 and 2012. His work can also be found in Baseball America, where he has been a contributor since 2014 and the Pirates' correspondent since 2019.
No offense, but it really seems like the glass is always half empty with you regarding anything the Pirates do or any player you post about.
Herrera was a substantial loss, if you want to debate the merits of that part of the recent deals thats reasonable imo, but stressing over losing a couple of relief pitchers used to upgrade the roster in the midst of a legitimate run at a World Championship seems like a stretch.
Relief pitchers are plentiful and just dont hold much value, even ones that throw hard.
This hurts a lot more than Black IMO.
Im surprised that it wasn’t Nick Kingham
There is NO way that they would have given up Kingham in a deal for one month of a so-so first baseman. Even giving up Welker may make this look like a bad deal two years from now.
I liked welker. Tim or someone who knows could you tell me where you had welker ranked in terms of prospects before the trade? Thanks a lot
Hes technically still a prospect but is a little old and haven’t gotten too much time but he will get it in Minnesota
He was average he did good in the minors we scouted and drafted him a few years ago
I can live with this. Was hoping it was Hughes, but this isn’t the end of the world.